The Lost Zeppelin

THE STORY & GENRE -- This is an adventure tale, not genre, but we're reviewing because it's in the ASHSFF book under "Tangential", probably for the quality of special effects, which is quite high, rather than for any fantastical machinery. Good drama subplots.

THE VERDICT -- Even with primitive sound quality, and a bit of stiff acting, this is quite the accomplishment. As well as technically sound, the story-line is interesting and I did not find it unbelievable, as some others have.

FREE ONLINE -- Yes. Full 72 minutes.

First Off, the Scuttlebutt Says that MGM Bought Up All of the Nitrate Prints from the Defunct Studio "Tiffany" to use as "Fuel" for the "Burning of Atlanta" Scene in "Gone With the Wind" (1939).

Hubris and Insensitivity to the "Arts" Aside, if True, it is Amazing that Any Movies from the "Little" Studio are Found Today (they are very rare).

But Here is "The Lost Zeppelin" for your Consideration...It's Quite Awful.

The Groaning Dialog, the Awkward Pauses, the Forced Repeated Narrative. The Film just Slogs From Beginning to End and is a Tough Watch Today.

Squeaky Voiced, Deer in the Headlights, Actress Virginia Valli Made 60 Silent Films and after Attempting a Few Talkies Retired at the Age of 35. She Literally Brings the Movie to a "Crash-Landing" Anytime She's On-Screen.

Ricardo Cortez Fairs Better But Can't Put HIs "Latin Lover" Persona to Much Use, Given the Stale, Stilted, Story of the "Love-Triangle".

The SFX, Sets, Models, and the Rest are Not On Screen Enough to Make an Impression.

The Sappy Dialog and Headline Readings are Recorded OK, but the "Sound Dept" was Over-Thinking the New Technology and Used Over-Modulated, Irritating "Buzzing" for the Crafts and that "Artic-Wind" Howls, and Howls, and Howls.

Most Movies Made at the Time with this Kind of Talent and Resources were Not Much Better. It was a Tough Transition Time Morphing from the "Silents" to "Talkies".

As a Curiosity it is...Worth a Watch

But Be Prepared for some Major "Retro-Shock" Disappointment.

Stiff upper lips abound in Edward Sloman's frigid tale of love and adventure, not only because zeppelin pilots Conway Tearle and Ricardo Cortez are thoroughly decent chaps at heart, but because the talkies were in their infancy and - with the exception of Tearle - everyone seems to have temporarily forgotten how to act in front of a camera. Cortez's character might be making the moves on Tearle's willing wife (Virginia Valli) but at least he feels awfully guilty about it. Dreary stuff that's only set apart from the countless other drawing room dramas flooding cinemas during the early years of sound by its set-bound Arctic scenes.

THE LOST ZEPPELIN (1929) a Tiffany Studio release (who ever they were) features a typical service triangle with the romance of early aviation. Zeppelins (ie Dirigibles) were hot stuff at this time popularized by their successes during World War I (WWI) and commercial traffic developed by Germany postwar.

The best part of the film is the second half that concentrates on the Antartic flight of the titled character, it's wreck and the rescue of the survivors. There is some references to the disaster of the Scott expedition (1912) where the entire polar party died on the way back from the pole. For those unfamiliar with the story read the Roland Huntford book 'The Last Place on Earth' for the triumph of Amundsen and the defeat of Scott.

The film is technically adapt for the time but you can see the problem the actors where having with the early sound equipment. The actors freeze and will not move even their heads in case they miss their marks and the microphones. In many scenes voice overs were used to cover multiple actors. To show how fast things improved in just two (2) years watch DIRIGIBLE (1931) Columbia Pictures, Frank Capra directing. Pretty much the same stuff, romance triangle and Antartic expedition though this time with AeroPlanes (Ford TriMotor) and two (2) Zeppelins. Balloons, Blimps and other period aircraft were also featured. The picture benefits from two (2) years of technical advancements and we would rate it six (6) stars ******.

Dated adventure film about an attempt to be the first to fly a zeppelin over the South Pole.

The film is essentially two movies. The first is a long drawn out sequence at the start showing how the wife of the head of the expedition is in love with the second in command. This runs for about 25 minutes as they dress go to a send off party and then have guilt over the whole thing. Despite some good dialog this part of the movie is deadly dull. The rest of the film concerns the expedition and is much more interesting. Here we follow the flight as we see the airship fly to toward the Pole and eventually run into trouble (this isn't giving anything away because one need only look at the title to see what happens). This part of the film has some fantastic effects work with the shots of the zeppelin in flight and the Antarctic landscape with all its dangers over powering any feelings that this film is anything less than spectacular. What we see on screen is truly amazing since it was done with out computers and comes across looking oh so more real for it. The films flaws are for the most part limited to the fact that this film was made in the early days of sound and so we either have very talky sequences or ones that are very quiet.

If you want to see some stunning effects in a good adventure you might want to try this, though you'll want to fast forward through the first 25 minutes since they really can be dull. (This would make a good double feature with the Red Tent the true story of similar attempt to fly an airship over the North Pole a few years before this was made, and which was probably the inspiration for this film)