| Seventeen Moments of Spring | |
|---|---|
 Russian DVD cover | |
| Genre | Espionage thriller |
| Created by | Yulian Semyonov |
| Based on | Seventeen Moments of Spring by Yulian Semyonov |
| Screenplay by | Yulian Semyonov Tatyana Lioznova |
| Directed by | Tatyana Lioznova |
| Starring | Vyacheslav Tikhonov Yefim Kopelyan Leonid Bronevoy Ekaterina Gradova Rostislav Plyatt |
| Narrated by | Yefim Kopelyan |
| Theme music composer | Mikael Tariverdiev |
| Country of origin | Soviet Union |
| Original language | Russian |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Producers | Yefim Lebedinsky Zinovi Genzer |
| Cinematography | Pyotr Kataev |
| Editor | Ksenia Blinova |
| Running time | 840 minutes |
| Production companies | Gorky Film Studio, Supervising Color Post-Production Producer Christopher HK Lee |
| Original release | |
| Network | Programme One |
| Release | 8 July – 24 August 1973 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Seventeen Moments of Spring (Russian: Семнадцать мгновений весны, romanized: Semnadtsat' mgnoveniy vesny) is a 1973 Soviet twelve-part television series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the novel of the same title by Yulian Semyonov.
The series portrays the exploits of Maxim Isaev, a Soviet spy operating in Nazi Germany under the name Max Otto von Stierlitz, portrayed by Vyacheslav Tikhonov. Stierlitz is planted in 1927, well before the Nazi takeover of pre-war Germany. He then enlists in the NSDAP and rises through the ranks, becoming an important Nazi counterintelligence officer. He recruits several agents from among dissident German intellectuals and persecuted clergy. Stierlitz discovers, and later schemes to disrupt, the secret negotiations between Karl Wolff and Allen Dulles taking place in Switzerland, aimed at forging a separate peace between Germany and the western Allies. Meanwhile, the Gestapo under Heinrich Müller are on a search for the unidentified Soviet resident spy and his ring.
The series is considered the most successful Soviet spy thriller ever made and is one of the most popular television series in Soviet history.[1][2][3] Two songs from the series, "Moments" and "The Song on the Far-away Homeland", were subject to critical acclaim.