The Boy from Stalingrad (1943)

If JM Barrie had had a hand in Tarkovskys IVANS 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 selfsacrifice to defeat a Nazi battalion blow up a tank and save the people of Stalingrad from imminent destruction A rarelyseen entry in Hollywooods brief wartime spate of proSoviet propaganda films THE BOY FROM STALINGRAD stars SerbianAmerican child actor Bobby Samarzich who went on to found one of Southern Californias greatest tamburitza bands