Ballad of a Soldier
From the very pages of life itself!
Country
Production
Budget
$0
Box office
$0
Director
Actors
Vladimir Ivashov, Zhanna Prokhorenko, Antonina Maksimova, Nikolay Kryuchkov, Evgeniy Urbanskiy, Elza Lezhdey, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Yevgeni Teterin, Valentina Markova, Mariya Kremneva
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Grigoriy Chukhray, Valentin Ezhov
Producer
Pavel Danilyants
Camera operator
Era Savelyeva
Composer
Mikhail Ziv
Artist
Boris Nemechek
Audition
Editing
Mariya Timofeyeva
Whole Team (16)
Whole Team (16)
Short description
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.
What's left behind the scenes
- For her role in "Ballad of a Soldier," Zhanna Prokhorenko was forced to leave her studies at the Moscow Art Theatre School. At Chukrai's personal request, the young actress was admitted to VGIK after successfully passing her exams.
- Vladimir Ivashov named his firstborn Alexei in honor of the main character of "Ballad of a Soldier".
- On the first day of filming (the scene of departure from the front), Grigory Chukhrai injured his leg, and when filming resumed, he fell ill with typhoid fever.
- According to Grigory Chukhray, the title 'Ballad of a Soldier' was suggested by Mikhail Romm after reading one of the versions of the script.
- Work on the film's script took place at Valentin Yezhov's dacha. At the same time and place, Grigory Pozhenyan was creating the script for the film 'Thirst' (1959).
- The film is set in 1942, but the soldiers on screen are wearing uniforms from 1943—with shoulder boards instead of collar tabs. Frontline soldier Chukhrai was, of course, aware of this discrepancy, but deliberately went ahead with it to include this obvious anachronism in the film. The director hoped that the film would be watched by foreign audiences who saw Soviet liberating soldiers in the new uniform and sought to make the protagonist’s appearance more recognizable to them.
- Work on the film's script took place at Valentin Yezhov’s dacha. At the same time, Grigory Pozhenyan was also creating the script for the film "Thirst" (1959) there.
- Part of the film crew left due to disagreements with the director's vision.
- Famous Hollywood actress Liza Minnelli admitted in one interview that she watched this film five times in a row.
- On the first day of filming (the scene of departure from the front), Grigory Chukrai injured his leg; when filming resumed, he fell ill with typhoid fever.
- Originally, Oleg Strizhenov was meant to play Alyosha Skvortsov, and Liliya Alesnikova was to play Shura. Instead, Chukhrai cast two newcomers: VGIK sophomore Vladimir Ivashov and Moscow Art Theatre School student Zhanna Prokhorenko.
- The film is set in 1942, but the soldiers on screen are wearing 1943-pattern uniforms—with shoulder boards instead of collar tabs. As a veteran himself, Chukrai was certainly aware of this discrepancy, but he consciously allowed this blatant anachronism to remain in the picture. The director anticipated that the film would be seen by foreign audiences, who had encountered Soviet liberating soldiers specifically in the new uniforms, and sought to make the protagonist's appearance more recognizable to them.
- According to Grigory Chukhrai, the title "Ballad of a Soldier" was suggested by Mikhail Romm after reading one of the script drafts.
- Initially, Oleg Strizhenov was supposed to play Alyosha Skvortsov, and Liliya Aleshnikova was to play Shura. Instead, Chukhrai cast two debutantes – Vladimir Ivashov, a second-year student at VGIK, and Zhanna Prokhorenko, a student at the Moscow Art Theatre School.
- For the role in the film "Ballad of a Soldier," Zhanna Prokhorenko was forced to leave her studies at the Moscow Art Theatre School. At Chukhrai’s personal request, the young actress was admitted to VGIK after successfully passing her exams.
- Vladimir Ivashov named his firstborn Alexei after the protagonist of "Ballad of a Soldier."
- The first version of the script largely focused on describing the heroic labor of those working in the rear, and Shura was supposed to die in the city during a bombing.
- Famous Hollywood actress Liza Minnelli admitted in one of her interviews that she watched this film five times in a row.
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