''The Shield and the Sword'' (russian: Щит и меч, Shchit i mech) is a 1968 Soviet spy series in four parts directed by

Vladimir Basov Vladimir Pavlovich Basov (russian: link=no, Владимир Павлович Басов; 28 July 192317 September 1987) was a Soviet Russian actor, film director and screenwriter. People's Artist of the USSR (1983). Biography Vladimir Basov was ...

. It is based on a novel by

Vadim Kozhevnikov Vadim Mikhailovich Kozhevnikov (russian: Вадим Михайлович Кожевников; , Togur20 October 1984, Moscow) was a Soviet writer and journalist. His daughter Nadezhda Kozhevnikova is also a writer. Biography Vadim Kozevnikov was ...

, who was Secretary of the

Soviet Writers' Union The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...

. It was highly influential in the Soviet Union, inspiring many, including

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

, to join the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

. The song '' What Does Motherland Begin With'' ('' С чего начинается Родина''), sung by

Mark Bernes Mark Naumovich Bernes (russian: link=no, Ма́рк Нау́мович Берне́с) (,This date: – is a mistake found in the '' Great Soviet Encyclopaedia''. True date: – was engraved on the Bernes's gravestone at Novodevichy Cemeter ...

, that was main musical theme of each film in the series, became well known in the USSR.

Parts

* Part 1. No Right To Be Themselves (Без права быть собой) * Part 2. The Order is: Survive (Приказано выжить) * Part 3. Without Appeal (Обжалованию не подлежит) * Part 4. The Last Frontier (Последний рубеж)

Plot

The year is 1940 and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

is at the height of its military power, having captured most of Europe and eyeing the Soviet Union to the East. The Soviet military command suspects hostile intent from Germany and so arranges for its spies to infiltrate ranks of the German military and the SS. Alexander Belov (Lyubshin) is a Russian spy, who travels from Soviet-held Latvia to Nazi Germany under an alias of

Volksdeutsche In Nazi German terminology, ''Volksdeutsche'' () were "people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship". The term is the nominalised plural of '' volksdeutsch'', with ''Volksdeutsche'' denoting a sin ...

Johann Weiss. His mastery of the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

, steel nerves and an ability to manipulate others help him to use his connections in the SS to ascend the ladder of the

Abwehr The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. A ...

and then in the SD. He uses his position to identify sympathetic Germans, who help him to procure vital intelligence, and to help local

resistance movements A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

in their collective fight against Nazism.

Cast

Stanislav Lyubshin Stanislav Andreyevich Lyubshin (russian: link=no, Станислав Андреевич Любшин; born 6 April 1933) is a Russian actor, film director, and People's Artist of the RSFSR (1981). Life Stanislav Lyubshin is a Russian actor whose ...

as Alexander Belov / Johann Weiss *

Oleg Yankovsky Oleg Ivanovich Yankovsky (russian: Оле́г Ива́нович Янко́вский; 23 February 1944 – 20 May 2009) was a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russia, Russian actor who excelled in psychologically sophisticated roles of modern intellectu ...

as Heinrich Schwarzkopf *

Georgy Martyniuk Georgy Yakovlevich Martyniuk ( rus, Георгий Яковлевич Мартынюк, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj ˈjakəvlʲɪvʲɪtɕ mərtɨˈnʲuk; 3 March 1940 – 13 February 2014) was a Russian film and theater actor. Biography Born in Orenbu ...

as Aleksey Zubov / Alois Hagen *

as Bruno *

Alla Demidova Alla Sergeyevna Demidova (russian: link=no, А́лла Серге́евна Деми́дова; born 29 September 1936, Moscow) is a Russian actress internationally acclaimed for the tragic parts in innovative plays staged by Yuri Lyubimov in th ...

as Angelika Buecher *

Juozas Budraitis Juozas Budraitis (born 6 October 1940) is a Lithuanian actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1966. He starred in the Soviet film ''Wounded Game'', which was entered into the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. Budraitis ...

as Dietrich * Aleksey Glazyrin as Steinglitz *

Valentina Titova Valentina Antipovna Titova (russian: Валентина Антиповна Титова; February 6, 1942 in Korolyov, Moscow Oblast SSSR) is a Russian actress. Biography Valentina Antipovna Titova was born on 6 February 1942 in the city of K ...

as Nina * Natalia Velichko as Elsa *

Vladimir Balashov Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

as Sonnenberg *

Algimantas Masiulis Algimantas Masiulis (July 10, 1931 Surdegis, Anykščiai District Municipality — August 19, 2008, Kaunas, Lithuania) was a Lithuanian film and theatre actor. Biography Masiulis appeared in his first play in the autumn of 1948, in '' School ...

as Willi Schwarzkopf *

Nikolai Zasukhin Nikolai or Nikolay is an East Slavic variant of the masculine name Nicholas. It may refer to: People Royalty * Nicholas I of Russia (1796–1855), or Nikolay I, Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855 * Nicholas II of Russia (1868–1918), or Nik ...

as Papke *

Lev Polyakov Lev may refer to: Common uses *Bulgarian lev, the currency of Bulgaria *an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the Torah People and fictional characters * Lev (given name) *Lev (surname) Places *Lev, Azerbaijan, ...

as Gerlach * Nikolay Grabbe as Deaf-mute Man * Yelena Dobronravova as

Deaf-mute Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...

Woman *

Vatslav Dvorzhetsky Vatslav Yanovich Dvorzhetsky ( pl, Wacław Dworzecki, (russian: Ва́цлав Я́нович Дворже́цкий; – April 11, 1993) was a Soviet film and theater actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1991). Biography Vatslav Dvorzhetsky ...

as Lansdorf *

Anatoly Kubatsky Anatoly Lvovich Kubatsky (russian: Анато́лий Льво́вич Куба́цкий) (1 November 1908 – 29 December 2001) was a Soviet stage and film actor. Life Kubatsky was born in Moscow to parents of Polish ancestry. After studying und ...

as Franz * Nikolay Prokopovich as Schulz * Kristina Lazar as Brigitte *

Valentin Smirnitsky Valentin Georgievich Smirtinsky (russian: Валентин Георгиевич Смирнитский; born 10 June 1944 in Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of Russia (2005). Filmography * '' Walking the Stre ...

as Andrey Basalyga / «Faza» * Igor Bezyayev as «Rabbit» *

Vsevolod Safonov Vsevolod Dmitrievich Safonov (russian: Все́волод Дми́триевич Сафо́нов; 9 April 1926 – 6 July 1992) was a Soviet actor of theatre and cinema. He was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR Prize (1974). Biography ...

as «Nail» * Vladimir Marenkov as «Ace» * German Kachin as «Cartilage» *

Igor Yasulovich Igor Nikolayevich Yasulovich (russian: Игорь Николаевич Ясулович; born 24 September 1941) is a Soviet and Russian film and theater actor, film director and pedagogue. Biography Yasulovich was born in the village of Reinsfe ...

as «Goga» *

Radner Muratov Radner Zinyatovich Muratov (russian: Раднэр Зинятович Муратов, tt-Cyrl, Раднэр Зиннәт улы Моратов, translit=Radner Zinnät uğlı Moratov; 21 October 1928 – 10 December 2004) was a Soviet and Russian s ...

as «Shaman» * Konstantin Tyrtov as «Tit» *

Sergey Plotnikov Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland * ''Sergey'' (wasp), a genus in subfamily Doryctinae The Doryctinae or doryctine wasps are ...

as General Baryshev * Inga Budkevich as Inga * Uldis Dumpis as

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

Ace *

Helga Göring Helga Göring (1922–2010) was a German stage, television and film actress.Brockmann p.247 Selected filmography * ''Castles and Cottages'' (1957) * '' Two Mothers'' (1957) * '' Sheriff Teddy'' (1957) * '' Erich Kubak'' (1959) * '' The Second T ...

as Frau Dietmar * Horst Preusker as Prof. Stutthoff * Wojcech Duriasz as Jerzy Czyzewski * Kurt-Mueller Reizner as Karl Kunert * Silard Banki as Janos Molnar *

Vladimír Brabec Vladimír Brabec (15 May 1934 in Prague – 1 September 2017 in Nová Ves pod Pleší) was a Czech actor. Selected filmography *''Revolucni rok 1848'' (1949) - Student *''Krízová trojka'' (1952) - Boy *''Velké dobrodruzství'' (1952) - Cerv ...

as Jaromir Drobny * Vladimir Osenev as

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

Vyacheslav Dugin Vyacheslav, also transliterated Viacheslav or Viatcheslav (russian: Вячеслав, Vjačeslav ; uk, В'ячеслав, V"jačeslav ), is a Russian and Ukrainian masculine given name. It is the equivalent of Belarusian Вячаслаў/Вацл� ...

Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

* Mikhail Sidorkin as Göring

References

External links

* * 1968 films 1960s spy films Soviet spy films World War II spy films Films about Nazi Germany Films directed by Vladimir Basov Soviet World War II films Russian World War II films Films set in 1940 Films set in the Soviet Union Films set in Latvia Films about the Soviet Union in the Stalin era {{1960s-USSR-film-stub