Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
directed by
Sergei Yutkevich
Sergei Iosifovich Yutkevich (, 28 December 1904 – 23 April 1985) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He was a People's Artist of the USSR (1962) and a Hero of Socialist Labour (1974).
Life and career
He began work as a teen do ...
and
Fridrikh Ermler
Fridrikh Markovich Ermler (13 May 189812 July 1967) was a Soviet film director, actor, and screenwriter. He was a four-time recipient of the Stalin Prize (in 1941, twice in 1946, and in 1951).
After studying pharmacology, he joined the Czari ...
.
The plot involves an effort to catch " wreckers" at work in a Soviet factory.
Plot
During the first Five-Year Plan, workers at the Leningrad Metal Plant take on the responsibility of constructing and launching the production of the first Soviet hydraulic turbines of increased power, essential for building hydroelectric stations as part of the GOELRO plan. The task of machining one of the turbines is assigned to Semyon Babchenko, an experienced but non-party worker. The workers celebrate the completion of Babchenko's shift, but a defect is found in the turbine, caused by his problematic alcohol habit. Babchenko decides to quit drinking before work, but his shift produces a new part, which turns out to be defective again. This time, the defect is caused by a warped lathe bed.
The secretary of the party committee calls an emergency meeting, and an intoxicated Babchenko bursts in, carrying a black "flag of shame" he had ripped from his lathe. After the scandal, the secretary of the party committee visits Babchenko at his apartment and urges him to return to work and take responsibility. He encourages the use of the "factory guard"—the old masters. Babchenko heeds the advice and organizes the old masters to continue the work. They find an abandoned lathe and restore it, but another setback occurs when worker Chutochkin discovers a design flaw in the blueprint, previously noticed by engineer Skvortsov, who had concealed it due to being a secret opponent of Soviet power. The workers apply an innovative solution to the problem, successfully creating the turbine, which passes the control tests. This joyful achievement is celebrated at Babchenko's apartment, where the workers toast the successful completion of the plan, and Babchenko raises a glass: "To the new Communist, Semyon Ivanovich Babchenko."
Music
The film's title song, "The Song of the Counterplan", composed by
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer.
Shostak ...
with lyrics by the poet Boris Kornilov, became world famous. Shostakovich's composition, with new lyrics by Jeanne Perret, would be used shortly after in the notable song of the French socialist movement, "Au-devant de la vie".
Shostakovich was to use the piece again in his '' Poem of the Motherland'' (1947), another film entitled '' Mitchurin'' (1948) and his 1958 operetta '' Moscow, Cheremushki!''. In 1942 the song was given English words by
Harold Rome
Harold Jacob "Hecky" Rome (May 27, 1908 – October 26, 1993) was an American composer, lyricist, and writer for musical theater.
Biography
Rome was born in Hartford, Connecticut and graduated from Hartford Public High School. Originally, he ch ...
under the title "
United Nations on the March
"United Nations on the March" is a song composed by Dmitri Shostakovich and with lyrics written by Harold Rome. The song was written with the intent of it serving as the anthem for the Allies of World War II, Allied Powers of World War II.
Song ...
" and in this guise it was featured as the choral finale to MGM's patriotic war-time musical ''
Thousands Cheer
''Thousands Cheer'' is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by George Sidney and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Produced during the Second World War, the film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families.
P ...
'' (1943). That same year,
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...
made an orchestral arrangement of the song and this was given the title "
United Nations March
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
".
Cast
*
Vladimir Gardin
Vladimir Rostislavovich Gardin 28 May 1965, born Blagonravov) Great Soviet EncyclopediaAndrei Abrikosov - Pavel
*
Boris Tenin
Boris Mikhailovich Tenin (; 23 March 1905, Kuznetsk – 8 September 1990, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and Pedagogy, pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1981).
Biography
Boris Tenin was born in Kuznetsk in a famil ...
- Vasya
*
Boris Poslavsky
Boris may refer to:
People
* Boris (given name), a male given name
*
*List of people with given name Boris
* Boris (surname)
Arts and media
* Boris (band), a Japanese experimental rock trio
* ''Boris'' (EP), by Yezda Urfa, 1975
* "Boris" (son ...
- Skvortsov
* M. Pototskaya - Skvortsov's mother
* Aleksei Alekseyev - Plant's director
* Nikolai Kozlovsky - Lazarev
* Vladimir Sladkopevtsev - Morgun
* Yakov Gudkin - Chutochkin
* Nikolai Michurin - worker
* Pyotr Alejnikov - worker
* Stepan Krylov - worker
* Nikolai Cherkasov
*
Zoya Fyodorova
Zoya Alekseyevna Fyodorova (also Fedorova) (; 11 December 1981) was a Russian film star who had an affair with American Navy captain Jackson Tate in 1945 and bore a child, Victoria Fyodorova in January 1946. Having rejected the advances of N ...