''The Third Blow'' (russian: Третий удар, Tretiy udar) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

1948

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Igor Savchenko Igor Andreyevich Savchenko (russian: Игорь Андреевич Са́вченко) or Ihor Andriyovych Savchenko ( uk, І́гор Андрі́йович Са́вченко; 11 October 1906 – 14 December 1950) was a screenwriter and film di ...

Plot

In April 1944,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

orders the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

to liberate the Crimea from the German occupiers. The

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

's local commanders beg Hitler to allow them to retreat from the vulnerable position, but he refuses. After a fierce battle, the Soviet forces destroy the German and Romanian units defending the peninsula and retake

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

Production

The film's title was derived from the third of

Stalin's ten blows In Soviet historiography, Stalin's ten blows were the ten successful strategic offensives conducted by the Red Army in 1944 during World War II. The Soviet offensives drove the Axis forces from Soviet territory and precipitated Nazi Germany's coll ...

, the

Crimean Offensive The Crimean offensive (8 April – 12 May 1944), known in German sources as the Battle of the Crimea, was a series of offensives by the Red Army directed at the German-held Crimea. The Red Army's 4th Ukrainian Front engaged the German 17th Army ...

of spring 1944, which served as the setting for the story. ''The Third Blow'' was the first of the 'Artistic Documentaries', a series of large-scale Soviet screen productions which were meant to present the official interpretation of the USSR's history, especially the history of the Second World War. As all the artistic documentaries concerned with the war, ''The Third Blow'' consisted mainly of battle scenes, strewn with staff meetings of the Red Army's generals and Stalin. In addition, there were short episodes portraying the common soldiers and ordinary people participating in the events. The film, in compliance with Stalin's

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

, presented the Soviet leader in a highly favorable manner, centering on his role as the supreme commander. Aleksei Dikiy, who performed his role, was reportedly Stalin's favorite for depicting himself.

Reception

The film won the 1948 Gottwaldov Workers' Film Festival Award and a 2nd degree

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

at 1949. Arkadi Perventsev received the Award for Best Writing in the 1948

Karlovy Vary Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary) is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become ...

for his work on the script. French film critic

André Bazin André Bazin (; 18 April 1918 – 11 November 1958) was a renowned and influential French film critic and film theorist. Bazin started to write about film in 1943 and was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'' in 1951, ...

described the film as Stalinistic propaganda, writing that in ''The Third Blow'': "Stalin mediates alone for a long time and.... He alone decides what measures would be taken... Vasilevsky is still there, but acts solely as a confidant, doubtless to save Stalin from appearing ridiculous by talking to himself." In the

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

years, after the

de-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...

, many of the scenes involving Stalin were edited out of the film and it was re-released at 1965 under the title ''Southern Knot'' (''Южный узел'').''The Third Blow'' on kino-teatr.ru.
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Selected cast

Aleksei Dikiy Aleksei Dikiy (russian: Алексей Денисович Дикий) (24 February 1889 – 1 October 1955) was a Soviet actor and director who worked at Moscow Art Theatre and later worked with Habima Jewish theatre in Tel Aviv. He was arrested ...

. *

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 ...

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (, uk, Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, ''Klyment Okhrimovyč Vorošylov''), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (russian: link=no, Клим Вороши́лов, ''Klim Vorošilov''; 4 Februa ...

. *

Ivan Pereverzev Ivan Fyodorovich Pereverzev (russian: Ива́н Фёдорович Переве́рзев; 3 September 1914 – 23 April 1978) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1975). Filmography * '' The Convey ...

as General

Yakov Kreizer Yakov Grigorevich Kreizer (russian: Яков Григорьевич Крейзер; 4 November 1905, Voronezh – 29 November 1969, Moscow) was a Soviet field commander. Before the war Kreizer's Jewish parents were granted permission to l ...

. *

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 ...

as Sailor Chmega. *

Sergey Martinson Sergey Alexandrovich Martinson (russian: Серге́й Александрович Мартинсон; – 2 September 1984) was a Russian eccentric comic actor, the master of pantomime, buffoonery and grotesque. He became People's Artist of the ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

. *

Mikhail Astangov Mikhail Fyodorovich Astangov (russian: Михаи́л Фёдорович Аста́нгов), real surname Ruzhnikov () ( in Warsaw – 20 April 1965 in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1955). ...

as General

Erwin Jaenecke __NOTOC__ Erwin Jaenecke (22 April 1890 – 3 July 1960), was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the 17th Army. Jaenecke served on the Eastern Front as commander of the 389th Infantry Division and late ...

References

External links

The Third Blow
on the

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

. 1948 films 1940s Russian-language films Eastern Front of World War II films Soviet World War II films 1940s biographical drama films Soviet biographical drama films Russian biographical drama films Soviet black-and-white films 1948 drama films Russian black-and-white films Films about Joseph Stalin Films about Adolf Hitler Films set in Crimea {{1940s-USSR-film-stub