Jours de gloire

Patriotic Hollywood movie about a Soviet Union guerrilla when Russia was invaded by the ruthless Nazis ; subsequently , brave Guerrilleros fighting back . And presenting the motion picture debut of a cast of new personalities. The flick is set during Nazi onslaught , on June 22, 1941, the Fuehrer sent his war machine , an armored attack crashing across the frontiers of the USSR , unleashing a furious Blitzkrieg. The Fuehrer,-known his hatred for Bolshevism-, described the assault on Russia as a crusade against communism, but he obviously was motived by a need for wheat, oil, and mineral supplies to enable him to defy the British blockade. This is a flag-waving and propaganda film but at the time US and USSR were allied , it deals about some idyllic Soviet people . As their peaceful existence is brutally interrupted when they are suddenly attacked by German planes, in the first wave of the Nazi assault on the Soviet Union. As most of the men flee to the hills to form a guerrilla unit . The first part describes life of a little rebel group led by Vladimir (Gregory Peck) who falls for Ballerina Nina (Tamara Toumanova) , all of them are good people (Alan Reed , Maria Palmer ,Lowell Gilmore , Glen Verdon , Hugo Haas) who bravely fight against the violent encroachment . There happens the Nazi invasion and they're surrounded and bombed . By the way , protagonist Peck making the romantic interludes with Tamara Toumanova playing a Catholic Ballerina from Bolshoi who joins the godless guerrilla . The second part is quite starkly moving developing account of deeds that befall about the freedom fighters and when they go into action , including impressive battles . Burning with Love and Hate! A rolling wall of hell that couldn't be stopped... A handful of men who had to stop it!

The interesting and quite beautifully made film with implecable credits results to be a gripping war story dealing with the Germans overrunning the Eastern Russia with valiant , courageous villagers facing on Nazis and starring Gregory Peck/Vladimir almost single-handely battling as well as resisting the brutal enemy .This picture has presented a cast of new personalities starring , cautioning as opening credits , as closing credits . Peck making his debut as a Russian guerrilla in one of these propagandist WWII tributes to Soviet Allies which caused much embarrassment after that . In addition , there was a clutch of newcomer players . Casey Robinson's thought-provoking screenplay , based on an original story by Melchior Lengyel , is much more concerned with their doggedly upright , gallant resistence under siege than with any jingoist or political purpose . This unnerving epic depicts the horror war as Nazi atrocities and as the resistance fighters roam the Russian countryside attacking during the cruel invasion . Although melodramatic moments in overall effects, also has moments of astounding power with some overwhelming sequences. No one had much to tell for the movie by the time , but it is surprisingly convincing , intriguing , thrilling and sober . The picture has great actors , being film debut of Gregory Peck, Alan Reed ; the credits specify all in the credited cast were making their screen debuts , although Maria Palmer, Hugo Haas and Tamara Toumanova appeared in films in earlier years . This ¨Days of Glory¨ bears remarkable resemblance to ¨The North Star¨ (1943) by Lewis Milestone with prestigious actors as Walter Huston , Dana Andrews, Farley Granger , Anne Baxter, Erich Von Stroheim as usual official Nazi, Dean Jagger, among them . Cinematography is well supplied by Tony Gaudio , being filmed in Cedar City, Utah, and RKO Studios , Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California . As well as atmospheric and evocative score by Daniele Amfitheatrof .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Jacques Tourneaur , though the film never rises above tub-thumping , and being unforced and natural , at times .Tourneur directed all kinds of genres and he was an expert on terror cinema (Cat people , Leopard man, I walked with a Zombie , Night of the demon) , Western (Wichita , Great Day in the Morning, Canyon Passage , Stranger on Horseback) , Film Noir (Berlin Express , Out of past , Nick Carter master detective) and adventures (Flame and the arrow , Marathon battle , Appointment in Honduras , Tombuctú , City under the sea) .Torneur knew the imagination was stronger than anything filmmakers could show visually and played on it with breathtaking results . Rating : 6.5/10 . Decent wartime movie . It will appeal to Gregory Peck fans .

The Russian German war was the greatest battle ever fought and strangely has been ignored by Hollywood. This film, made when the Russians had yet to reach Berlin, was probably a propaganda piece of its time and suffers from some sugary Hollywood treatment. The appearance of a Moscow ballet dancer, and her inevitable love affair with the local guerilla leader, glamourises what was, in reality, a dirty hard war. Whilst we can respect this well-directed movie we can also ask why Hollywood has yet to record its tribute to the amazing determination of the Russian people who were not particularly well led yet overcame such enormous odds. Never mind "Saving Private Ryan" - what about Ivan's story, Mr Spielberg? The Cold War is over, the archives are open, the film is there to be made!

Gregory Peck is the leader of a group of Russian Guerillas who are fighting the invading Nazis. Peck is the leader of the group but there isn't that many people in the group, they even have a teenager and his younger sister helping out. They also have a woman sharpshooter and several other members. They go out at night to do some damage and hide out by day. They take in a ballet dancer who doesn't want to kill but winds up killing an escaping Nazi. Peck and the dancer end up falling in love and have several love scenes together. They blow up an ammunition train and they also have to hold off some Nazis when the Russians want to do a counter-attack. This was Gregory Peck's first film but this wasn't his best film.

This tribute to Russian resistance in World War II gave Gregory Peck his opportunity for a starring film screen debut. No walk-ons, or bit parts are in Peck's career resume. He was billed a star from the beginning.

Not that Days of Glory was the greatest of debuts. In fact it was only in his second film, The Keys of the Kingdom for which he got his first Oscar nomination that made him a big star. Still Peck as the stoic and brooding Russian peasant resistance leader certainly had star quality written all over him.

Now that the Cold War is over we can appreciate the Russian contribution to defeating Nazism without getting hung up over Communism. The Russians took a quick study in what defeated Napoleon and applied those lessons to World War II. Where you see the German Army in the Ukraine in Days of Glory is roughly how far they advanced into the Soviet Union. Those partisans that Peck heads are on the cutting edge as factories are being transported and rebuilt in the Urals and east of same and the Red Army is being reorganized. Joe Stalin is also looking a military leadership team to beat the Nazis.

The Russian people took a tremendous toll and it was the great worry of both Roosevelt and Churchill up to the Allied invasion of Normandy that Stalin might just make a separate peace. If he had the world would be very different.

Peck's love interest was dancer Tamara Toumanova who plays a dancer caught up in the partisan movement. As an actress she's a great dancer, she's seen to better advantage in Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain where she concentrates on dancing.

Days of Glory did get an Oscar nomination for Special Effects, but despite that it's essentially an A picture from a B picture studio, RKO. Still it's not a bad last stand story and a decent enough debut for Gregory Peck.

A group of Soviet guerrillas operate out of a hideout behind enemy lines. Vladimir (Gregory Peck) is the heroic commander. He falls for the civilian dancer Nina Ivanova. A German soldier stumbles upon the hidden camp and is taken prisoner. Nina is horrified with Vladimir's willingness to kill a POW. When the soldier tries to escape, Nina is the one who kills him. Harden partisan Yelena is also in love with Vladimir but she is shot on a mission.

This is old fashion melodrama set in backdrop of the war. The Russians are still allies and there is a fair amount of propaganda work involved in this. The most notable is the theatrical debut of Peck. He's among several stage actors involved in this production. He's young, gaunt, and rather commanding. He enters the movie after the first fifteen minutes. Obviously, somebody would have made him the overwhelming star of the film if they knew his legendary career to come. As it is, he is the lead in an ensemble cast.