The Miracle at the Vistula
About The Miracle at the Vistula
Ordered by the Polish army's propaganda office, the film follows the 1920 Polish-Soviet war through the Battle of Warsaw, called the Miracle on the Vistula. It opens on Christmas Eve at a manor and in a peasant cottage, and it closes on the August days of 1920. Jadwiga Smosarska plays Krysta, daughter of the border farmer Maciej Wierun. Stefan Jaracz plays the Bolshevik agitator Jan Rudy. The catalog also puts Bolshevik troops at the Granowski manor.
Cast & crew
More about The Miracle at the Vistula
Ryszard Bolesławski directed. The catalog spells him Richard Boleslawski. Adam Zagórski wrote the script. Zbigniew Gniazdowski photographed it. Sets are credited to Ewelina Librowicz-Mucharska and Józef Galewski. Polish Wikipedia dates the premiere March 16, 1921. The film was commissioned by the Propaganda Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs. Polish Wikipedia says a picture of more than two hours survives only as 53 minutes. The Polish Film Academy lists 52 minutes. Wikidata says 51 minutes. Anna Belina plays Ewa. Władysław Grabowski plays Dr. Jan Powada. Edmund Gasiński plays Maciej Wierun. Honorata Leszczyńska plays Mrs. Granowska. Jerzy Leszczyński plays her son Jerzy.
Themes
Background
The Battle of Warsaw in August 1920 is the event the Polish title calls the Miracle on the Vistula.
Making
Orient-Film made it to order for the military propaganda department.
Look
Zbigniew Gniazdowski shot the war picture.
Preservation
Polish Wikipedia says only 53 minutes remain of a film that ran more than two hours.
Notes
- Kazimierz Junosza-Stępowski plays a Bolshevik agent. Leonard Bończa-Stępiński plays Piotr, a hospital watchman.
- Smosarska was a leading star of Polish cinema between the wars.
- The catalog overview dates the manor scene to the eastern borderlands in 1919, while the Polish page centers the 1920 war.
Scenes
- Christmas Eve at the manor and in the peasant cottage.
- The surviving reel ends on the August 1920 days.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Cud Nad Wisłą (1921).webm)
