The Forty-First

The Forty-First is a 1956 Soviet film based on the eponymous novel by Boris Lavrenyov. It was directed by Grigori Chukhrai and starred Izolda Izvitskaya and Oleg Strizhenov. The film, a remake of the 1927 movie with the same name, is set during the Russian Civil War and tells the story of a tragic romance between a female sniper of the Red Army and an officer of the White Army. Plot In 1919, during the Russian Civil War, a small force of Red Army soldiers that survived a crushing defeat by the Whites is forced to flee into the Karakum Desert. Among them is female sniper Maria, who has already claimed thirty-eight enemies dead. When the unit ambushes a camel caravan transporting White soldiers, she kills two of them and tries to shoot their officer, who will be her forty-first, but misses. The man, a lieutenant named Govorukha-Otrok, is carrying a letter from Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak to General Anton Denikin that states he has secret information to be conveyed orally to General Dratsekno. Maria is entrusted with guarding him. Tensions arise between the two: the officer is a well-educated aristocrat who is both amused and impressed by the crude attempts of Maria, a fisherman's orphan daughter, to compose Agitprop poetry. When their camels are stolen, their commander decides to send his captive on a boat to their headquarters in Kazalinsk via the Aral Sea. The vessel capsizes in a sudden storm, and only Maria and Otrok remain alive, stranded on an isolated island. The Red soldier treats the White officer when he catches a fever and is slowly charmed by his manners, while he is overcome with gratitude and begins to call her 'Man Friday' with affection. When she demands to know what he means, he tells her the story about Robinson Crusoe. The two fall in love and seem to forget about the war. When a boat approaches their isle, they first think these are fishermen and run toward them. Otrok recognizes them as White soldiers, intends to join them, and encourages Maria to come with him, promising her she will be safe. Instead, Maria shoots him in the back, killing him. Cast Izolda Izvitskaya as Maria 'Maryutka' Filatovna Basova Oleg Strizhenov as Lieutenant Vadim Nikolaevich Govorukha-Otrok Nikolai Kryuchkov as Commissar Arsentiy Yevsyukov Assanbek Umuraliyev as Umankul Nikolay Dupak as Chupilko Pyotr Lyubeshkin as Guzhov Georgi Shapovalov as Terentyev Danil Netrebin as Semyanin Anatoli Kokorin as Yegorov Muratbek Ryskulov as caravan master T.