''Maksimka'' or ''Maximka'' () is a 1953 Soviet children's

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by Vladimir Braun and starring Tolya Bovykin, Boris Andreyev and

Vyacheslav Tikhonov Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov (; 8 February 1928 – 4 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best known role was as Soviet spy Stierlitz in the television series ''Seventeen Moments of Spring''. He was a recipient of numerou ...

.Rollberg p.740

Plot

In 1864, the Russian corvette ''Bogatyr'' encounters an American ship in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. In the ship's hold, there is a cargo of enslaved Black people. Two days later, the sailors of ''Bogatyr'' rescue a young Black boy from the wreckage of an American ship destroyed in a storm. Terrified and beaten by the slave traders, the boy finds kindness and compassion in the Russian sailors. Soon, the boy, nicknamed Maksimka by the crew, becomes a favorite of the entire team. Among them, sailor Luchkin forms a particularly strong bond with Maksimka. Luchkin’s love for the boy helps him overcome a deep sense of bitterness from an earlier injury caused by a cruel landowner. Through his attachment to Maksimka, Luchkin finds a renewed sense of purpose and meaning in life. In return, Maksimka shows his affection for his older Russian friend. He actively helps the crew of ''Bogatyr'' rescue Luchkin from captivity aboard an American ship, where labor recruiters had forcibly taken him. Due to his resourcefulness and courage in rescuing Luchkin, the captain of ''Bogatyr'' orders that Maksimka be officially enrolled in the corvette’s crew and is given the surname Bogatyryov. Thus, Maksimka becomes a young sailor of the Russian navy.

Cast

* Tolya Bovykin as Maksimka * Boris Andreyev as Seaman Luchkin *

as Ship's Lt. Gorelov * Emmanuil Geller as American slave runner *

Mikhail Astangov Mikhail Fyodorovich Astangov (20 April 1965, born Ruzhnikov) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. Astangov was born in Warsaw and died in Moscow. People's Artist of the USSR (1955). Filmography * '' The Conveyor of Death'' (1933) – ...

as Captain of the slave ship * Aleksandr Kashperov as Richards (mate of slave ship) * Nikolay Kryuchkov as Russian ship's bo'sun *Sergei Kurilov as Russian ship's captain *

Stepan Kayukov Stepan Yakovlevich Kayukov (; 1 August 1898 – 22 January 1960) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1949). Selected filmography * '' Golden Mountains'' (1931) as worker * '' Iudushka Golovlyov'' (1 ...

as Russian ship's officer * Vladimir Balashov as Russian ship's officer *

Pyotr Sobolevsky Pyotr Stanislavovich Sobolevsky (; 22 May 1904 – 26 July 1977) was a Soviet actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1926 and 1973. Biography Sobolevsky was born on 22 May 1904 in Tomsk. He studied at the (FEKS) under Grigori Kozintse ...

as Russian ship's navigator *

Mark Bernes Mark Naumovich Bernes () (born Menakhem-Man Neukh-Shmuylov Neyman, ; ,This date: – is a mistake found in the ''Great Soviet Encyclopaedia''. True date: – was engraved on the Bernes's gravestone at Novodevichy Cemetery (Moscow), and also ...

as Russian ship's doctor * Konstantin Sorokin as Russian ship's

yeoman Yeoman is a noun originally referring either to one who owns and cultivates land or to the middle ranks of Serfdom, servants in an Peerage of England, English royal or noble household. The term was first documented in Kingdom of England, mid-1 ...

* Nikolai Pishvanov as Russian sailor * Andrei Sova as Russian sailor *

Mikhail Pugovkin Mikhail Ivanovich Pugovkin (; 13 July 1923 — 25 July 2008) was a Soviet and Russian comic actor named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1988. He studied in the Moscow Art Theatre school under Ivan Moskvin, took part in World War II and, follow ...

as Russian sailor

References

Bibliography

* Rollberg, Peter. ''Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema''. Scarecrow Press, 2008.

External links

* 1953 films 1950s children's adventure films Soviet children's films Soviet adventure films 1950s Russian-language films Seafaring films 1950s Soviet films Russian-language adventure films {{1950s-USSR-film-stub