Mark Bernes Movies
- 1952
Young Tolya Bovkin plays the title character in the Russian Maximka. Based on a story by K. Stanyukovich, the film traces the life of a cheerful black orphan who is adopted by a band of Russian sailors. The boy's presence has a very positive effect upon these rough-and-tumble guys. None is more profoundly affected than hard-drinking deckhand Luchkin (Boris Andreyev), whose regeneration takes up most of the film's running time. Of interest is the art directors' concept of what such port cities as Havana and Hong Kong must have looked like in 1864 (by 1959, of course, the Soviets would have a pretty good grasp on the topography of Cuba!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tolya Bobykin, Boris Andreyev, (more)
- 1950
Far From Moscow is one of a battalion of Soviet films set during the Nazi invasion of the early 1940s. This time, the plot centers around the construction of an oil pipeline. The engineers must work under appalling conditions, including incessant attacks from the Germans. But the pipeline is completed -- and as a result, it is inferred, the course of the war was radically altered. A very slight romantic angle is provided when one of the workers falls in love with his female counterpart. Far From Moscow was filmed in a Soviet color process called Magicolor, which wasn't entirely stable but did provide some eye-pleasing exterior shots of the Russian wilderness. The film was directed by former journalist Alexander Stolper, here billed merely as "A. Stolper." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nikolai Okhlopkov, Lev Sverdlin, (more)
- 1944
Like many another Soviet filmmaker, Sergei Gerasimov devoted his energies to the war effort during the 1940s. The Ural Front is the story of a defense factory that is moved -- lock, stock and barrel -- to the Ural mountains during the first Nazi assault. Characteristically, the film is a tribute to the solidarity and teamwork of Russian workers, most of whom are portrayed con brio by prominent stage and screen actors. The fact that the film was shot under wartime conditions makes Gerasimov's efforts all the more impressive. Completed in 1944, The Ural Front is also known as The Great Land and The Mainland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tamara Makarova, Viktor Dobrovolsky, (more)
- 1943
The fifth War-Loan Drive was drawing to a close in late 1944, but Russian films like Two Soldiers still made the rounds in America to raise extra funds. The title characters are an Odessan seaman and a Ural blacksmith, played by Mark Bernes and Boris Andreyev, respectively. Though they enjoy squabbling over their social and ethnic differences, the two comrades stick together like glue whenever a crisis looms. Ultimately, the soldiers are united once more on the battlefield, proving with finality their fidelity to one another -- and to the Soviet cause. The film is enhanced by several lively musical interludes, spotlighting traditional ethnic and military songs. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Bernes, Boris Andreyev, (more)
- 1942
Diary of a Nazi consists of three separate Soviet documentary shorts, bundled together in feature-length form for American distribution. The first entry is "District No. 14", a study of the Nazi occupation of Poland. Next is "The Blue Cliff", a dramatization of a Czech woman's rescue from the Germans by the Russians. The last is "The Signal", a patriotic paean to civilian resistance. The English-language title of this compilation is derived from the notion that all three short stories were based on the notes found in the diary of a slain S.S. officer (if this is true, the officer had a surprisingly sympathetic viewpoint!) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Bernes
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Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.