The Disappearance of "Eagle"
About The Disappearance of "Eagle"
In the autumn of 1920, as the Red Army closes on Novorossiysk, the ship Oryol is still at the quay. Boatswain Mikhail Gruzdev, a communist in hiding, urges Captain Chistyakov to keep the ship for the red flag. The Oryol sails with White Guards aboard and is not heard of again. Years later Gruzdev, captain of the salvage ship Kambala, gets leave to look for it. A log in the captain's cabin says the crew opened the Kingston valves and went down rather than let the Whites take the ship abroad. The raised and repaired hull returns as the white liner Captain Chistyakov.
Cast & crew
More about The Disappearance of "Eagle"
Vasily Zhuravlyov directed, from Konstantin Zolotovsky's story Captain Latse. Georgiy Grebner wrote the screenplay. Soyuzdetfilm released it on 15 January 1941. The Russian title is Gibel Orla, The Destruction of the Eagle.
Themes
Background
The opening is the White evacuation through Novorossiysk in 1920.
Making
Soyuzdetfilm staged the 1920 sailing from Novorossiysk and the later salvage as one adventure.
Look
Yuly Fogelman photographed it.
Music
Vano Muradeli and David Blok wrote the music.
Notes
- Nikolai Annenkov, Viktor Gromov, and Sergei Stolyarov lead the cast. Also credited: Mikhail Troyanovsky, Lev Fenin, and Andrey Fayt.
- The frame story is the crew of the salvage ship Kambala reading a tale in the magazine Epronovets.
Scenes
- Gruzdev reads Chistyakov's last message at the rally as the ship is lifted.
- The repaired Oryol steams back as the liner Captain Chistyakov.
Influenced by
- Konstantin Zolotovsky's story Captain Latse
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1940. Гибель «Орла».webm)
Quotes
The Kingston valves are open, buoyancy zero. We are going down, doing our duty, and we believe the Oryol will remain whole and still serve the Motherland.
