Moscow Strikes Back
About Moscow Strikes Back
The English version of this Soviet documentary covers the Battle of Moscow from October 1941 to January 1942. Civilians dig defenses, and women pack shells and grenades. Stalin speaks in Red Square to soldiers in greatcoats. Tanks and ski troops move in the snow, a village is taken, and townspeople meet the soldiers. The film shows wrecked German machines, frozen dead, and bodies of murdered civilians, including damage at the houses of Chekhov and Tolstoy. Maps mark the front pulling back from the capital.
Cast & crew
More about Moscow Strikes Back
Ilya Kopalin and Leonid Varlamov directed the Soviet film, released in the USSR on 23 February 1942. The English version, 55 minutes, is narrated by Edward G. Robinson from a text by Albert Maltz, with uncredited writing by Jay Leyda and Elliot Paul. Slavko Vorkapich edited that version. It first played in New York at the Globe Theatre on 15 August 1942. A French narration was read by Charles Boyer.
Themes
Look
Frontline cameramen shot the streets, the night anti-aircraft fire, and the snow battles. Ivan Belyakov, Georgy Bobrov, and Teodor Bunimovich are among the names credited.
Music
Dimitri Tiomkin arranged the score for the English version.
Notes
- Cameramen named on Wikidata include Ivan Belyakov, Georgy Bobrov, and Teodor Bunimovich.
- Russian editions are listed at six, nine, and ten reels, longer than the 55-minute English cut.
- It shared the 1942 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature with three other films, at the 15th Academy Awards. It was the first Oscar for a Soviet picture, given for the American cut.
- Scenes from it were used in Frank Capra's The Battle of Russia.
Awards
- Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (1942, shared)
Scenes
- Stalin addresses coated soldiers in Red Square.
- Searchlights and anti-aircraft guns work at night.
- An old woman kisses soldiers in a liberated town, and the film cuts to murdered civilians.
Influenced
- The Battle of Russia (1943)
Also available
- Internet Archive (MoscowStrikesBack)
