''Simple People'' () is a 1945

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 ...

war romance film directed by

Grigori Kozintsev Grigori Mikhailovich Kozintsev (11 May 1973, born Grigori Moiseyevich Kozintsov) was a Soviet theatre and film director, screenwriter and pedagogue. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1964. In 1965 he was a member of the jury at the ...

and

Leonid Trauberg Leonid Zakharovich Trauberg (, 17 January 1902 – 14 November 1990) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 17 films between 1924 and 1961 and was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1941. Trauberg was Jewish, and was fiercely attack ...

. The film, along with the second part of Eisenstein's

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

was harshly criticized by

Andrei Zhdanov Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андрей Александрович Жданов, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ˈʐdanəf, a=Ru-Андрей Жданов.ogg, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician. He was ...

and banned. A version of the film, released in 1956 during

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw (, or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s when Political repression in the Soviet Union, repression and Censorship in ...

, was disowned by Kozintsev because the reediting was done without his participation.

Plot

As Nazi forces advance toward Leningrad, the last plane departs from an aviation factory's airfield, and the factory is slated for evacuation. Workers, including elderly men, women, and teenagers, journey across the country to distant Uzbekistan, while the skilled workforce fights on the front lines. Despite challenges, the factory is expected to begin producing planes within two months. Upon arrival, the evacuees set up machinery under open skies and begin working, joined by thousands of new recruits, many grieving the loss of loved ones. The factory director, Yeremin, endures his own tragedy: his wife goes missing during the evacuation. Despite the personal blow, Yeremin tirelessly oversees every aspect of the factory's operations, ensuring progress. His resilience is rewarded when he reunites with his wife, who had suffered captivity and lost her health and memory during the German occupation. Under the care of doctors, she recovers, and on the day the factory produces its first aircraft, she is discharged from the hospital. Together with Yeremin and the entire factory team, she shares the joy of this labor triumph.

Cast

Yuri Tolubeyev Yuri Vladimirovich Tolubeyev (, May 1, 1906, St. Petersburg, Russian Empire - December 28, 1979, Leningrad, USSR) was a Soviet theatrical and cinema actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1956). Winner of the Lenin (1959) and Stalin Prize (1947). He ...

- Yeryemin * Olga Lebzak - Yeryemina * Boris Zhukovsky - Makeev * F. Babadzhanov - Akbashev * Yekaterina Korchagina-Aleksandrovskaya - grandmother * I. Kudryavtseva - Varvara * Larisa Yemelyantseva - Sasha * Vladimir Kolchin - Ivanov *

Tatyana Pelttser Tatyana Ivanovna Pelttser (; ; June 6, 1904 in Moscow – July 16, 1992 in Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress. People's Artist of the USSR (1972). Biography Tatyana Ivanovna Pelttser (or Peltzer) born into the family ...

- Plaksina * Anatoli Chiryev - Romka * Aleksandr Larikov - Kizlyakov * Konstantin Adashevky - the cook

External links

* 1945 films 1945 war films 1940s war romance films 1940s war drama films 1945 romantic drama films 1940s Soviet films 1940s Russian-language films Soviet war drama films War romance films Soviet romantic drama films Soviet black-and-white films Soviet World War II films Films directed by Grigori Kozintsev Films directed by Leonid Trauberg Films scored by Dmitri Shostakovich Lenfilm films Russian-language war drama films Russian-language romantic drama films {{WWII-drama-film-stub