School of Courage


School of Courage is a 1954 Soviet war/adventure film directed by Vladimir Basov and Mstislav Korchagin. It is based on the 1929 novel School by Arkady Gaidar. Meant for juvenile audience, it became a 1954 Soviet box office leaders. The movie was a directorial debut for Vladimir Basov and Mstislav Korchagin and an acting debut for Rolan Bykov and Leonid Kharitonov.

Plot

The film tells about a Russian high school student, Boris Golikov, during the First World War. He has been influenced by the official Czarist patriotism of the period, and is consequently horrified when he learns that his father has deserted from the front. But the arrest and execution of his father, and then the influence of his father's comrade, who has joined the Bolshevik force, leads him to join the Red Army on the Don front. He enters the detachment of the former teacher Semion Galka. With the detachment, he goes through the rear lines of the White forces to join up with the main Red Army.

Cast

Awards