''The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case'' is a 1976 American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

dramatization of the

Lindbergh kidnapping On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Am ...

, directed by Buzz Kulik and starting

Cliff DeYoung Clifford Tobin DeYoung (born February 12, 1945)According to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com is an Ame ...

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

Martin Balsam Martin Henry Balsam (November 4, 1919 – February 13, 1996) was an American actor. He had a prolific career in character roles in film, in theatre, and on television. An early member of the Actors Studio, he began his career on the New Y ...

, Joseph Cotten, and Walter Pidgeon. It first aired on the NBC network on February 26, 1976.

Plot

The film opens with archive footage of

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

's pioneering 1927 transatlantic flight in the '' Spirit of St. Louis'' and the song “ Lindbergh (The Eagle of the U.S.A.)”. Hopewell, New Jersey, March 1, 1932. After preparing a bath, Anne Morrow Lindbergh ( Sian Barbara Allen) is alerted by her nurse, Betty Gow, that her baby is not in its crib. They check with Charles Lindbergh (

), reading in his study, that the baby is not with him then immediately go to the nursery and discover an envelope near the window. Lindbergh orders Betty to ask their butler to call the police. Lindbergh informs his wife not to interfere with anything in the nursery and that their baby has been stolen. The police investigate the Lindbergh home and establish a command post in the garage. A ladder is found outside the nursery window along with a nearby footprint. Inside the house, the envelope is opened and Lindbergh reads a letter indicating his child is in good care and future communications with have a distinctive signature with three holes in the paper. The press quickly descend on the house and the police are angered when a reporter attempts to gain a statement from Lindbergh. In New York City, the police department consider the possibilities that the child was kidnapped by organised criminals. They are advised by a criminal profiler that the kidnapper is likely to be acting on their own as they only asked for $50,000, and an individual who is jealous of Lindbergh's status. In New York City, concerned citizen Dr John Condon ( Joseph Cotten) decides to write to the Bronx Home News newspaper to offer himself as an intermediary in the ransom exchange. Condon receives a reply from the kidnapper and telephones Lindbergh, giving him confirmation that the letter has the unique signature with three holes in the paper with a demand for $70,000. Condon later telephones Lindbergh to inform him that he has received a package with the sleeping garment of the child. Lindbergh dons a disguise and is able to drive away from his home without attracting the attention of the massed press. Lindbergh identifies the garment and also retrieves instructions for the rendezvous to pay the ransom. The Bronx, April 2, 1932. Condon and Lindbergh drive to a cemetery to hand over the ransom. Lindbergh stays in the car while Condon meets the kidnapper. The kidnapper speaks with a German accent and tells Condon that his name is John. Condon hands over the ransom but is told that further instructions will be given on where to retrieve the child. Despite a search by air for a boat indicated in the instructions, they are unable to find the child. The following month, the body of the child is found just two miles from the Lindbergh home. Lindbergh identifies the body at that of his missing child. By November 1933, New York City detectives are tracing Gold Certificates, contained in the ransom money, that are now entering circulation. On September 15, 1934, a breakthrough is made when a gas station attendant receives a

gold certificate Gold certificates were issued by the United States Treasury as a form of representative money from 1865 to 1933. While the United States observed a gold standard, the certificates offered a more convenient way to pay in gold than the use of coin ...

from a customer. The attendant had been notified to watch out for ransom banknotes and wrote the car licence plate on a gold certificate he received. Under questioning, he describes the customer as having a German accent. The car was a brown Plymouth Sedan and is identified as belonging to Bruno Hauptmann (

), resident in the Bronx. The detectives stake out Hauptmann's home and identify his car. After following Hauptmann, they decide to stop him quickly and find ransom money on his person. At his home, Hauptmann protests his innocence. Stripping his garage, the police find $14,000 ransom money hidden inside with matching serial numbers. Hauptmann is arrested. On January 2, 1935, the trial of Hauptmann begins in Flemington, New Jersey. Evidence is presented to connect Hauptmann to the ransom letters and ladder, the wood of which came from his attic. At the conclusion of the trial, Hauptmann is permitted to see his wife and his own child. Outside the courthouse, an angry mob are calling for the death penalty. Hauptmann remarks on his innocence and that the jury has deliberated for eleven hours, and that this is a good sign. Returning for the verdict, Hauptmann is found guilty. Cheering erupts in the courtroom and the mob applaud outside. Hauptmann is sentenced to death and later electrocuted on April 3, 1936, after being informed all appeals have failed. The Lindberghs decide to leave the country and move to England, where they are informed of Hauptmann's execution.

Cast

Bruno Hauptmann Bruno Richard Hauptmann (November 26, 1899 – April 3, 1936) was a German-born carpenter who was convicted of the abduction and murder of the 20-month-old son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The Lindbergh kidnap ...

* Denise Alexander as Violet Sharpe * Sian Barbara Allen as Anne Morrow Lindbergh *

as Edward J. Reilly * Joseph Cotten as Dr. John F. Condon * Peter Donat as Col. H. Norman Schwarzkopf *

John Fink John Fink (born February 11, 1940) is an American film and television actor. In the 1970–1971 the NBC sitcom '' Nancy'', Fink was cast as an Iowa veterinarian, Dr. Adam Hudson, who marries the daughter of the President of the United States ...

as Mr. Anderson * Dean Jagger as Koehler *

Laurence Luckinbill Laurence George Luckinbill (born November 21, 1934) is an American actor, playwright and director. He has worked in television, film, and theatre, doing triple duty in the theatre by writing, directing, and starring in stage productions. He is kno ...

as Gov. Hal Hoffman *

Frank Marth Frank Marth (July 29, 1922 – January 12, 2014) was an American film and television actor. He may be best known as a cast-member of ''Cavalcade of Stars'' (1949; 1950–1957), especially segments of ''The Honeymooners'', which later became a ...

as Chief Harry Wolfe * Walter Pidgeon as Judge Trenchard * Tony Roberts as Lt. Jim Finn * Robert Sampson as John Curtis * David Spielberg as

David Wilentz David Theodore Wilentz (December 21, 1894 – July 6, 1988) was the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1934 to 1944. In 1935 he successfully prosecuted Bruno Hauptmann in the Lindbergh kidnapping trial. He was the father of Robert Wilentz, Ch ...

* Joseph Stern as Dr. Schonfeld * Kate Woodville as Betty Gow *

Keenan Wynn Francis Xavier Aloysius James Jeremiah Keenan Wynn (July 27, 1916 – October 14, 1986) was an American character actor. His expressive face was his stock-in-trade; and though he rarely carried the lead role, he had prominent billing in most ...

as Fred Huisache *Alan Beckwith as Walter Lyle

Reception

Awards and nominations

The production was nominated for a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

for Best Motion Picture Made for TV.

won a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding pe ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, The 1976 television films 1976 films Cultural depictions of Charles Lindbergh Films directed by Buzz Kulik Films scored by Billy Goldenberg Films set in the 1930s Films about child abduction in the United States Lindbergh kidnapping NBC network original films Crime films based on actual events Films set in New Jersey