The Thirteen | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mikhail Romm |
Written by | Iosif Prut Mikhail Romm |
Starring | Ivan Novoseltsev Yelena Kuzmina |
Cinematography | Boris Volchek |
Edited by | Tatyana Likhachyova |
Music by | Anatoli Aleksandrov |
Distributed by | Mosfilm |
Release date |
|
Running time | 1h 30min |
Country | Soviet Union |
Language | Russian |
The Thirteen (Russian: Тринадцать, romanized: Trinadtsat') is a 1937 Soviet red western action film directed by Mikhail Romm.[1]
In Soviet Central Asia, ten demobilized Red Army 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 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.
The 1943 American film Sahara, directed by Zoltan Korda 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.