''Knights of the Teutonic Order'' (Polish: ''Krzyżacy'') is a 1960

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

film directed by

Aleksander Ford Aleksander Ford (born Mosze Lifszyc; 24 November 1908 in Kiev, Russian Empire – 4 April 1980 in Naples, Florida, U.S.) was a Polish film director; and head of the Polish People's Army Film Crew in the Soviet Union during World War II. Follow ...

based on the novel of the same name by Henryk Sienkiewicz. The plot is situated in the late-14th century and early-15th century Poland and centers on the

Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War The Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, also known as the Great War, occurred between 1409 and 1411 between the Teutonic Knights and the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war beg ...

(1409-1411) and the final

Battle of Grunwald The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris or First Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respec ...

(1410). 15,000 extras were employed to create the battle scenes. The film attracted to cinema masses of viewers and remains one of the most attended films in Polish history: it sold 2 million tickets within several months, 14 million after four years and as of 1987, it had some 32,315,695 admissions. It was also exported to forty-six foreign countries, and sold 29.6 million tickets in the Soviet Union and 2,650,700 in the

Czechoslovak Socialist Republic The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, ČSSR, formerly known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic or Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 to 29 March 1990, when it was renamed the Czechoslovak ...

, and was the most successful Polish film internationally. It was a Polish submission to the 33rd Academy Awards. It was released on 15 July 1960, the 550th anniversary of the battle of Grunwald.

Cast

* Grażyna Staniszewska as Danusia Jurandówna *

Urszula Modrzyńska Urszula Modrzyńska (; 23 February 1928 – 11 December 2010) was a Polish stage and film actress. Modrzyńska began her career on stage in 1949 in Wilam Horzyca Theater in Toruń. In the 1950s and 1960 she played several memorable parts in movi ...

as Jagienka ze Zgorzelic * Mieczysław Kalenik as Zbyszko z Bogdańca *

Aleksander Fogiel Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

as Maćko z Bogdańca *

Andrzej Szalawski Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew. Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej * Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer * Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and ...

as Jurand ze Spychowa * Leon Niemczyk as Fulko de Lorche * Henryk Borowski as Zygfryd de Löwe * Mieczysław Voit as Kuno von Lichtenstein * Tadeusz Białoszczyński as Duke

Janusz I of Warsaw Janusz I of Warsaw (pl: ''Janusz I warszawski''), also known as Janusz I the Old (pl: ''Janusz I Starszy'') (c. 1347/52 – 8 December 1429), was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast in the Masovian branch, from 1373/74 Duke of Warsaw an ...

* Stanisław Jasiukiewicz as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights

Ulrich von Jungingen Ulrich von Jungingen (1360 – 15 July 1410) was the 26th Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, serving from 1407 to 1410. His policy of confrontation with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Pol ...

* Emil Karewicz as King

Władysław Jagiełło Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * ...

* Józef Kostecki as Lithuanian duke Witold * Janusz Strachocki as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights

Konrad von Jungingen Konrad V von Jungingen (c. 1355 – 30 March 1407) was a grand master of the Teutonic Order in 1393-1407. Under his administration the Teutonic Order would reach their greatest extent. Konrad von Jungingen came from the Swabian League. He join ...

* Lucyna Winnicka as Duchess Anna Danuta, wife of Janusz I of Warsaw * Cezary Julski as Zawisza Czarny * Jerzy Kozakiewicz as Cztan z Rogowa * Janusz Paluszkiewicz as royal marshall * Jerzy Pichelski as Powala of Taczew

References

External links

*
Krzyżacy
at FilmPolski.pl 1960 films 1960s historical films Polish historical films 1960s Polish-language films Films based on works by Henryk Sienkiewicz Films directed by Aleksander Ford Films set in the 1400s Films set in the 1410s Films set in the 14th century Films set in Poland War epic films Films based on actual events Films based on Polish novels Cultural depictions of Jan Žižka Polish epic films {{historic-film-stub