The Wagtail's Army

The Wagtail's Army
The Wagtail's Army
	Russian poster
	Russian: Армия «Трясогузки»
Directed by	Aleksandrs Leimanis
Written by	Arkadi Mlodik; Aleksandr Vlasov;
Produced by	Marks Cirelsons; Augusts Petersons;
Starring	Viktor Kholmogorov; Yuri Korzhov; Aivars Galviņš; Gunārs Cilinskis; Ivan Kuznetsov;
Cinematography	Māris Rudzītis
Edited by	Ērika Meškovska
Music by	Kirill Molchanov
Production; company	Riga Film Studio
Release date	December 28, 1964;
Running time	84 min.
Country	Soviet Union
Languages	Russian; Latvian;

The Wagtail's Army (Russian: Армия «Трясогузки», romanized: Armiya 'Tryasoguzki', Latvian: Cielaviņas armija) is a 1964 Soviet family film directed by Aleksandrs Leimanis. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Alexander Vlasov and Arkady Mlodik.

Plot

The protagonists of this adventure film are a group of homeless boys who decide to assist the Red Army. In a city occupied by the forces of Admiral Kolchak, an uprising is being planned. Suddenly, a train derails, a sabotage operation attributed to a mysterious group calling itself the "Swallow Army." The Kolchak counterintelligence service, furious and desperate, begins a relentless search for the underground conspirators, though without success. Even the Bolsheviks become curious about their enigmatic allies.

It is eventually revealed that the formidable "army" consists of just three homeless boys: a Russian boy nicknamed Swallow, a Latvian named Miki, and a young Romani boy. The film tells the story of how these resourceful and courageous boys aided the Bolsheviks in liberating the city from the White Army forces.

Cast

Viktor Kholmogorov as Tryasoguzka
Yuri Korzhov as Gypsy
Aivars Galviņš as Mika
Gunārs Cilinskis as Platais (voiced by Artyom Karapetyan)
Ivan Kuznetsov as Kondrat
Viktor Plyut as Nikolay
Aleksey Alekseev as colonel
Gurgen Tonunts as esaul
Pavel Shpringfeld as lineman
Uldis Dumpis as adjutant
Ivan Lapikov as wounded man

Sequel

On December 23, 1968, the sequel to The Wagtail's Army Again in Battle was released on Soviet screens, also directed by Leimanis.

References

↑ Лучшие фильмы, которые нужно бы показать российским детям (список)
↑ В киноклубе псковской библиотеки состоится показ фильма Александра Лейманиса «Армия «Трясогузки» снова в бою»
↑ Anastasiya Chekhovskaya (2014-03-04). "Революция в школьной программе и вне" [A revolution in the school curriculum and beyond]. Radio Svoboda (in Russian).
↑ Армия Трясогузки // КиноПоиск
↑ The Wagtail's Army (1964) Full Cast / Crew

External links

The Wagtail's Army at IMDb

This article related to a Soviet film of the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

[1] Лучшие фильмы, которые нужно бы показать российским детям (список)

[2] В киноклубе псковской библиотеки состоится показ фильма Александра Лейманиса «Армия «Трясогузки» снова в бою»

[3] Anastasiya Chekhovskaya (2014-03-04). "Революция в школьной программе и вне" [A revolution in the school curriculum and beyond]. Radio Svoboda (in Russian).

[4] Армия Трясогузки // КиноПоиск

[5] The Wagtail's Army (1964) Full Cast / Crew