History Film / TheNorthStar

''The North Star'' is a 1943 Hollywood war drama film, directed by Lewis Milestone, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, and written by Creator/LillianHellman. The film is a rare example of American propaganda on behalf of the Soviet war effort during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and the story is set in the then-Soviet Republic of Ukraine during the summer of 1941. As expected, it doesn't end well for all involved.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade:
** This being a wartime film, it goes without saying that UsefulNotes/JosefStalin[='s=] Soviet Union is glorified. The movie is set in Soviet Ukraine in 1941, a.k.a. the very place that was devastated by UsefulNotes/TheHolodomor less than ten years earlier. Not only is there no mention of this, the film makes Soviet Ukraine look like some kind of perfect {{Arcadia}}, creating the false impression that Stalin's collectivization totally worked. At one point, Marina, who would clearly be old enough to remember the Holodomor, mentions that she has never really experienced hunger until now. There is also no mention of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, making it look like the Soviet Union was a neutral bystander before the Nazis attacked.
** On another note, many Ukrainians sided with the Nazis in RealLife, even helping them to round up Jews for UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. In the film, there are no Ukrainian collaborators. Of course, you could say the film just happens to be focused on a group of Ukrainians who stayed loyal, but even if all the collaborators are safely off-screen, their existence still undercuts the whole theme of the unbreakable solidarity of the Soviet people.

** This being a wartime film, it goes without saying that UsefulNotes/JosefStalin[='s=] Soviet Union is glorified. The movie is set in Soviet Ukraine in 1941, a.k.a. the very place that was devastated by the Holodomor less than ten years earlier. Not only is there no mention of this, the film makes Soviet Ukraine look like some kind of perfect {{Arcadia}}, creating the false impression that Stalin's collectivization totally worked. At one point, Marina, who would clearly be old enough to remember the Holodomor, mentions that she has never really experienced hunger until now. There is also no mention of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, making it look like the Soviet Union was a neutral bystander before the Nazis attacked.

This movie gained six nominations at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s in 1944, but was vastly underrated during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar era due to its depictions of Russian heroism. The movie score is all SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic, written by Music/AaronCopland.

Creator/ErichVonStroheim plays von Harden, an evil Nazi doctor. Creator/WalterHuston plays Kurin, a heroic Russian doctor who helps the partisans. Creator/AnnHarding appears as Marina's mother Sophia.

The titular "North Star" is a small hamlet in Ukraine, possibly connected to a collective farm, and the movie begins at the end of a school year and the beginning of the summer hiatus. Three students at the local school are granted a scholarship, and are allowed to take up studies in Kiev. We follow the three, Marina (Creator/AnneBaxter), her boyfriend Damian (Creator/FarleyGranger), and her best friend Clavdia (Creator/JaneWithers), while they prepare for this, all looking into a shiny, bright future-- if only. The small party has only just gotten on their way when news arrive that the ''Barbarossa'' is launched, with German troops breaching in from the west. Thus, every hope of getting to Kiev is shattered, as the problems at hand come crashing down on them. Damian's older brother Kolya (Creator/DanaAndrews), an officer in the Soviet air force, is the first to take the lead. During the movie, all the townsfolk take up arms in different ways and resort to guerrilla warfare, or they simply burn down the village after the "Scorched earth" model. The last part of the movie shows a heroic effort by the core gang, helped by Karp (Walter Brennan), an OldSoldier from WWI, to get a cache of guns to the home front. The confrontations with the Germans are harsh to say the least, and the ending is determined, bittersweet, with Marina as the only one alive and well, but visibly hardened by her recent experience.

The titular "North Star" is a small hamlet in Ukraine, possibly connected to a collective farm, and the movie begins at the end of a school year and the beginning of the summer hiatus. Three students at the local school are granted a scholarship, and are allowed to take up studies in Kiev. We follow the three, Marina (Creator/AnneBaxter), her boyfriend Zimion and her best friend Claudia, while they prepare for this, all looking into a shiny, bright future-- if only. The small party has only just gotten on their way when news arrive that the ''Barbarossa'' is launched, with German troops breaching in from the west. Thus, every hope of getting to Kiev is shattered, as the problems at hand come crashing down on them. Zimion's older brother Kolya is serving in the Soviet air force, and is the first to take lead. During the movie, all the townsfolk take up arms in different ways and resort to guerrilla warfare, or they simply burn down the village after the "Scorched earth" model. The last part of the movie shows a heroic effort by the core gang, helped by Karp, an OldSoldier from WWI, to get a cache of guns to the home front. The confrontations with the Germans are harsh to say the least, and the ending is determined, bittersweet, with Marina as the only one alive and well, but visibly hardened by her recent experience.

Creator/ErichVonStroheim plays von Harden, an evil Nazi doctor. Creator/WalterHuston plays Kurin, a heroic Russian doctor who helps the partisans. Creator/DanaAndrews plays Kolya, a young man from the village who at the start of the war is already an officer in the Soviet air force. Former child star Creator/JaneWithers stars as Clavdia, a teenaged girl who [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] when the Germans come. Creator/AnnHarding is in the supporting cast as Sophia.

''The North Star'' is a 1943 Hollywood war drama film, directed by Lewis Milestone, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, and written by Creator/LillianHellman. The film is a rare example of American propaganda on behalf of the Soviet war effort, and the story is set in the then Soviet Republic of Ukraine, during the summer of 1941. As expected, it doesn't end well for all involved.

The titular "North Star" is a small hamlet in Ukraine, possibly connected to a collective farm, and the movie begins at the end of a school year, and at the beginning of the summer hiatus. Three students at the local school are granted a scholarship, and are allowed to take up studies in Kiev. We follow the three, Marina (Creator/AnneBaxter), her boyfriend Zimion and her best friend Claudia, while they prepare for this, all looking into a shiny, bright future - if only. The small party has only just gotten on their way when news arrive that the ''Barbarossa'' is launched, with German troops breaching in from the west. Thus, every hope of getting to Kiev is shattered, as the problems at hand come crashing down on them. Zimion's older brother Kolya is serving in the Soviet air force, and is the first to take lead. During the movie, all the townsfolk take up arms in different ways and resort to guerrilla warfare, or they simply burn down the village after the "Scorched earth" model. The last part of the movie shows a heroic effort by the core gang, helped by Karp, an OldSoldier from WWI, to get a cache of guns to the home front. The confrontations with the Germans are harsh to say the least, and the ending is determined, bittersweet, with Marina as the only one alive and well, but visibly hardened by her recent experience.

This movie gained six nominations at the Academy Awards in 1944, but was vastly underrated during the UsefulNotes/ColdWar era, because of the depictions of Russian heroism. The movie score is all SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic, written by Music/AaronCopland.

* WouldHurtAChild: The German air raids flatten everything, including several children during the movie. Of the more jarring losses is Marina's younger sister, killed while running for shelter. Later, the Germans force the children to give blood to their wounded soldiers. When a small boy dies from blood loss, the local doctor crosses the DespairEventHorizon.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/32b6d427_4e91_499e_bfdf_417aeae5307d.jpeg]]

* ReCut: In TheFifties, the film was re-edited and released under the title ''Armored Attack''. This version runs 26 minutes shorter than the original, cutting the most overtly pro-Soviet material, and adds an anti-communist narrator, effectively changing the film from pro-Soviet propaganda to anti-Soviet propaganda. At the time, a spokesman noted that, "The only thing we couldn't take out was Dana Andrews running around in a damn Soviet uniform." Both versions are included on the Blu-ray release, which oddly has ''Armored Attack'' as the main feature while the original ''North Star'' is included with the extras.

[[quoteright:285:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/32b6d427_4e91_499e_bfdf_417aeae5307d.jpeg]]

''The North Star'' is a 1943 Hollywood war movie, directed by Lewis Milestone, produced by Samuel Goldwyn, and written by Creator/LillianHellman. The movie is a rare example of American propaganda on behalf of the Soviet war effort, and the story is set in the then Soviet Republic of Ukraine, during the summer of 1941. As expected, it doesn't end well for all involved.

This movie gained six nominations at the Academy Awards in 1944, but was vastly underrated during the ColdWar era, because of the depictions of Russian heroism. The movie score is all SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic, written by Music/AaronCopland.

The titular "North Star" is a small hamlet in Ukraine, possibly connected to a collective farm, and the movie begins at the end of a school year, and at the beginning of the summer hiatus. Three students at the local school are granted a scholarship, and are allowed to take up studies in Kiev. We follow the three, Marina, her boyfriend Zimion and her best friend Claudia, while they prepare for this, all looking into a shiny, bright future - if only. The small party has only just gotten on their way when news arrive that the ''Barbarossa'' is launched, with German troops breaching in from the west. Thus, every hope of getting to Kiev is shattered, as the problems at hand come crashing down on them. Zimion's older brother Kolya is serving in the Soviet air force, and is the first to take lead. During the movie, all the townsfolk take up arms in different ways and resort to guerrilla warfare, or they simply burn down the village after the "Scorched earth" model. The last part of the movie shows a heroic effort by the core gang, helped by Karp, an OldSoldier from WWI, to get a cache of guns to the home front. The confrontations with the Germans are harsh to say the least, and the ending is determined, bittersweet, with Marina as the only one alive and well, but visibly hardened by her recent experience.

The titular "North Star" is a small hamlet in Ukraine, possibly connected to a collective farm, and the movie begins at the end of a school year, and at the beginning of the summer hiatus. Three students at the local school are granted a scholarship, and are allowed to take up studies in Kiev. We follow the three, Marina, her boyfriend Zimion and her best friend Claudia, while they prepare for this, all looking into a shiny, bright future - if only. The small party has only just gotten on their way when news arrive that the ''Barbarossa'' is launched, with German troops breaching in from the west. Thus, every hope of getting to Kiev is shattered, as the problems at hand come crashing down on them. Zimion's older brother Kolya is serving in the Soviet air force, and is the first to take lead. During the movie, all the townsfolk take up arms in different ways and resort to guerrilla warfare, or they simply burn down the village after the "Scorched earth" model. The last part of the movie shows a heroic effort by the core gang, helped by Karp, an OldSoldier from WWI, to get cache of guns to the home front. The confrontations with the Germans are harsh to say the least, and the ending is determined, bittersweet, with Marina as the only one alive and well, but visibly hardened by her recent experience.

Creator/ErichVonStroheim plays von Harden, an evil Nazi doctor. Creator/WalterHuston plays Kurin, a heroic Russian doctor who helps the partisans. Creator/DanaAndrews plays Kolya, a young man from the village who at the start of the war is already an officer in the Russian air force. Former child star Creator/JaneWithers stars as Clavdia, a teenaged girl who [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] when the Germans come. Creator/AnnHarding is in the supporting cast as Sophia.

* WouldHurtAChild: The German air raids flatten everything, including several children during the movie. Of the more jarring losses is Marina's younger sister, killed while running for shelter.
** Later, the Germans force the children to give blood to their wounded soldiers. When a small boy dies from blood loss, the local doctor crosses the DespairEventHorizon.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/32b6d427_4e91_499e_bfdf_417aeae5307d.jpeg]]

** On another note, many Ukrainians sided with the Nazis in RealLife, even helping them to round up Jews for UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. In the film, there are no Ukrainian collaborators. Of course, you could say the film just happens to be focused on a group of Ukrainians who stayed loyal, but that does undercut the whole theme of the unbreakable solidarity of the Soviet people.

** On another note, many Ukrainians sided with the Nazis in RealLife, even helping them to round up Jews for UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. In the film, there are no Ukrainian collaborators. Of course, you could say the film just happens to be focused on a group of Ukrainians who stayed loyal, but that would only undercut the whole theme of the Ukrainians' unbreakable solidarity against the Nazis.

** On another note, many Ukrainians sided with the Nazis in RealLife, even helping them to round up Jews for UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. In the film, there are no Ukrainian collaborators. In fact, their unbreakable solidarity against the Nazis is one of the film's main themes. Of course, you could say the film just happens to be focused on a group of Ukrainians who stayed loyal, but that would undercut the whole "solidarity" theme.

** On another note, many Ukrainians sided with the Nazis in RealLife, even helping them to round up Jews for UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. In the film, there are no Ukrainian collaborators. In fact, their unbreakable solidarity against the Nazis is one of the film's main themes.

* ReCut: In TheFifties, the film was re-edited and released under the title ''Armored Attack''. This version runs 26 minutes shorter than the original, and adds an anti-communist narrator, effectively changing the film from pro-Soviet propaganda to anti-Soviet propaganda. At the time, a spokesman noted that, "The only thing we couldn't take out was Dana Andrews running around in a damn Soviet uniform." Both versions are included on the Blu-ray release, which oddly has ''Armored Attack'' as the main feature while the original ''North Star'' is included with the extras.

* ChummyCommies: A rare example in an american movie. Nobody can dislike ''those'' commies.

** This being a wartime film, it goes without saying that UsefulNotes/JosefStalin[='s=] Soviet Union is glorified. The movie is set in Soviet Ukraine in 1941, a.k.a. the very place that was devastated by the Holodomor less than ten years earlier. Not only is there no mention of this, the film makes Soviet Ukraine look like some kind of perfect {{Arcadia}}, creating the false impression that Stalin's collectivization totally worked. There is also no mention of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, making it look like the Soviet Union was a neutral bystander before the Nazis attacked.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: This being a wartime film, it goes without saying that UsefulNotes/JosefStalin[='s=] Soviet Union is glorified. The movie is set in Soviet Ukraine in 1941, a.k.a. the very place that was devastated by the Holodomor less than ten years earlier. Not only is there no mention of this, the film makes Soviet Ukraine look like some kind of perfect {{Arcadia}}, creating the false impression that Stalin's collectivization totally worked. There is also no mention of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, making it look like the Soviet Union was a neutral bystander before the Nazis attacked.

''The North Star'' is a 1943 Hollywood war movie, directed by Lewis Milestone, produced by Samuel Goldwyn. The movie is a rare example of American propaganda on behalf of the Soviet war effort, and the story is set in the then Soviet Republic of Ukraine, during the summer of 1941. As expected, it doesn't end well for all involved.