The Dirigible "Los Angeles" (1924)

An entire week of directing traffic, and once again I turn to my Time Machine-huh, a bouncy surface of some kind? Oh, i sincerely hope that there's an access hatch on this thing-because we are really, really high up here...

In 1924, the zeppelin once known as the ZR3 but re-named the 'Los Angeles' by its new owners, was sent on a record-breaking journey of 5006 miles from Friedrichshafen Germany to Lakehurst New Jersey. During this trek, an unknown filmmaker decided to record the voyage in detail, from the Zeppelin's first take-off to its final destination. Recent developments in portable camera technology allow for detailed close-ups, sweeping panoramic vistas and a clear focus that earlier portable machines lacked-no part of the Los Angeles seems to be off-limits to the camera operators, not the Navigation and Map rooms, not the hull, maintenance gondolas or the powerful motors. Everyone from the technicians sliding precariously down the hull, the pilots who steer the 90-ton vessel and even the Captain seem to take the ever-present camera in stride-and with all of the lovingly-filmed zeppelin itself and the amazing fly-by footage of famous landmarks captured on film, (not to mention added ground-based footage of the lovely airship)our unknown artist had more than enough footage for a solid 20-minute feature.

As I spend my brief period airborne in my luxury cabin, my only only regret that none of the original credits for this film remain intact so that I might sing the unknown auteur's praises...Silent, B&W.