She Defends the Motherland, (russian: Она защищает Родину) is a 1943 Soviet drama film starring Vera Maretskaya and directed by

Fridrikh Ermler Fridrikh Markovich Ermler (russian: Эрмлер, Фридрих Маркович; born Vladimir Markovich Breslav; 13 May 1898 in Rēzekne – 12 July 1967 in Leningrad) was a Soviet film director, actor, and screenwriter. He was a four-tim ...

. It was distributed in the United States by

Artkino Pictures Nicola Napoli, was the President of Artkino Pictures, Inc., the primary distributor of Soviet films in the United States, Canada, Central America and South America from 1940 to 1982. Napoli was a double agent Soviet Spy for the United States. In 19 ...

as No Greater Love, also in 1943, with a dubbed-English soundtrack.

Plot

Praskovya Lukyanova, a rural villager in the USSR, first loses her husband in battle at the outbreak of WWII, and then her only, small son, who is run over deliberately by a Nazi tank driven by a soldier wearing an eyepatch, as the Germans take over the village. Thus convicted of the need to fight back, she organizes her fellow villagers in the forest, where they have taken refuge, into a guerilla unit which first thwarts, then overcomes, the fascist invaders.

Starring

Vera Maretskaya Vera Petrovna Maretskaya (Russian: Вера Петровна Марецкая) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress. People's Artist of the USSR (1949) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1976). Early years Vera Petrovna Maretskaya was born ...

as Praskovya Lukyanova *

Nikolay Bogolyubov Nikolay Nikolayevich Bogolyubov (russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Боголю́бов; 21 August 1909 – 13 February 1992), also transliterated as Bogoliubov and Bogolubov, was a Soviet and Russian mathematician and theoretica ...

as Ivan Lukyanov (as N. Bogolyubov) *

Lidiya Smirnova Lidiya Nikolayevna Smirnova (russian: Ли́дия Никола́евна Смирно́ва; 1915 — 2007) was a Soviet and Russian theater and film actress. People's Artist of USSR (1974). The winner of the Stalin Prize of the third degree ( ...

as Fenya (as L. Smirnova) * Pyotr Aleynikov as Senya (as P. Alenikov) *

Ivan Pelttser Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

as Stepan Orlov (as I. Peltser) * Inna Fyodorova as Orlova (as I. Fyodorovna) * Aleksandr Violinov as Nikolai Nikolayevich (as A. Violinov)Она защищает Родину (1943) Full Cast & Crew
/ref> * ? as General Von Falk * ? as The One-Eyed German Tankist

References

External links

* 1943 films 1940s Russian-language films Soviet war drama films Soviet black-and-white films 1940s war drama films 1943 drama films {{1940s-USSR-film-stub