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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