During World War II, Hollywood did something they never would have dared do before the war or only a couple years after the war...they made Pro-Soviet movies. In films such as "The North Star" and "Song of Russia", the Russian people are portrayed as noble, decent and, above all, America's friends. Why? Well, because the Soviet Union was an ally of the USA during much of the war...and the films were propaganda pieces aimed as softening the views Americans had of the USSR (which had often been very negative before this). "Counter-Attack" is another of these pro-Soviet films. Now this isn't saying it's bad...but it did serve the purpose of improving American perceptions of these allies.
The plot of this one is very simple. A pair of Russian soldiers are trapped under debris in the basement of a building...and there are about a half dozen Germans trapped with them. Alexei (Paul Muni) has gotten the drop on them...disarming them and taking them prisoner. But he cannot escape...and while they are trapped, he decides to ask these Germans questions, as he has good reason to believe that one of them is an officer in disguise as an enlisted man. But time is working against him, as he cannot sleep or they'll kill him. And, he hopes that his Russian comrades come before the Germans do to rescue them.
This film isn't as wide-eyed and saccharine as the pro-Soviet films I listed above. Instead, it's intelligent without laying the propaganda on too thickly. As a result, it's a very good film...and isn't yet another silly pro-Russian story. The only negative is that the story, at times, tends to be rather talky.
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