The Hindenburg (1975 film)

The Hindenburg is a film based on the novel by Michael M. Mooney. It was nominated for three Oscars and won two special Academy Awards. It is inserted in the fashion that occurred during the 1970s for disaster movies.

Plot

Kathie Rauch of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sends a letter to the German Embassy in Washington, D.C., stating that the Hindenburg zeppelin will explode after flying over New York City. Meanwhile, Luftwaffe Colonel Franz Ritter boards, intending to protect the Hindenburg, as various threats have been made to shoot down the aircraft, seen by some as a symbol of Nazi Germany. Ritter is assisted by a Nazi government official, SS/Gestapo Hauptsturmführer Martin Vogel, posing as an "official photographer" of the Hindenburg. However, both operate independently by vetting all passengers and crew on the voyage. Ritter has reason to be suspicious of everyone, including her old friend, Countess Ursula von Reugen, whose Baltic estate at Peenemünde had been taken over by the Nazis and appears to be fleeing Germany to visit her daughter in Boston. Other prime suspects include the wily Emilio Pajetta and Major Napier, Edward Douglas, a shady German-American advertising executive, as well as several crew members and even the Hindenburg's captains Pruss and Lehmann. Many possible clues turn out to be red herrings, such as Joe Spah drawing the interior of the ship as an idea for a vaudeville show and mysterious names that later turned out to be the names of the racehorses aboard the Queen Mary (where Douglas's competitor is traveling).). As the Hindenburg heads to Naval Air Station Lakehurst, events conspire against Ritter and Vogel. They soon become suspicious of rigger Karl Boerth, a former Hitler Youth leader who has become disillusioned with the Nazis. Ritter tries to arrest him, but he resists and asks for help, who sympathizes with him because Ritter's son was killed in an accident a year earlier, while in the Hitler Youth. Later, Ritter receives word that Boerth's girlfriend, Freda Halle, was killed while she was trying to escape arrest as the Hindenburg was crossing the Atlantic. Boerth, upon hearing the news of Halle's death, plans to commit suicide by staying aboard the aircraft while the bomb goes off, to show that there is a resistance against the Nazi regime. Ritter reluctantly agrees with Boerth to plant the bomb at 7:30, when the aircraft should have landed and the passengers disembarked, saying that an in-flight explosion is "the last thing he wants." While setting up the bomb, Boerth drops the part of the knife which is retrieved by a crew member. To cover up the loss of his knife, Boerth steals a knife from his partner Ludwig Knorr. Vogel begins working behind Ritter's back, arrests Boerth, and confiscates the countess's passport. As the aircraft approaches Naval Air Station Lakehurst at 7:00, Ritter realizes the landing has been delayed and seeks out Boerth to ask where the bomb is. Vogel is trapped by Ritter in the cargo hold torturing Boerth and gets into a fight with Ritter and is knocked unconscious. An injured Boerth tells Ritter that the bomb is in the gas cell 4 repair patch. Ritter attempts to defuse the bomb, but is distracted by Vogel, now awake, and is unable to do so in time. The bomb explodes, killing Ritter instantly and sending Vogel flying down the catwalk. Vogel survives, being carried away by ground crew. Boerth was injured from being tortured by Vogel and dies from his burns, but manages to free the Channings' dog before the ship crashes to the ground. Other passengers and crew are seen struggling to survive the fire. The Countess survives and is reunited with her daughter. The next day, with the fire cleared, a narrator lists some of the survivors and victims of the disaster, as well as some of the possible theories. The remains are examined for research before being cleaned. As Herbert Morrison's memorable radio commentary plays, the Hindenburg is seen flying once more, only to disappear into the clouds again as the credits roll.