The Deserter

The Deserter (, Dezertir) is a 1933 Soviet drama film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin. It was his first sound picture. Plot Karl Renn, a Hamburg shipyard worker, is a member of the Communist Party of Germany and is commissioned by the Soviet Union to organize a general strike and exert pressure on employers. When the strike comes, several fights take place with the police. After a month of strike, many workers are already so exhausted that they become strike-breakers. There arises an armed conflict that even Karl's wife goes to; but he stays at home because of his cowardice. Nevertheless, as a delegate of the party, he is sent together with four comrades to a meeting in the Soviet Union. He stays there, works in a blast furnace and is enthusiastic about the communist system. After a few weeks the news reaches him that his Party Chief in Hamburg had been slain. He then travels back to Germany to continue the struggle of the workers. Cast Boris Livanov – Karl Renn Vasily Kovrigin – Ludwig Zelle Aleksandr Chistyakov – Fritz Müller Tamara Makarova – Greta Zelle Semyon Svashenko – Bruno Dmitry Konsovsky – Strauss Yudif Glizer – Marcella Zelle Sergey Martinson – Passerby Maksim Shtraukh – First bonze Sergei Gerasimov – Second bonze Sergey Komarov – Worker Vladimir Uralsky – Cell secretary Reception