THE NORTH STAR (1943) Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews & Walter Huston |Drama, War | B&W | Timeless Film

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The North Star (also known as Armored Attack in the US) is a 1943 pro-resistance war film starring Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, Walter Brennan and Erich von Stroheim It was produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. It was directed by Lewis Milestone, written by Lillian Hellman and featured production design by William Cameron Menzies. The music was written by Aaron Copland, the lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and the cinematography by James Wong Howe. The film also marked the debut of Farley Granger.

The film is about the resistance of Ukrainian villagers, through guerrilla tactics, against the German invaders of the Ukrainian SSR. The film is considered to be pro-Soviet propaganda at the height of the war.

In the 1950s, it was criticized for this reason and it was re-cut to remove the idealized portrayal of Soviet collective farms at the beginning and to include references to the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.[2] The film was then retitled Armored Attack and released to American theatres, where it begins with the arrival of the Germans in the town and continues through the scenes of the uprising, with a narration tacked on praising the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.

Synopsis

In June 1941, Ukrainian villagers are living in peace. As the school year ends, a group of friends decide to travel to Kiev for a holiday. To their horror, they find themselves attacked by German aircraft, part of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Eventually their village itself is occupied by the Nazis. Meanwhile, men and women take to the hills to form partisan militias.

The full brutality of the Nazis is revealed when the Germans send Dr. von Harden to use the village children as a source of blood for transfusions into wounded German soldiers. Some children lose so much blood that they die. When Dr. Pavel Kurin, a famous Ukrainian doctor, discovers this and informs the partisans, they prepare to strike back. They launch a cavalry assault on the village to rescue their families. Kurin accuses von Harden of being worse than the ardent Nazis, because he has used his skills to support them. He then shoots him. The peasants join together, and one girl envisions a future in which they will "make a free world for all men".

Cast & Crew

Anne Baxter as Marina Pavlova
Dana Andrews as Kolya Simonov
Walter Huston as Dr. Pavel Grigorich Kurin
Walter Brennan as Karp
Ann Harding as Sophia Pavlova
Jane Withers as Clavdia Kurina
Farley Granger as Damian Simonov
Erich von Stroheim as Dr. von Harden
Dean Jagger as Rodion Pavlov
Carl Benton Reid as Boris Stepanich Simonov
Esther Dale as Anna
Paul Guilfoyle as Iakin
Tonio Selwart as German Captain
Gene O'Donnell as Russian Pilot
Frank Wilcox as Petrov
Lynn Winthrop as Guerilla Girl
Eric Roberts as Grisha
Ann Carter as Olga Pavlova
Ruth Nelson as Nadya Simonova
Martin Kosleck as Dr. Richter
Peter Pohlenz as German Lieutenant
Robert Lowery as Russian gunner
Loudie Claar as Woman on Hospital Cot
Charles Bates as Patya
Grace Cunard as farmer's wife

Directed by: Lewis Milestone
Written by: Lillian Hellman (story and screenplay)
Produced by: Samuel Goldwyn, William Cameron Menzies
Cinematography: James Wong Howe
Edited by: Daniel Mandell
Music by: Aaron Copland
Production Details:
Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Productions
Distributed by: RKO Radio Pictures
Release Date: November 4, 1943
Running Time: 106 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Box Office: $2.8 million (US rentals)