Dirigible (1931)

For those interested in the history of aviation, the artful integration of old Navy footage of the Los Angeles airship (a German-built Zeppelin which was the 4th aircraft to cross the Atlantic), including footage of the experimental underside mooring mast used for docking an airplane in flight, and the Lakehurst field and hangar, all offer a wonderful slice of history. This footage, and the parts of the film which show the interior of this airship and its mock-ups and use, are wonderful, and many other elements provide a wonderful view of what the world looks like through a 1931 lens. It is interesting to see how some things (parts of the Navy ships), do not look all that dated, while other elements are radically different. This alone makes this film a very worthwhile, and trumps all the issues and complaints below. For many, this alone makes it worthy of a 9 out of 10, although for those without this interest, it is more like a 6.At the story level, there are a lot of holes. There is an inconsistent and totally unbelievable romance kludged on, with a Fay Wray performance that doesn't work, and will leave you scratching your head. This part is a 1 or 2 out of 10. Like other scripts which take a little bit of current technology and try to extrapolate to spin out a story without really understanding the technology, some parts seems pretty silly today, but this was the view from 1931. The writing seems to be oblivious to the service ceiling of the craft, and the limitations imposed by the large surface area and low speed of the craft when exposed to winds, especially as channeled by terrain. However, in the era shortly before the end of serious airship use, they were losing them at an alarming rate, and the Los Angeles was one of the few that survived to be decommissioned and disassembled.**** SPOILERS BELOW **** The plot has issues. Bravado and personal agendas trump planning on important expeditions and military (Navy) ops (a failing shared with Capra's 1929 "Flight", also starring Holt and Graves, which stretched bravado and credulity even further). Here we are to believe that "Frisky", upon successfully reaching the South Pole, but having dropped most critical supplies to lighten the load, decides to chance a landing on an unknown surface, in an area where no rescue would be possible (per their orders). We are then given scenes at the South Pole which do not represent conditions at the pole. (My uncle was at Byrd Station, and it gets pretty cold there, with average summer temps close to -30C, and it appears that the north and south hemispheres are both in summer, so we are also left to wonder if they understood they are reversed south of the equator.) When a rescue does come, instead of sending people down the rescue lines, they parachute in from a very low altitude for dramatic effect, but then get pulled back in by the lines. Okay, you get to see cool parachuting footage from 1931, so I guess its okay. Overall, a great slice of history with contemporary use of (now) archival footage, but the plot and romance drag the ratings down.

Very similar to a film called the Lost Zeppelin (to the point its almost a remake) that was released two years earlier this is a story of an attempt to reach the South Pole via dirigible. The story begins when the US Navy tries to get into the good graces of a polar explorer who is planning yet another trip to the pole. The navy enlists Jack Holt, a dirigible pilot, to impress the explorer in the hopes of his considering using one of their ships to make the trip. Holt seals the deal when he agrees to bring along a plane which can hook and unhook from the airship. The trip goes badly and ends in disaster. However it sets the stage for a later expedition and a shot at redemption.Spectacular large scale production this is a grand adventure, if some what slow moving tale, of pushing the envelope in the name of adventure and science. Filmed with the cooperation of the navy this film has some absolutely stunning images of planes and airships in flight. The sets are truly amazing and it's not really clear as to what's real and what's not. The look of the film will blow your mind.What is less thrilling is the soap opera between the airplane pilot and his wife, played by Fay Wray. Wray is very good as the wife who loves her husband but can't stand all of his macho antics. The scenes between the husband and the wife, and even Holt and Wray, Holt is the husbands best friend, are pure soap opera (well acted but still soap opera). I'm sure the reason the romantic scenes were inserted for the women in the audience, but the scenes kind of stop the film and diminish the rest, making the film seem much longer than its 100 minute running time.Still the film really is worth seeing. It's a grand spectacle and adventure that they don't make any more. It will knock your socks off.As to similarities with the Lost Zeppelin, you have the same goal, the clash of friends, the wife of one of the men being unhappy in her marriage, a crash needing rescue and a few similar points. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Dirigible steals from Lost Zeppelin, so much as remakes it with a few significant changes.

Dirigble (1931) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Frank Capra directed this disaster flick about a hot shot pilot (Ralph Graves) who tries a daring expedition to the South Pole but ends up crashing. Back at home his wife (Fay Wray) is having an affair with his best friend (Jack Holt) but when news gets back to them about the crash the friend decides to go after him. Capra, Holt and Graves teamed up for Flight two years earlier and this film has some of the same greatness as well as some of the same weaknesses. The great stuff deals with all the action and some of it is among the best stuff I've ever seen. I'm going to guess that a lot of miniatures were used but they look terrific and come off very realistic. There's one brilliant sequence where a blimp gets caught up in a tropical storm and slowly begins to break apart. However, the love triangle thing is really, really boring and very unrealistic. Holt and Graves are good in their parts but Wray comes off pretty weak but this is due mostly to her part being poorly written. In the end the film is still worth seeing for the amazing action scenes.

Okay, I know, they are not blimps. They are Zeppelins. "Airships" was the preferred term by the U.S. Navy.This is a very exciting action film for 1931. Apparently made with quite a high budget. I saw model shots, large sound stages filling in for Antartica, thousands of extras, real airships, and a gigantic ticker tape parade shot on location in New York City. All of these things cost much money. The U.S. Navy's use of airships was so brief that this film also marks one of the few stories about this chapter in our military history.This film proves that Capra was also adept at high intensity action directing (for 1931) as well his usual character-driven morality plays that he became so well-known for.The one thing that is the most striking to me about (some) early talking pictures, of which this is one, is that they have hardly any music score. This is true here, and only adds to the isolated feeling in the scenes of the doomed expedition struggling to escape from the frozen tundra. Plenty of sound effects in the scenes of the doomed Pensacola going down, but no music. In fact, the film even uses a few silent film style narration cards.Anyway, in spite of this film dating from 1931, it has aged really well and doesn't seem too dated at all. A nice action/adventure film. The print they showed on TCM on television was in very good shape, even the sound was strong in most places. Yes, the love story seemed tacked on, but there are thousands of films in the history of Hollywood that could have survived artistically with their romantic subplots (probably inserted at the insistence of cigar-chewing studio bosses to get "the female market") jettisoned. In any case, this movie is quite entertaining and Worth checking out.