The read
Critics rate it 12 points higher than audiences do. Scores higher than 89% of the 448 1950s drama movies in this catalog. It runs a compact 1h 29m.
Synopsis
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.
Ratings
IMDb8.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes94%
Critics rate it 12 points higher than audiences do.
222 audience votes
Key crew
- Grigoriy ChukhrayWriter
- Grigoriy ChukhrayDirector
- Valentin EzhovWriter
- Mikhail ZivOriginal Music Composer
Cast
- Vladimir IvashovAlyosha Skvortsov
- Zhanna ProkhorenkoShura
- Antonina MaksimovaKaterina, Alyosha's Mother
- Nikolay KryuchkovThe General
- Evgeniy UrbanskiyVasya, the Invalid
- Elza LezhdeyLiza, the Invalid's Wife
- Aleksandr KuznetsovGavrilkin, the Train Sentry
- Yevgeni TeterinThe Lieutenant, 'A Terrible Beast'
- Valentina MarkovaZoya, Skvortsovs' Neighbor
- Mariya KremnevaElizaveta Petrovna, Pavlov's Wife
- Vladimir PokrovskiyVasiliy Egorovich, Pavlov's Father
- Georgiy YumatovThe Driver
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Themes
world war iirussian soldiersoldiersoldier on leavereturn homereflectivesoldiers of the russian empireblaze of glory