A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the German invasion of June 1941.A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the German invasion of June 1941.A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the German invasion of June 1941.
- Nominated for 6 Oscars
- 6 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- Lillian Hellman
- Burt Beck(additional dialogue in new version) (uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis is one of the films deemed subversive" by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in October 1947, at the height of the "Red Scare" era typified by the tactics of Sen. Joseph McCarthy. The committee decided that, even though Russia was an ally of the US against Nazi Germany in World War II--when this film was made--the movie's sympathetic portrayal of Russian peasants and guerrillas who were fighting off Nazi forces was an endorsement of Communism.
- GoofsIn the opening moments of the film, Damian slides out from under a tractor that has rubber tires. Moments later the tractor is shown as having only steel wheels and no rubber tires.
- Quotes
Dr. von Harden: [while Dr. Kurin is holding a gun on Richter and von Harden] I do not like much of what I've done for the past nine years.
Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin: [after von Harden has given a blood transfusion from a Russian child to a German soldier] You do not like bleeding children?
Dr. von Harden: Did the boy die?
Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin: [Contemtuously] You knew he would die!
Dr. von Harden: They took too much blood. I'm sorry for that.
Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin: Yes, I nelieve you when you say you are sorry.
Dr. von Harden: I'm sorry for many things, Dr. Kurin. Most of all that this is not the world we used to know.
Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin: I've heard about you... civilized men who are sorry. This...
[Contemptuously gesturing toward Richter]
Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin: This kind is nothing! They will go when their bosses go, but men like you who have contempt for men like him! To me you are the real filth... men who do the work of Facists while they pretend to themselves that they are better than the beasts for whom they work... men who do murder while they laugh at them who order them to do it. It is men like you who have sold their people to men like him.
[He points to Richter and shoots him at point blank range]
Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin: You see, Dr. von Harden, you were wrong about many things. I AM a man who kills!
[He shoots von Harden at point blank range too]
- Alternate versionsIn 1956, the film was sold to television and re-edited under the title "Armored Attack." 25 minutes were removed, including all references to the word "comrade," and with the help of voice-over narrations, turned the alleged pro-Communist piece into anti-Communist territory.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sprockets: Masters of Menace (1995)
The interesting film is a gripping war story with valiant villagers facing on Nazis.This unnerving epic depicts the horror war as Nazi atrocities and as the resistance fighters roam the Russian countryside attacking during the invasion. Although melodramatic moments in overall effects, also has moments of astounding power with some overwhelming sequences. Thought-provoking screenplay amid much feuding writer Lillian Hellman and producer/director , and Hellman told her disappointment on the adaptation. The credits are extraordinaries, prestigious actors, Walter Huston as the village medic, Dana Andrews, Farley Granger in his first role along with Anne Baxter, Erich Von Stroheim as usual official Nazi, Dean Jagger, among them.Cinematography supplied by the master James Wong Howe and score by the classic Aaron Copland with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.
The motion picture is well directed by Lewis Milestone, he was born in the Ukraine(where is set the movie), but emigrated to America at 18 and he served in WWI. He often made chronicles of wartime conflicts and persisted in showing horror war from the point of view of the ordinary soldier. As he showed WWI(All quiet on the western front), WWII(A walk in the sun,Purple heart, Halls of Motzuma,Edge and darkness) and Korean war(Pork Chop Hill); and directed several other excellent movies in different fields, drama(Of mice and men, Strange love of Martha Ivers), adventures(Mutiny on the Bounty) and heist-comedy(Ocean's eleven), among others.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Armored Attack
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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