''The Thirteen'' (russian: Тринадцать, Trinadtsat) is a 1937 Soviet

red western The Ostern (Eastern; , ''Istern''; or остерн) or Red Western was a film genre created in the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc as a variation of the Western films that originated in the United States. The word "Ostern" is a portmanteau derive ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by Mikhail Romm.

Plot

Soviet Central Asia Soviet Central Asia (russian: link=no, Советская Средняя Азия, Sovetskaya Srednyaya Aziya) was the part of Central Asia administered by the Soviet Union between 1918 and 1991, when the Central Asian republics declared ind ...

, ten demobilized

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, afte ...

soldiers ride through the desert to the railroad. Three more people are with them: commander of the frontier Zhuravlev and his wife Maria Nikolaevna and an old geologist. In the desert, they find a well and hidden machine guns – this is the base of

Basmach The Basmachi movement (russian: Басмачество, ''Basmachestvo'', derived from Uzbek: "Basmachi" meaning "bandits") was an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim peoples of Central Asia. The movement's roots l ...

Shirmat Khan, whom the Red Army could not neutralize for a whole year. A single soldier is sent out for help while others remain to restrain the Basmachi. There is almost no water in the well, but the soldiers carefully conceal it from the Basmachi who have approached. The bandits suffer from thirst and attack in an attempt to reach the well. In an unequal battle, nearly all the defenders are killed, but their enemies are captured by the cavalry which has come to the rescue.

Cast

* Ivan Novoseltsev - Squadron Commander Ivan Zhuravlyov * Yelena Kuzmina - Marya Nikolaevna Zhuravlyova * Aleksandr Chistyakov - Aleksandr Petrovich Postnikov, geologist *

Andrei Fajt Andrei Andreyevich Fajt (russian: Андрей Андреевич Файт; 29 August 1903 – 17 January 1976) was a Soviet film actor. He appeared in 44 films between 1925 and 1976. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and died in Moscow ...

- Sub-Colonel Skuratov * Ivan Kuznetsov - Soldier Yusuf Akchurin * Alexei Dolinin as Aleksey Timoshkin - Red Army soldier (as A. Dolinin) * Pyotr Masokha as Petr Sviridenko - Red Army soldier (as P. Masokha) * Pavel Yudin as Petrov - Red Army soldier (as P. Yudin) * Dmitry Zolts] as Dimiriy Levkoyev - Red Army soldier (as D. Zolts) * Viktor Kulakov as Nikolay Balandin - Red Army soldier (as V. Kulakov)

Influence

The 1943 American film '' Sahara (1943 American film), Sahara'', directed by

Zoltan Korda Zoltan Korda (June 3, 1895 – October 13, 1961) was a Hungarian-born motion picture screenwriter, director and producer. He made his first film in Hungary in 1918, and worked with his brother Alexander Korda on film-making there and in London ...

and starring Humphrey Bogart, and its 1995 remake have significant plot similarities. In fact, in the film's opening credits for the screenplay and adaptation, the 1943 film credits the Soviet photoplay for inspiration.

References

External links

* Films directed by Mikhail Romm 1930s war adventure films Soviet war adventure films Films set in Central Asia Soviet black-and-white films {{1930s-USSR-film-stub