The Airship Destroyer
About The Airship Destroyer
Airships bomb an armoured car, a signal box, and a town in England. A biplane that tries to bring one down is destroyed. A bomb kills the father of the inventor's sweetheart and wrecks their house. The inventor, who had already been refused her hand, pulls her clear, goes back to his launcher, and brings the airship down with a wireless-controlled flying torpedo. The couple embrace.
Cast & crew
More about The Airship Destroyer
Walter R. Booth directed and Charles Urban produced it. Booth, who had worked as a magician, built the airships from cut-out animation and models. The BFI lists the negative as 35mm, black and white, silent, 685 feet.
Themes
Background
The 1909 release sits with British invasion fiction. The January 1915 reissue came while the country was under real airship raids.
Technique
The airships are a mix of cut-outs and models. The inventor's answer is a surface-launched flying torpedo steered by wireless.
Preservation
BFI Screenonline holds a complete copy, timed on that site at 9 minutes 33 seconds. The catalogued length is 685 feet.
Notes
- It was first titled Der Luftkrieg der Zukunft.
- Other titles are The Aerial Torpedo, The Battle of the Clouds in Britain, and The Battle in the Clouds in the United States.
- It was put out again in January 1915, while Zeppelins were bombing Britain. Yarmouth and King's Lynn were hit that month.
- BFI Screenonline groups it with the invasion-scare stories of the time and calls the weapon a guided missile.
Scenes
- Airships bomb a signal box and a town.
- A biplane is shot out of the sky.
- The inventor's torpedo destroys an airship.
Also available
- BFI Screenonline
