Zeppelin

Zeppelin (1971)

The Great War's most explosive moment!

The outbreak of World War I places Scots officer Geoffrey Richter-Douglas in an uncomfortable position. Although his allegiance is to Britain, his mother was from an aristocratic Bavarian family, and he spent his summers in Germany as a child. When Geoffrey is approached by a German spy who offers him a chance to defect, he reports the incident to his superiors, but instead of arresting the spy they suggest that he accept her offer--and become an Allied agent. In Germany, among old friends, Geoffrey discovers that loyalty is more complicated than he expected, especially when he finds himself aboard the maiden voyage of a powerful new prototype Zeppelin, headed for Scotland on a secret mission that could decide the outcome of the war.

Date of release
1971-04-08
TMDB
6.2 / 10 (35)
Runtime
1h 41m
Genres
Adventure, Drama, War
Director
Étienne Périer

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Malta and Pinewood Studios

Zeppelin is a 1971 British World War I action–drama directed by Étienne Périer in Panavision and Technicolor. The film stars Michael York, Elke Sommer and Anton Diffring. Zeppelin depicts a fictitious attempt to raid Britain in a German Zeppelin to steal the Magna Carta from its hiding place in one of Scotland's castles or destroy it.

Production

Written by producer Owen Crump, the story of Zeppelin is set in mid-1915, during the First World War. The mission depicted is fictitious. Principal photography for the production began in late 1970.

J. Ronald Getty was an executive producer through his GMF Picture Corp. The movie was to be the first of a three-picture deal between GMF and Warner Bros. (The others were Not Yet a Hero and Charlie Olive.) Getty had earlier helped finance the films Flare Up and Honky.

Getty told the press he "was involved in many ways" during filming, including finding the film's technical adviser, seeking locations and casting. He said his father was "not too interested" about filmmaking. "He's got other things to worry about." Getty added:

If you give the people what they want they will respond. The knack is in picking the right property. We're not interested in making pornography. Nor do we want to deliver any messages. Too many filmmakers nowaways are trying to foist their own views of social and moral questions on the public. Audiences don't want that. They want entertainment.

Crump said MGM cancelled the film two weeks before production claiming it would cost $5 million. He found alternative financing and brought the film in for $1.8 million, he claims, by cutting down on his overhead.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended