The North Star (1943 film)

The North Star
Theatrical poster
Directed byLewis Milestone
Written byLillian Hellman (story and screenplay)
Produced bySamuel Goldwyn
William Cameron Menzies
StarringAnne Baxter
Dana Andrews
Walter Huston
Walter Brennan
Ann Harding
Jane Withers
Farley Granger
Erich von Stroheim
CinematographyJames Wong Howe
Edited byDaniel Mandell
Music byAaron Copland
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • November 4, 1943 (1943-11-04)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.8 million (US rentals)[1]

The North Star (also known as Armored Attack in the US) is a 1943 pro-resistance war film starring Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, Walter Huston, Walter Brennan and Erich von Stroheim It was produced by Samuel Goldwyn Productions and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. It was directed by Lewis Milestone, written by Lillian Hellman and featured production design by William Cameron Menzies. The music was written by Aaron Copland, the lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and the cinematography by James Wong Howe. The film also marked the debut of Farley Granger.

The film is about the resistance of Ukrainian villagers, through guerrilla tactics, against the German invaders of the Ukrainian SSR. The film is considered to be pro-Soviet propaganda at the height of the war.[2]

In the 1950s, it was criticized for this reason and it was re-cut to remove the idealized portrayal of Soviet collective farms at the beginning and to include references to the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.[2] The film was then retitled Armored Attack and released to American theatres, where it begins with the arrival of the Germans in the town and continues through the scenes of the uprising, with a narration tacked on praising the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.

  1. ^ Variety (21 February 2018). "Variety (January 1944)". New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ a b "The North Star (1943) - Notes - TCM.com".