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Hindenburg disaster newsreel footage

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impending tragedy." Deeke had focused the camera on the ground crew before he stopped filming. Although his camera was focused on the airship the moment it caught fire, the camera malfunctioned and it became necessary for him to set up a hand crank, which he only started to use when ship's tail was on the ground and the side collapsed inward. As a result, the Pathé News reel is actually the shortest in showing the crash. The footage also suffers from slight camera shake. The newsreel was edited to show the ground crew footage prior to the fire with an explosion sound effect, giving the false impression the ship was exploding while the camera was focused to the ground. Two distinct still frames flash to transition between the ground crew scene and the footage of the fire; these appear to be from footage taken earlier of the ship's landing approach which was edited out of the final reel.
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the reels), unlike many of the press photographs which were taken farther away which show the mast as well as two of the newsreel cameramen with their cameras mounted atop of newsreel trucks. None of the newsreels captured the initial signs of disaster as the cameras had momentarily stopped filming after the ground crew caught the landing ropes (the fire started approximately four minutes after the first starboard rope was dropped at 7:21). At least one amateur film, taken by Harold N. Schenck, is known to exist, showing a side view of the stern on fire and the tail crashing to the ground.
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appears Gold's camera only started to film the fire as the airship's stern touched the ground. Kennedy and de Titta were closer to the airship when the fire started and had to run. Soundman Addison Tice was present as well, and recorded some of the audio of the disaster. Although the explosion sound in the newsreel was simulated, some of the audio may have been from the crash, as someone can be heard saying "you're alright now Al!".
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least five miles deep blocked roads leading to the Lakehurst Naval Air Station. In the traffic was Vinelander Harold Wright who was able to get only a mile from the site, but nevertheless had a distant view of the burning wreckage before heading home. Another Vineland resident, Arthur Schaefer, a member of the U.S. Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, was one of 106 officers called to the scene to help with crowd control.
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their recordings as they found themselves being followed by German SS Officers! After hiding out for a few hours, the two managed to make a clean getaway and get back across the country to WLS. The chilling account aired the next day on the station and was the first recorded radio news report to be broadcast nationally by NBC.
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and Universal used his footage of the fire for their report. Both newsreel companies had taken their own aerial footage of the airship over New York hours before the fire. One scene in the Universal reel showing passengers looking out of the windows, was taken from Universal's 1936 newsreel of one of
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making its final sharp turn to starboard while dropping ballast three times before skidding to port and dropping her landing lines. The narrator describes the Hindenburg as a "puny plaything in the mighty grip of fate", foreshadowing the stern-heaviness and dumping of water ballast as a "grim note of
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Witness the infamous Hindenberg disaster with this original archive footage of the Nazi airship, as it flew what would be its final voyage on Thursday, May 6, 1937. Check out the impressive shots of its flight over the landing ground of Lakehurst, New Jersey before it ultimately caught fire and came
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The explosion was so great that it shattered windows and overturned dishes at a Toms River restaurant six miles away, said Fred Schenck, a newspaper salesman from Pleasantville, who had been dining with his wife at the time. The tragedy had been broadcast live on the radio, and soon traffic jams at
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This newsreel is the longest in showing the fire sequence. The camera pans upward showing the stern ablaze as it crashes down and the fire burns through the nose like a blowtorch. It does not show what is happening below the burning airship when it crashes to the ground as the camera is focused more
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Four newsreel teams were in attendance at the time of the disaster. They were positioned close to each other and adjacent to the mooring mast for the airship. As a result, the newsreels do not show the mooring mast for the airship to be moored (other mooring masts appear in the background in many of
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Footage of the German airship catching fire, crashing and burning to the ground: This original footage from the British Pathe archive shows impressive shots of the Hindenburg flying overhead on on Thursday, May 6, 1937, flying over its landing ground at Lakehurst, New Jersey, and then finally there
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Newsreel is much less common than the Universal reel. A high quality government archive copy of the Universal version also appeared online (which also includes the Universal Newsreel of the wreckage a few days after, and the Pathé newsreel). Compared to the Universal edit, the Hearst newsreel has
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The Fox Movietone footage was filmed by Al Gold (who filmed the fire sequence shown in the newsreel), Larry Kennedy and Deon de Titta. Gold stated that he was filming the ground crew when the fire started. However, the Movietone newsreel shows the ground crewmen catching the ropes early on, and it
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Listeners in Chicago and across the country didn't hear Morrison's coverage of the disaster until the next day because his report wasn't broadcast live from Lakehurst. He and engineer Charles Nehlsen had been experimenting with field recordings on huge acetate discs. They realized the gravity of
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There is one known amateur film of the disaster, a 25-second 8mm home movie by Harold N. Schenck, giving a side-rear view of the disaster. While it was known by the Lakehurst Historical Society for many years and shown at an event for the 50th anniversary of the disaster, it was not publicly
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At over 800ft long, the LZ 129 Hindenburg was the largest aircraft ever to fly and the last of the great airships as its demise on May 6, 1937, ended the public love affair with lighter-than-air travel.
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s arrival, which landed him the job at Paramount News. The footage has sometimes been misattributed to Al Mingalone. In 1957, Craven made an appearance in the Canadian game show
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The Universal cameraman stationed at the air field left early due to the bad weather and went to see a Broadway play. However, James J. Seeley filmed the disaster for Hearst's
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some different shots of the airship over New York and also shows footage of passengers inside the ship from 1936. The same narration is used in the
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is footage of the famous crash. 13 out of 36 passengers died, whilst 22 out of 61 crew members died, so many survived the disaster.
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on the fire itself until the bow nears the ground. At this point, navy ground crewmen can be seen walking close to the camera.
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report which uses footage from both Universal/Hearst and Movietone. Another redub of the newsreel is the "Victoria Record".
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Footage from Castle and Pathé coverage of the Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst. Also shots of the big ships over New York.
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America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry
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broadcast until May 2014 by NBC. A restoration and analysis of the film was performed for the 2021
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Cameraman William Deeke filmed the scenes in this newsreel. The footage shows the
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In 1997, the original reels were selected for preservation in the United States
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Live acetate disc recording from the scene of the Hindenburg disaster
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as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
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Future-Proofing the News: Preserving the First Draft of History
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Eagan, Daniel (2010). "Hindenburg Disaster Newsreel Footage".
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crashed and burned down, was filmed by several companies.
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WLS Eye Witness Recording Of Airship Hindenburg Disaster,
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There are five known newsreels of the fire, released by
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Grossman, Dan; Ganz, Cheryl; Russell, Patrick (2017).
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Zeppelin Hindenburg: An Illustrated History of LZ-129
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Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 40. 476:The Paramount was filmed by Tommy Craven using an 841: 839: 837: 591:Chicago's WLS Radio (Images of America: Illinois) 493:recounting his experience filming the disaster. 339:The film is frequently shown with narration, by 411:disaster sequence captured by William Deeke of 347:, who was narrating a field recording on to an 8: 529:Herbert Morrison Hindenburg Recording, from 992:"Hindenburg Disaster - Real Footage (1937)" 776: 774: 772: 745:"Promo: NOVA: Hindenburg: The New Evidence" 698: 696: 694: 53:Learn how and when to remove these messages 1328:United States National Film Registry films 927:"Complete National Film Registry Listing" 230:Learn how and when to remove this message 212:Learn how and when to remove this message 110:Learn how and when to remove this message 1117:"First Films Of The Hindenburg Disaster" 655:from the original on September 27, 2011 521: 1180:"What Caused The Hindenburg Disaster?" 307: 161:"Hindenburg disaster newsreel footage" 1220:National Recording Preservation Board 1139: 1137: 7: 1287:Hindenburg disaster newsreel footage 1275:Hindenburg disaster newsreel footage 561:"The 'Prairie Farmer Magazine' Days" 150:adding citations to reliable sources 1231:. A&C Black. pp. 258–259. 452:previous transatlantic crossings. 14: 1302:Finder for Moving-Picture Cameras 34:This article has multiple issues. 1259:. Pathé News, Universal Newsreel 308:Problems playing this file? See 288: 126: 64: 23: 870:Fuhrmann, Doug (1 April 2015). 614:Hansen, K.A.; Paul, N. (2017). 137:needs additional citations for 42:or discuss these issues on the 1333:American black-and-white films 782:"Hindenburg: The New Evidence" 1: 510:Hindenburg: The New Evidence 1178:Discovery UK (2020-09-30). 353:National Recording Registry 90:the claims made and adding 1364: 320:footage of the 6 May 1937 262:Universal Newsreel of the 952:"Actual Zeppelin Crash!" 589:Childers, Scott (2008). 1059:crashing to the ground. 1348:1937 documentary films 1222:. Library of Congress. 950:William Deeke (1937). 548:The Newark Star-Ledger 461:Hearst News of the Day 438:Hearst News of the Day 415: 364:National Film Registry 277: 267: 1251:"Hindenburg Explodes" 1148:. 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Index

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original research
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"Hindenburg disaster newsreel footage"
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Live acetate disc recording from the scene of the Hindenburg disaster
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Newsreel
Hindenburg disaster
zeppelin
LZ 129 Hindenburg
WLS (AM)
Herbert Morrison
acetate disc
National Recording Registry

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