If J.M. Barrie had had a hand in Tarkovsky's IVAN'S CHILDHOOD, it might like something like this bizarre boys' adventure confection. Surprised by the advancing German Army while gathering wheat outside their village, a spunky band of Russian adolescents employs a combination of wits and heroic self-sacrifice to defeat a Nazi battalion, blow up a tank, and save the people of Stalingrad from imminent destruction. A rarely-seen entry in Hollywoood's brief wartime spate of pro-Soviet propaganda films, THE BOY FROM STALINGRAD stars Serbian-American child actor Bobby Samarzich, who went on to found one of Southern California's greatest tamburitza bands.
Bobby Samarzich
as Kolya
Conrad Binyon
as Grisha
Mary Lou Harrington
as Nadya
Scotty Beckett
as Pavel
Steven Muller
as Tommy Hudson
Donald Mayo
as Yuri
John Wengraf
as German Major
Erik Rolf
as German Captain
Wilhelm von Brincken
as German General
