Zeppelin (1971)
1h 41m | PG-13
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.
Director: Étienne Périer
Studio: Getty & Fromkess Corporation
Genre: Adventure, Drama, War
Video: 720p
Cast
Michael York
as Geoffrey Richter-Douglas
Elke Sommer
as Erika Altschul
Peter Carsten
as Major Tauntler
Marius Goring
as Professor Christian Altschul
Anton Diffring
as Colonel Hirsch
Andrew Keir
as Von Gorian
Reviews
Aside from a passing nod to "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974), I always struggle to find any reason why Michael York ever made it as an actor. He had sort of foppish prettiness about him, but his acting style here is only marginally less rigid than the thing in the title. He plays a soldier with a famous German (Richter) lineage. The Germans want him to work for them; the British want him to work for them - so, yep - you've guessed. Once with the Bosch, he finds himself aboard this amazing airship that is capable of reaching great heights and speeds, and on a secret mission designed to destroy the heart and soul of the war-weary Brits. Can he thwart this plan despite the overwhelming superiority onboard? Sadly, there is precisely no jeopardy at all here. The film takes at least 40 minutes before we even see the airship, and even then it is all just too little, too late. The rest of the casting is adequate - Anton Diffring and an underused Marius Goring tick their boxes ok, but the plot is sluggish and there is way too much chat and nowhere near enough action. Perhaps we would have invented incendiary bullets a little quicker if the designers had watched this first?