Opening scene shows overview of the Uralmash heavy machine production facility of the Russian engineering corporation (OMZ), in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Soviet Union. Inside the plant, large pieces of equipment with exposed ring gears are seen. A worker at a gear cutting machine makes measurements to confirm accuracy, as the machine shapes a large ring gear. Closeup of the gear cutting machine at the work surface, with liquid flowing over the cutting tool. Factory employees work with precision machined cylinder liners for large engines. Two men ram a cylinder sleeve into the open hole of an engine block. Others are seen chilling cylinder sleeves with liquid nitrogen to shrink them. They then use tongs and gloves to handle the sleeves and place them into an engine block. (When the sleeves warm up again, they will be permanently set into the block). Engineers discuss drawings for a product. One uses a pair of compasses to check an engineering drawing. Closeups of several engineers who are mentioned by name (in Russian). Scene reverts back to the factory floor, where men work on one of the large ring-geared pieces of equipment. Glimpse of parts moving on overhead conveyer inside the plant.
Russian and American officers and soldiers meet in Torgau, Germany during World War II. Russian women and American and Russian soldiers dance at a party given in celebration of Russian American meeting at Torgau. Three Russian musicians play instruments. Dancers at a party. Russian officer and American woman correspondent dance. Several views of dancers. Large group of officers seated at tables. Russian soldiers hold Russian flag brought from Stalingrad. Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky signs autograph. Dancers dance in the party. Pictures of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Soviet President Joseph Stalin in the background.
Opening slate at start of film reads: "1942--1943 The Turn of the Tide." A column of British armor enters Bengazi, Libya, led by several troops in tankettes. Next seen are a Lee Medium Tank, M3 followed by an infantry tank, a jeep, another infantry tank and another Lee M3 Medium tank. Closeup of local people greeting the troops with upraised hands giving the "V" for victory sign. Another Lee M3 tank passes close by the camera. Black smoke is rising in the background. Scene changes to a half sunken ship near another burning in the harbor. Another view of this from further away above port buildings. Closeup of three smiling British soldiers leaning over a cartoon on a tank, of Winston Churchill (As a bulldog smoking a cigar and wearing a cap with the word "Victory" written on it). A crumpled captured flag with swastika on it. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery stands atop a vehicle (unseen) and looks through binoculars. Below, a column of British supply vehicles is making its way along a path in the desert. Two tanks coming toward the camera through sand. Animated map shows Nazi territory being threatened by the Allies from the Mediterranean, the USSR, and the English Channel. Views of Soviet infantry advancing against German forces in the snow of winter on the eastern front. Soviet troops firing updated 76-mm divisional gun model 1902 hidden in woods. Shells exploding in snow-covered field as Soviet BT series tanks advance. Various Soviet artillery firing from fixed gun batteries and from woods. A shell striking in distance. Fallen German soldiers lying on snowy field. Makeshift battlefield crosses marking graves of fallen German soldiers. German steel helmets lined up in the snow. A sign, posted on a birch tree, lists the names and birth dates of 16 German soldiers from the 3rd Panzer Division (3Pz-Pi-BH.39) buried at this site on November 28, 1941. Scene shifts to Joseph Stalin addressing Soviet troops in Red Square, Moscow, Russia. All the soldiers in formation seem to be singing (unheard). Film switches to animated map again. This time delineating the Eastern front being pressed by the USSR, and showing area of the 2nd Soviet winter offensive in 1943. Change of scene from Europe to the War in Asia, against Japan, shows General Douglas MacArthur after arriving by a B-17 bomber at a Pacific island American base. He ascends a steep hill in a jungle area, accompanied by other officers. Closeup of MacArthur. American infantry moving in single file in New Guinea, as a field piece fires a round in the direction they are headed. U.S. artillerymen load shells into a 105mm howitzer gun. A fire burns as mop-up operations begin on New Guinea. An Australian soldier is seen firing a Bren gun in jungles. Other Australian soldiers fire a mortar that explodes, raising earth and dust. More views of shells exploding near Allied soldier advancing. A soldier with fixed bayonet makes a fake charge toward the camera. Views of Japanese prisoners of war guarded in an outdoor compound. Japanese dead soldiers on Guadalcanal. An animated map shows new battle lines in the Pacific, closing in on Japan, with pressure from China, the USSR, and the Pacific islands being captured by the U.S. Arrows are added showing new pressure from American naval fleets and from British and American bombers out of Australia and captured islands.
A space test with animals in Russia, Soviet Union. circa 1961, during "space race" between United States and Soviet Union. A rocket with dogs and mice on board is launched in Russia. A fire trail is seen. Camera view of dogs in capsule during space flight. The dogs appear to be "Strelka" and "Belka" who were the first dogs in space on August 19, 1960 aboard Sputnik 5. View as men recover the capsule after it parachute lands on the ground. View of one of the dogs greeting a man. Narrator indicates that this Soviet flight did not achieve orbit (which would contradict it being the Sputnik 5 flight of August 1960 with Strelka and Belka, however, it may be a compilation of various scenes provided by the Soviet Union, not all images from the same flight). From a newsreel released April 1961.
Post Russian Revolution events in Soviet Russia. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, leader of the Bolsheviks, silhouetted and speaking. Commander of the Red Army Leon Trotsky seated at a table. Workers and Peasants Inspection Group is formed and its chief is Joseph Stalin. Stalin, walking with Molotov, and others, on a street. Stalin's supporters Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev. People at a railroad train station. Soviet farmers harvesting grain with machinery. Woman cutting bread loaf in a bakery and weighing it to provide a ration. Cans and bags of American aid food items stacked on a counter. Russian Civilians gather near a grain scale. Canned food arriving from the United States. American Relief Administration workers handling food relief items. Scenes of American Relief Administration feeding hungry Russians. Footage of Herbert Hoover, head of the American Relief Administration, seen onboard a ship in a harbor. Children in Russia eating food: Young children in a nursery setting seated and eating as a nurse feeds them.
Theater Square and other places in Moscow, Russia. The view of Moscow at night. Brightly lit buildings and neon signs of Theater Square, including a lit Soviet hammer and sickle symbol. Audience in a theatre building. A woman dances. Men play musical instruments. Other people also perform. A group of men dances traditional Russian dances. An international dance representing different countries is performed, including a dancer dressed like Uncle Sam to represent the United States. Views of Club houses for workers. Interior of a clubhouse. Men play chess. Men and women dining and dancing in the club houses. A man playing accordion. Close-up views of hands of a man playing piano. People dance in the night club. Next scene shows a symphony orchestra playing in a large hall during a concert. Next is scene of traffic on a street including streetcars, horse carriages, and pedestrians. Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy's house known as Yasnaya Polyana, and the surrounding park area near Tula, Russia. Avenue of Birch trees leading to the house. Exterior and interior views of the house. A picture of Tolstoy. Elevated, sweeping views of countryside near Tolstoy's Yasnaya Polyana home.
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