For You, Poland
About For You, Poland
In the spring of 1919 the Polish-Soviet war reaches Vilnius and splits Franek and Hanka. Bolshevik troops wreck villages and drink through the manor of Marcin Oksza until Polish cavalry rides in. Hanka takes work as a nursing sister in a field hospital. Franek is credited with catching a Russian spy whose papers help the Polish capture of the city, and the two meet again, both in uniform, at the image of Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn.
Cast & crew
More about For You, Poland
Antoni Bednarczyk directed. The Filmoteka Narodowa credits Stanisław Sebel with the photography and places the action in the spring of 1919. A theatrical date of 25 September 1920 is recorded for Poland.
Themes
Background
The story sits inside the Polish-Soviet War and the 1919-1920 fight over Vilnius, then ends on the official act that attached the city to Poland.
Look
Stanisław Sebel shot the picture. The battle passages that survive show Polish Army weapons and kit of the period rather than studio props.
Preservation
Large fragments survive, including the battle footage. The Filmoteka Narodowa holds rights notes on the title, and a copy is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- Henryk Rydzewski plays Franek. Jadwiga Doliwa plays Hanka, granddaughter of the peasant Wojciech Siekiera (Stanisław Jasieński).
- Antoni Różański plays Marcin Oksza, a landowner and veteran of the 1863 uprising. Ryszard Sobiszewski plays the Bolshevik Sasza.
- The closing passage uses newsreel of the ceremony that brought Vilnius into Poland, with Józef Piłsudski among the officers present.
- Polish intertitles.
Scenes
- Invaders drink through Oksza's manor until Polish cavalry arrives.
- Franek and Hanka, both in Polish uniform, find each other at the Gate of Dawn image.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-dla-ciebie-polsko)