''The Great Way'' (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

: ''Wielka droga'') is a

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

Polish film directed by

Michał Waszyński Michał Waszyński (29 September 1904 – 20 February 1965) was first a film director in Poland, then in Italy, and later (as Michael Waszynski) a film producer, producer of major United States, American films, mainly in Spain. Known for hi ...

Plot

The plot spans from shortly before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to its end. In the city of

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

(PL) in 1939 Adam and Irena fall in Love, but are separated by the outbreak of the war. Both are deported by the Soviets to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, where they briefly meet again when signing up to the newly created Polish army. Again separated from Irena, Adam marches with the army from Siberia through the Middle East and fights on the Italian front line. During the

battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome and the Battle for Cassino, was a series of four assaults made by the Allies against German forces in Italy during the Italian Campaign of World War II. The ultimate objective was ...

he gets wounded when participating in the first assault, temporarily losing his eyesight. In the military hospital a nurse finds his diary and, initially in the intent to relieve his suffering, later from romantic affection towards him, pretends to be his fiancée Irena. This, however, is ended when the real Irena arrives. Adam recovers from his wounds and, after the Polish victory at Monte Cassino, follows the army together with Irena to northern Italy, where they settle after the end of the war. In this film the plot serves as a framework for original footage taken by the army during the war. The name of the film, Wielka Droga, means 'The Great Way', referring to the march from Poland through Siberia and the Middle East to Northern Italy. This is the only film showing the Polish participation in the Italian Campaign (World War II).

Cast

* Albin Ossowski ... Adam *

Renata Bogdanska Irena Renata Anders (12 May 1920 – 29 November 2010), born Iryna Renata Jarosiewicz (Yarosevych), was a Ukrainian-Polish stage actress and singer. During World War II she performed with Henryk Wars' troupe and later with the ''Polska Parad ...

... Irena *

Jadwiga Andrzejewska Jadwiga Andrzejewska (1915–1977) was a Polish film and theater actress who was popular between the World Wars in Poland and Germany. Filmography This filmography lists only most important movies: * ''Milioner (film), Milioner'' (1977 in film, ...

... Jadwiga * Wiesława Buczerowa *

Feliks Fabian Feliks is a variant spelling of the given name Felix, used in Poland and the Baltic states, as well as in the transliteration of the name Felix from Russian. Feliks may refer to: *Feliks Ankerstein (1897–1955), Polish Army major and intelligen ...

Ludwik Lawiński Ludwik Lawiński (19 June 1887 – 15 September 1971) was a Polish film actor. He appeared in thirteen films between 1927 and 1956. Filmography References External links * 1887 births 1971 deaths Polish male film actors Polish m ...

* Mieczysław Malicz * Bolesław Orlicz *

Józef Winawer Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

*Stanisław Belski *Jadwiga Domańska

External links

* 1946 films 1940s Polish-language films Polish black-and-white films Films directed by Michał Waszyński Battle of Monte Cassino Polish war drama films 1940s war drama films 1946 drama films Polish World War II films Films about Polish resistance during World War II Films set in Lviv Films set in Ukraine Films set in Poland Films set in Siberia {{poland-film-stub