The film opens with archive footage of [Charles Lindbergh], Cliff DeYoung's pioneering 1927 transatlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis, set to the era’s patriotic 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 their baby is missing from the crib. They check with Charles Lindbergh, Cliff DeYoung in his study; the baby is not with him, and they hurry to the nursery to discover an envelope left near the window. Lindbergh orders Betty to call the police and cautions his wife not to disturb anything in the nursery as investigators gather evidence.
The police establish a command post in the Lindberghs’ garage. A ladder lies outside the nursery window, accompanied by a muddy footprint. Inside, the envelope is opened and Lindbergh reads a note claiming the child is in good care and that the kidnapper’s signature consists of three holes punched in the paper. The breakthrough moment quickly becomes a media frenzy as reporters press for statements, frustrating investigators who seek to maintain order.
In New York City, detectives weigh the possibility of organized crime but are advised by a profiler that the kidnapper may be a lone actor driven by envy of Lindbergh’s fame. The crime feels personal and methodical, rather than a straightforward robbery.
Across town, Dr. John Condon, Joseph Cotten, a local figure, volunteers to act as an intermediary for the ransom and writes to the Bronx Home News to offer his help. He receives a reply from the kidnapper and phones Lindbergh to confirm that the note bears the three-hole signature and to relay a demand of $70,000.
Condon later informs Lindbergh that a package containing the child’s sleeping garment has been recovered. To protect his family from the press, Lindbergh disguises himself and travels to the rendezvous, retrieving instructions for the ransom exchange.
The Bronx, April 2, 1932. Condon and Lindbergh drive to a cemetery for the exchange. Lindbergh stays in the car while Condon meets the kidnapper, who speaks with a German accent and identifies himself as John. Condon hands over the money, and receives word that further instructions will follow about where to retrieve the child. Despite air searches, authorities locate no child on that day.
In the following month, the kidnapped child’s body is found just two miles from the Lindbergh home, and Lindbergh identifies the remains. By November 1933, New York City detectives trace the ransom money’s gold certificates as they re-enter circulation.
A breakthrough comes on September 15, 1934, when a gas station attendant recognizes a gold certificate and notes a license plate. He describes the customer as German-accented, and investigators identify the car as a brown Plymouth Sedan belonging to Bruno Hauptmann, a Bronx resident, tying him to the case.
Authorities stake out Hauptmann’s home, locate his car, and ultimately arrest him. A search of his garage reveals $14,000 in ransom money with matching serial numbers, a crucial link in the case. Hauptmann protests his innocence as he is brought to trial.
On January 2, 1935, Hauptmann’s trial begins in Flemington, New Jersey. Evidence connects Hauptmann to the ransom letters and the ladder, with wood from his attic matching the ladder used in the crime. At the end of the trial, Hauptmann sees his wife and their child outside the courtroom as a mob outside clamors for the death penalty. Hauptmann proclaims his innocence, and the jury’s eleven-hour deliberation results in a guilty verdict.
Hauptmann is sentenced to death and later electrocuted on April 3, 1936, after all appeals have failed. The Lindberghs decide to leave the country for England, and they learn of Hauptmann’s execution there, marking the end of a case that transfixed a nation.
