The North Star (1943)

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

Lillian Hellman (story)
Lillian Hellman (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 March 1945 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

A rolling wall of hell that couldn't be stopped... A handful of men who had to stop it!

Plot:

A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941.

Plot Keywords:

Nazi | Blood Transfusion | Walking | Soviet Union | Guerrilla Warfare

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars.

Cast

Anne Baxter	...	Marina Pavlova
Dana Andrews	...	Kolya Simonov
Walter Huston	...	Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin
Walter Brennan	...	Karp
Ann Harding	...	Sophia Pavlova
Jane Withers	...	Clavdia Kurina
Farley Granger	...	Damian Simonov
Erich von Stroheim	...	Dr. von Harden
Dean Jagger	...	Rodion Pavlov
Eric Roberts	...	Grisha Kurin
Carl Benton Reid	...	Boris Stepanich Simonov
Ann Carter	...	Olga Pavlova
Esther Dale	...	Anna
Ruth Nelson	...	Nadya Simonova
Paul Guilfoyle	...	Iakin
Martin Kosleck	...	Dr. Richter
Tonio Selwart	...	German captain
Peter Pohlenz	...	German lieutenant
Robert Lowery	...	Russian pilot
Gene O'Donnell	...	Russian co-pilot
Frank Wilcox	...	Commander Petrov
Loudie Claar	...	Woman on Hospital Cot
Lynn Winthrop	...	Guerrilla girl
Charles Bates	...	Petya, boy who was bled
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frederic Brunn	...	German Motorcycle Officer (as Frederick Brunn)
Florence Auer	...	Woman farmer (uncredited)
John Bagni	...	Guard at desk (uncredited)
Art Baker	...	Radio voice (uncredited)
Bill Borzage	...	Accordion player in wagon (uncredited)
Edward Burns	...	Guerrilla (uncredited)
Edmund Cobb	...	Farmer (uncredited)
Grace Cunard	...	Farmer's wife (uncredited)
Emma Dunn	...	(uncredited)
Martin Faust	...	(uncredited)
Constant Franke	...	Boris' aide (uncredited)
Inna Gest	...	Specialty dancer (uncredited)
Teddy Infuhr	...	Bald schoolboy (uncredited)
John Judd	...	Farmer (uncredited)
Ilia Khmara	...	First accordion player (uncredited)
Grace Lenard	...	Woman on bridge (uncredited)
George Lynn	...	German pilot (uncredited)
Jerry Mickelsen	...	Farmer's son (uncredited)
Georgie Nokes	...	Boy (uncredited)
Sarah Padden	...	Old lady (uncredited)
Patricia Parks	...	Sonya (uncredited)
Minna Phillips	...	Old lady in wagon (uncredited)
Tommy Rall	...	Dancing Peasant (uncredited)
Ferdinand Schumann-Heink	...	Doctor's assistant (uncredited)
Clarence Straight	...	Young man in wagon (uncredited)
Harry Strang	...	Guerilla (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	German soldier with binoculars & grenade (uncredited)
Joyce Tucker	...	Little girl in hospital (uncredited)
William Walker	...	Young Man in Wagon (uncredited)
Crane Whitley	...	German soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Lewis Milestone

Writing credits
Lillian Hellman		(story)
Lillian Hellman		(screenplay)

Produced by
Samuel Goldwyn	....	producer
William Cameron Menzies	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Aaron Copland

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe

Film Editing by
Daniel Mandell

Art Direction by
Perry Ferguson

Set Decoration by
Howard Bristol

Makeup Department
Robert Stephanoff	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Walter Mayo	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sam Nelson	....	assistant director

Art Department
McClure Capps	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Fred Lau	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Ray Binger	....	special photographic effects
Clarence Slifer	....	special photographic effects

Stunts
Buster Wiles	....	stunts (uncredited)

Music Department
Gil Grau	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Jerome Moross	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Heinz Roemheld	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
David Lichine	....	choreographer
Zina Voynow	....	technical advisor: Russia
Peter Pohlenz	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Benno Schneider	....	dialogue director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• Film Classics (1947) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• National Telefilm Associates (NTA) (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-titled) (re-release)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (video)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Video Yesteryear (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Armored Attack (USA) (recut version)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Sweden:15

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

Film debut of Farley Granger.

Quotes:

Boris Stepanich Simonov, truck driver: Comrades, we have good reasons to know our country is at war. In our small village alone, 30 people have been injured. Eleven people have been killed. But his is not a time for mourning - it is time for revenge. We will divide into two groups, each to do his duty from this day until death...

Soundtrack:

Chari Vari Rastabari

The changing winds of politics and war

... made this historical curiosity possible.

The German invasion of Russia transformed Stalin from one of Hitler's allies to one of ours, and made necessary the production of propaganda films -- this one, "Mission To Moscow", "Song of Russia" -- to bring everyone around to the new way of thinking. Hollywood liberals seem to have been keen to have the chance to make a pro-Soviet film.

"The North Star", therefore, has an impressive list of credits. Lewis Milestone directs a rather poor Lillian Hellman script, while the music is provided by the unusual combination of Aaron Copland and Ira Gershwin.

The story takes place in a Ukrainian farming village, where ordinary people are determined to resist the foreign aggressors, just as they are in "Dragon Seed" (1944) where the Japanese invasion of China is resisted by Chinese peasants Katherine Hepburn and Walter Huston.

Since this is a propaganda film, and just as realistic as "Dragon Seed", we see a lot of scenes of village life before war breaks out. It's an endless round of singing, dancing, picnicking, and accordion-playing. Everyone is expected to sing in this film, and that includes Farley Granger, Walter Huston, and Dana Andrews, who accompanies himself on balalaika. Listen closely for the jolly folksong about Soviet children eating too much jam. Girls always have flowers in their hair, and people never walk when they can gaily skip down the road. This is a typical Soviet village in the same way that the Von Trapps are a typical Austrian family.

In reality, the pre-war years in the Ukraine saw several million in the countryside starve to death during the artificial famine which was part of Stalin's forcible collectivization policy. In the area where this fairytale village is found, many of the locals welcomed the Germans as liberators.

The pre-war scenes in "The North Star" are certainly ridiculous, but in spite of everything they do manage to have a certain goofy charm. The film changes dramatically for the worse once war breaks out. Most of the film consists of extended battle sequences which are never very convincing or persuasive, where something poignant -- villagers having to set fire to their own houses -- will be followed by something stupid -- cavalrymen leaping from horses through windows at Germans.

Anne Baxter at the end, in a scene intended to evoke Tom Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath", delivers an inspiring speech from her cart. It's a little embarrassing to sit through, but by that point in the film, you've gotten used to it.