Review: Zeppelin


Michael York plays a German-born British lieutenant (Scottish, really, not that York sounds anything but perfectly British, as always) used to spy on the Germans who have apparently developed the title airship, designed by Marius Goring, who happens to be an old acquaintance of York’s, and is somewhat naïve about his new invention (to put it mildly). Elke Sommer is Goring’s wife, who is suspicious of the new fellow. Anton Diffring (what’s a Nazi film without him?), Andrew Keir and Peter Carsten are impeccably cast as the Nazis, with designs on diminishing British morale. Rupert Davies is a welcome presence in the type of unfortunately two-dimensional role that normally goes to Richard Johnson, Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews, John Mills, or Michael Hordern.



1971 Etienne Perier (“When Eight Bells Toll”, with Sir Anthony Hopkins and the great Robert Morley) WWI adventure is pretty familiar stuff, and a little stiffer than the best of the war-adventure films of the 60s and early 70s (“Operation Crossbow”, “The Blue Max”, “The Dirty Dozen” etc). In fact, one might consider it a B-version of the above films.



It gets major boost from a great supporting cast (notably Diffring, Carsten, and Goring) and an aesthetically well-cast York (who has rather Aryan features). It also gets a lot better as it goes along, with some decent moments of tension and crises of conscience.



If you’re a diehard fan of the genre, you probably don’t need me recommending it. The screenplay is by Arthur Rowe (“The Magnificent Seven Ride!”), Donald Churchill and based on the story by Owen Crump (“The Couch”), who also produced.



Rating: C+

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