IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941.A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941.A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941.
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.5K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- Lillian Hellman(original story)
- Burt Beck(additional dialogue in new version)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- Lillian Hellman(original story)
- Burt Beck(additional dialogue in new version)
- Stars
- Nominated for 6 Oscars
- 6 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- Lillian Hellman(original story) (screen play)
- Burt Beck(additional dialogue in new version) (uncredited)
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
- All cast & crew
Storyline
It's June, 1941 in a farming cooperative in the Soviet Socialist Republic of the Ukraine. Although the citizens of the cooperative hear about the atrocities of the war on their radios, they are on the most part not yet directly affected by it. It's the end of the school year, and some of the older youth are excited about their futures. Beyond that, a small group of those youths are looking most forward to their imminent vacation to Kiev, where they are planning to hike for the four or five days it takes to get there above their planned three days in the city itself. They include: Damian Terasa Simonov, who finished top of his class including getting a scholarship to study at the State University of Kiev in the fall; his girlfriend, Marina Pavlov, the two who will be separated for the year as she finishes her schooling and who plan eventually to reunite in Kiev not only for Marina to go to university as well but for the two to get married; Kolya Simonov, Damian's older, more worldly brother who is a junior officer in the Soviet air corps; Clavdia Kurin, an old fashioned type of girl on who Kolya is sweet; and Grisha Kurin, Clavdia's younger brother. Things change when the Nazis invade the Soviet Union - including the village of the cooperative - first with air strikes then ground troops. While some of the villagers form a guerrilla army hidden in the woods, they led by Kolya and Damian's father, Boris Stepanich Simonov, Kolya, Damian, Marina, Clavdia, Grisha, and fellow villager, the elderly Karp, are caught between Kiev and the village, all trying to make their way back to the village, except Kolya who must join his regiment at the airfield. Their journey becomes more important to the war effort upon their encounter with someone else on the road. Back in the village, the people who may end up being the most conflicted are: Marina's mother, Sophia Pavlov, who will probably be the primary target of the Nazis as the de facto head of the cooperative, with Marina's father, Rodion Pavlov, having joined the ranks of the guerrillas; and Clavdia and Grisha's grandfather, Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin, who as a doctor has vowed to save lives, and who may be asked to save the lives of wounded Nazi soldiers, all the while while the Nazis in similar circumstances have bled the children of villages to their deaths all in the name of providing blood plasma to the wounded soldiers. —Huggo
- nazi soldier
- airplanes bombing civilians
- strafing from an aircraft
- herd of sheep
- socialist country
- 40 more
- Taglines
- A ROLLING WALL OF HELL THAT COULDN'T BE STOPPED... A HANDFUL OF MEN WHO HAD TO STOP IT! (rerelease title card all-caps0
- Genres
- Certificate
- Passed
- Parents guide
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.
- GoofsAs the group of children leaves town for Kiev, they are shown walking past the same house twice in succession.
- Quotes
Karp, old wagon driver: Anna! Anna! Where's Pavel Grigorich? I've come to be his guest at breakfast.
Anna, doctor's cousin-housekeeper: Stop shouting! Don't be so young with the voice.
Grisha Kurin, doctor's grandson: You'll have to come back, Comrade Karp. Grandpa is still asleep. A new baby came to the hospital last night and then Grandpa came home and did his writing
[to Comrade Karp]
Clavdia Kurina, doctor's granddaughter: Good morning!
[to Grisha]
Clavdia Kurina, doctor's granddaughter: That's not the way you say it. You say, 'A baby came into the bright world in the darkest part of the night.'
Anna, doctor's cousin-housekeeper: Don't talk so pretty.
- 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)
Top review
Rare Movie To Show Soviet Russia In Positive Light
One of the many staple of movies made during WWII to both entertain the audience and aid the war effort. Several then-known and soon-to-be-known stars such as Walter Brennan, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, and Anne Baxter. Aside from the usual war effort type movie, the biggest thing about this movie was that it was one of the rare movies to show the Soviet Union in a positive light. Granted it focused on a small village in the Ukraine without much explicit Soviet visuals but it was none the less. Again it was shot in 1943 when we, and the Soviets, were technically allies and battling the Nazis. Even then the US was never really at ease with the Soviet alliance and shortly after the surrender of Germany it became apparent that the Soviets broke with the rest of the allied post-war plans. However this movie was meant to be more of a heart-warming drama focusing on several families and most specifically their young children who are from 17-to late 20s and a couple even younger who set out on a road trip on the same day Nazi Germany invades the Ukraine. Brennan plays the old man grandfatherly figure who helps the younger people deal with the attack once it commences. This was one of Dana Andrews' earliest war type movies he goes on to play many more such roles. Obviously meant to be a propaganda piece or at least to elicit support for the war it is a good movie if you like war type movies especially since it shows an aspect of the WWII experience that is not commonly scene in movies.
helpful•206
- craig-378
- Mar 5, 2005
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
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content

Recently viewed
Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.