"Seventeen Moments of Spring": actors and roles

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

"Seventeen Moments of Spring" is a Soviet classic of cinema. The film consists of twelve episodes. It was filmed for almost four years, and its show was timed to coincide with Victory Day 1973.

Storyline

The picture is based on the novel by Yulian Semyonov. In the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring", the actors embody both real historical characters and fictional ones.

The action takes place over a month and a half in 1945. The protagonist is Standartenführer Stirlitz, a Soviet spy infiltrated into the highest circles of the German government.

Some members of the Security Service have suspicions about Stirlitz, and surveillance begins for him. At this time, the intelligence officer is fulfilling the task of the Soviet leadership, finding out who from the German elite is negotiating reconciliation with the United States.

Stirlitz's radio operators come under fire in their own house. Erwin Keane dies on the spot, and his wife Katherine is taken to the hospital, where she starts giving birth. At this time, she gives herself away. Being unconscious, he screams in pain in Russian. She is immediately arrested.

Stirlitz is looking for other ways to pass information to Moscow. He also has to solve some of the most important tasks: firstly, to avert suspicion from himself, secondly, to complete the mission entrusted by the Soviet Union, and thirdly, to save Katherine.

Casting

For the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" the actors were selected very carefully. Despite the fact that most of the artists were already recognized masters, they passed tests on an equal basis with everyone else. So, L. Kuravlev and L. Bronevoy claimed the role of Hitler, but they did not pass the tests.

As a result, the first played the role of Kurt Eismann, and the second - Gruppenführer Müller. Hitler was played by German actor Fritz Dietz.

Many of the actors in "Seventeen Moments of Spring" were not like their original characters. This, however, did not apply to Oleg Tabakov, who was a copy of W alter Schellenberg. He even received a letter from the relatives of the German thanking him for his role.

Faina Ranevskaya was invited to the role of Frau Zaurich, who, after reading the script, refused indignantly.

Main roles

Most of our compatriots call "Seventeen Moments of Spring" the best war film. The audience loved the actors and their roles so much that it is hard to imagine the absence of this picture on television.

The main roles in the film were played by:

• Vyacheslav Tikhonov. His character Stirlitz is a Soviet spy,operating behind enemy lines.
• Leonid Kuravlev. He played Eisman, who worked hand in hand with Stirlitz for a long time and did not even suspect that he was hiding something.
• Yuri Vizbor. Martin Bormann became his hero. The one to whom the scout goes for help.
• Nikolai Prokopovich. He played Himmler, who is the initiator of negotiations with the United States.
• Mikhail Zharkovsky. His character K altenbrunner was the first to suspect Stirlitz of treason.
• Vasily Lanovoy. Played a truce in the negotiations of Karl Wolff.
• Ekaterina Gradova. Her heroine, radio operator Kat, nearly killed Stirlitz.
• Leonid Armor. Played the role of Muller.
• Oleg Tabakov. His Schellenberg was the immediate superior of the Russian intelligence officer. He owns one famous phrase, which has already become winged: "He knew too much."
• Rostislav Plyatt. He played pastor Schlag, the new contact Stirlitz.
• Evgeny Evstigneev. His character Pleischner died while on a scout mission.

In the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" the actors were under the strict guidance of the film director Tatiana Lioznova.

Minor roles

It should be noted that the cast of the picture was quite large. In the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring", the actors of even minor roles were recognizable and already loved in the country. Participation in such a large-scale project only improved their reputation. An example would be:

• Valentin Gaft. Played by Gevernica,employee of Dallas (negotiating from the US side).
• Nikolay Gritsenko. He played the general with whom Stirlitz is talking on the train. An interesting fact is that during the filming, the actor had memory problems, he could not remember his text. He read it from a sheet that was behind Stirlitz. Therefore, Gritsenko and Tikhonov are practically invisible in one frame.
• Lev Durov. Played an agent named Klaus.
• Svetlana Svetlichnaya. Played by Gabi Nabel.

The film "Seventeen Moments of Spring", the actors and roles in which were brilliant, became a real classic of military cinema for the USSR and Russia.