Ballad of a Soldier

Dec 1, 1959

1h 29m

★ 8.0

From the very pages of life itself!

Overview

During World War II, earnest young Russian soldier Alyosha Skvortsov is rewarded with a short leave of absence for performing a heroic deed on the battlefield. Feeling homesick, he decides to visit his mother. Due to his kindhearted nature, however, Alyosha is repeatedly sidetracked by his efforts to help those he encounters, including a lovely girl named Shura. In his tour of a country devastated by war, he struggles to keep hope alive.

Genres

Drama

Romance

War

Production Companies

Mosfilm

Ballad of a Soldier Trailers

Cast

Alyosha Skvortsov

Vladimir Ivashov

Shura

Zhanna Prokhorenko

Katerina, Alyosha's Mother

Antonina Maksimova

The General

Nikolay Kryuchkov

Vasya, the Invalid

Evgeniy Urbanskiy

Liza, the Invalid's Wife

Elza Lezhdey

Gavrilkin, the Train Sentry

Aleksandr Kuznetsov

The Lieutenant, 'A Terrible Beast'

Yevgeni Teterin

Zoya, Skvortsovs' Neighbor

Valentina Markova

Elizaveta Petrovna, Pavlov's Wife

Mariya Kremneva

Vasiliy Egorovich, Pavlov's Father

Vladimir Pokrovskiy

The Driver

Georgiy Yumatov

Jurácek's feature debut is shot in two parts. In the first, a corporal accompanies a new recruit with a sore Achilles tendon for his physical, and all the girls or young women they see are played by the same actress (Ruzickova). In the longer second segment, shot with the help of the Czechoslovakia army, the soldiers pass the time during basic training and maneuvers by talking about girls.

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