''Days of Glory'' is a 1944 American film, directed by

Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French film director known for the classic film noir ''Out of the Past'' and a series of low-budget horror films he made for RKO Studios, including ''Cat People (1942 film), Cat ...

, which tells the story of a group of Soviet guerrillas fighting back during the 1941 Nazi invasion of Russia. It marked the film debut of

Tamara Toumanova Tamara Toumanova ( ka, თამარა თუმანოვა; 2 March 1919 – 29 May 1996) was a Georgian-American prima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her debut at the ag ...

and Gregory Peck, as well as most of the other principal actors. It was also the first film produced by screen writer

Casey Robinson Kenneth Casey Robinson (October 17, 1903 – December 6, 1979) was an American producer and director of mostly B movies and a screenwriter responsible for some of Bette Davis' most revered films. Film critic Richard Corliss once described him ...

, who in early January 1943 had been contracted by

RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

to write and produce the film under the

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

''This Is Russia''. Robinson and Toumanova married in 1944 and divorced in 1955. The film included the last screen appearance of actor Erford Gage, who subsequently entered the U.S. Army and was killed in action in 1945.

Plot

In the snowy Russian countryside of the early 1940s, Vladimir ( Gregory Peck) leads a squad of nearly a dozen partisan fighters operating behind German lines. The group's routines are disrupted when Nina (

), a ballerina, is brought to their hideout after becoming separated from her troupe. She confesses she has neither handled a gun nor learned to fight, cook, mend, or clean. Vladimir favors sending her away. Later, a German soldier stumbles upon the group's lair but is captured. That night, he nearly escapes, but Nina shoots him, winning the approval of her new comrades. The next night, when the guerrillas carry out the sabotage of a German munitions train, Vladimir takes Nina along. The operation is a success. Yet although she and Vladimir are falling in love, Nina does not understand his ruthlessness. He explains that before the war he, as an engineer, had to destroy the very electric power plant he had helped build in order to keep the enemy from using it. The couple's budding romance threatens the stability of the squad. At one point, when Vladimir must enlist someone to hand-deliver a coded message on Nazi troop strength to Soviet headquarters, he decides a woman courier would less likely be caught. He chooses the veteran Yelena (

Maria Palmer Maria Palmer (born Maria Pichler, 5 September 1917 – 6 September 1981) was an Austrian-born American actress. Early life Palmer was born and raised in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Vienna, Austria) on 5 September 1917. She first appeared on st ...

), the only woman in the group besides Nina. So when Yelena's horse returns to their hideout with blood on the saddle, Nina then volunteers to take her place. Vladimir reluctantly accedes, sending the teen-aged boy Mitya (

Glen Vernon Glen Vernon (born Glenn Vernon; October 27, 1923 – October 27, 1999) was an American actor. Glenn Vernon hailed from Fall River, Massachusetts, and pursued a dramatic career upon graduation from high school. He used his given name of Glenn Ver ...

) along with her. After Nina and Mitya reach headquarters and deliver Vladimir's information, she is given a coded reply to Vladimir: "The snow will fall tomorrow." This indicates that a massive Russian counterattack will begin the next day. Vladimir's superiors put him in charge of a merged partisan operation. Before the fighting begins, however, he orders Nina to take Mitya's younger sister, Olga (Dena Penn), to safety. Fighting bravely, the group's members are killed one by one, but Nina returns to Vladimir. As they fight on, he administers her the partisan oath of allegiance just before a German tank rolls atop their machine-gun nest and explodes.

Cast

as Nina Ivanova * Gregory Peck as Vladimir *

Alan Reed Alan Reed (born Herbert Theodore Bergman; August 20, 1907 – June 14, 1977) was an American actor, best known as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on ''The Flintstones'' and various spinoff series. He also appeared in many films, includin ...

as Sasha *

as Yelena *

Lowell Gilmore Lowell Gilmore (20 December 1906 – 31 January 1960) was an American stage, film and television actor. Life and career Lowell Gilmore first worked as a stage manager on the 1929 Broadway play ''The First Mrs. Fraser'', but got his chance as a ...

as Semyon *

Hugo Haas Hugo Haas (19 February 1901 – 1 December 1968) was a Czech film actor, director and writer. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1926 and 1962, as well as directing 20 films between 1933 and 1962. Life and career Haas was born in B ...

as Fedor * Dena Penn as Olga, Mitya's young sister *

as Mitya (as Glenn Vernon) * Igor Dolgoruki as Dmitri * Edward L. Durst as Petrov (as Edward Durst) * Lou Crosby as Johann Staub

Production

''Days of Glory'' is one of a handful of Hollywood films made during American participation in World War II to increase public support for the country's alliance with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

against Nazi Germany. Such films, which would become the target of investigations during the Cold War by the

House Committee on Un-American Activities The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

, included ''

Mission to Moscow ''Mission to Moscow'' is a 1943 film directed by Michael Curtiz, based on the 1941 book by the former U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, Joseph E. Davies. The movie chronicles the experiences of the second American ambassador to the Soviet ...

'', '' The North Star'', ''

Three Russian Girls ''Three Russian Girls'' (also known as ''She Who Dares'') is a 1943 American World War II pro-Soviet propaganda film produced by R-F Productions and distributed by United Artists. It is a remake of the Soviet film '' The Girl from Leningrad'' (194 ...

'', ''

Counter-Attack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

'', and ''

Song of Russia ''Song of Russia'' is a 1944 American war film made and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The picture was credited as being directed by Gregory Ratoff, though Ratoff collapsed near the end of the five-month production, and was replaced by Lás ...

''. Parts of the film were shot in Cedar City, Utah.

Reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

faulted the screenwriter for "letting his story progress so fitfully and loading his characters with dialogue rather than stirring deeds." He said "the director failed to make the best of what he had," and "Gregory Peck comes recommended with a Gary Cooper angularity and a face somewhat like that modest gentleman's, but his acting is equally stiff." The film recorded a loss of $593,000.Richard B. Jewell, ''Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures'', Uni of California, 2016

Award nominations

Vernon L. Walker, James G. Stewart, and

Roy Granville Roy Granville (August 12, 1910 – September 1986) was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American an ...

were nominated for the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

for Best Effects.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Days Of Glory (1944 film) 1944 films 1944 romantic drama films 1940s war drama films American pro-Soviet propaganda films American romantic drama films American black-and-white films Eastern Front of World War II films 1940s English-language films Films about the Soviet Union in the Stalin era Films directed by Jacques Tourneur Films scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof 1940s German-language films Films shot in Utah American war drama films Guerrilla warfare in film RKO Pictures films 1940s American films