The Fall of Berlin (1950)
"Padeniye Berlina" (original title)

Surrounded by a few party officials, Alexei Ivanov, a stakhanovist smelter, is decorated by Stalin. The "Little Father of the Peoples" takes this opportunity to invoke threats of war.... ... See full summary »

Director:

Mikheil Chiaureli

Writers:

Mikheil Chiaureli, Pyotr Pavlenko

Stars:

Mikheil Gelovani, Boris Andreyev, V. Savelyev

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mikheil Gelovani	...	Iosef Stalin
Boris Andreyev	...	Alexei Ivanov nicknamed Aliocha
V. Savelyev	...	Adolf Hitler
Marina Kovalyova	...	Natasha Rumanyova Vasilnyeva (as M. Kovalyova)
M. Petrunkin	...	Joseph Goebbels
M. Novakova	...	Eva Braun
G. Timoshenko	...	Kostya Zavchenko
A. Urasalyev	...	Yusupov
Nikolai Bogolyubov	...	Factory Superintendent Kumchinsky
Jan Werich	...	Hermann Goering (as Y. Verikh)
Sofiya Giatsintova	...	MRs Ivanov - Alexei's mother (as S. Giatsyntova)
K. Roden	...	Charles Bedston
Boris Tenin	...	Gen. Chujkov
Viktor Lyubimov	...	Captain (as V. Lyubimov)
Viktor Stanitsyn	...	British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

Storyline

Surrounded by a few party officials, Alexei Ivanov, a stakhanovist smelter, is decorated by Stalin. The "Little Father of the Peoples" takes this opportunity to invoke threats of war.... One day, war indeed breaks out. Bombs fall on the field where Alexei finds himself in the company of the schoolmistress Natacha, his fiancée. Alexei joins the Red Army and soon becomes a sergeant. Fighting rages and German troops advance. Natacha is arrested and deported. But the tide turns decisively with the German defeat at Stalingrad. Now the major offensive against Hitler can begin.

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Plot Keywords:

goering | nazis invade ussr | prime minister | explosion | combat | 

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

15 September 1950 (Finland)

Also Known As:

The Fall of Berlin

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

167 min 167 min (original) 151 min (1953)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Magicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Finnish censorship visa register # 32373 delivered on 12-9-1950.

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Connections

Featured in Love, Hate & Propaganda: The Cold War: In the Shadow of Fear (2011)

User Reviews

A Birthday Present that Answers the Age Old Question....

A Birthday Present that finally answers the age old question of what to get the man who has everything. This film was presented to Stalin on his 70th birthday and is the archtypical Stalin Film. It is intriguing insight into the mindset of the man who ruled and terrorized 1/5 of all humanity and 1//2 of Europe by the film's 1949 release date. The acting, especially the Aliosha and Natasha love plot tied in with Stalin is poorly acted but makes all sense when you look at how Aliosha looks to Stalin for advice, because truth be told this film is a romance for Stalin. The special effects and lighting are excellent for a 1940s film and it is shot in a grand scale that matched the efforts of Kolberg, Gone with the Wind, and the 1926 Ben Hur.

The best parts of this film are the impressions of Churchill and Hitler. Minus Churchill speaking Russian, they have his lisp and mannerisms done exceedingly well. Hitler and Goering provide great charictatures and are humorously well done. At best its an intriguing insight into the delusions of madness that Stalin subjected his people to and at worst its a 2 hour festival of unintentional humor. I'd recommend it for any historian.