Knights of the Teutonic Order (film)

Knights of the Teutonic Order (Polish: Krzyżacy), also known as Knights of the Black Cross, is a 1960 Polish historical epic film adapted from a 1900 novel by Nobel laureate, Henryk Sienkiewicz. Directed by Aleksander Ford, it is one of the most successful movies in the cinema of Poland.

Knights of the Teutonic Order Krzyżacy
Theatrical release poster by Polish artist Roman Cieślewicz
Directed by	Aleksander Ford
Screenplay by	Aleksander Ford Jerzy Stefan Stawiński
Based on	The Knights of the Cross by Henryk Sienkiewicz
Produced by	Zygmunt Król
Starring	Grażyna Staniszewska Urszula Modrzyńska Mieczysław Kalenik Aleksander Fogiel
Cinematography	Mieczysław Jahoda
Music by	Kazimierz Serocki
Production company	Zespół Filmowy
Release date	15 July 1960 (1960-07-15)
Running time	166 minutes
Country	People's Republic of Poland
Language	Polish
Budget	zl 38,000,000 [1]
Box office	zl 100,000,000 (by March 1961)[1]

The plot is situated in late-14th century and early-15th century Poland and centers on the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War and the climactic Battle of Grunwald in 1410. For the battle scenes, 15,000 extras were hired.^[2] The release date of 15 July 1960 was also the battle's 550th anniversary.

The film attracted huge audiences: it sold 14 million tickets in its first four years of release and had more than thirty million viewers as of 2000, making it the most popular film ever screened in Poland.^[3][4][5] It was later exported to 46 foreign countries,^[6] selling 29.6 million tickets in the Soviet Union^[7] and a further 2.6 million tickets in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.^[8] It was the most successful Polish film internationally^[9] and a Polish submission to the 33rd Academy Awards.

Cast

• Grażyna Staniszewska as Danusia Jurandówna
• Urszula Modrzyńska as Jagienka ze Zgorzelic
• Mieczysław Kalenik as Zbyszko z Bogdańca
• Aleksander Fogiel as Maćko z Bogdańca
• Andrzej Szalawski as Jurand ze Spychowa
• Leon Niemczyk as Fulko de Lorche
• Henryk Borowski as Zygfryd de Löwe
• Tadeusz Białoszczyński as Duke Janusz I of Warsaw
• Emil Karewicz as King Władysław Jagiełło
• Józef Kostecki as Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas the Great
• Lucyna Winnicka as Duchess Danutė of Lithuania, wife of Janusz I of Warsaw
• Cezary Julski as Zawisza Czarny
• Jerzy Kozakiewicz as Cztan z Rogowa
• Janusz Paluszkiewicz as royal marshal
• Jerzy Pichelski as Powala of Taczew
• Stanisław Jasiukiewicz as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Ulrich von Jungingen
• Mieczysław Voit as Kuno von Lichtenstein
• Janusz Strachocki as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Konrad von Jungingen

References

1. Maria Dąbrowska, Tadeusz Drewnowski. Dzienniki: 1958-1965. Czytelnik (1988). ISBN 9788307009742. p. 217.
2. Kreuzritter: Kommische Oper. Der Spiegel, 5 July 1961.
3. Marcin Zaremba. Komunizm, legitymizacja, nacjonalizm: nacjonalistyczna legitymizacja władzy komunistycznej w Polsce. Trio (2001). ISBN 9788388542145. p. 273.
4. Browarny, Wojciech (2019). Tadeusz Różewicz and Modern Identity in Poland since the Second World War. Translated by Zazula, Piotr. Wrocław. p. 201. ISBN 9788363270179. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
5. Haltof, Marek (2007). Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema. Scarecrow Press, Inc. pp. 184–185. ISBN 978-0-8108-5566-3.
6. Haltof, Marek. Polish National Cinema. Berghahn Books (2002). ISBN 9781571812766. p. 97.
7. Крестоносцы. kinopoisk.ru.
8. Křižáci. Film Culture: Brno 1945-1970.
9. "Polski's Top O'Seas Takes From 1947 Through 1975". Variety. May 12, 1976. p. 426.

External links

• Knights of the Teutonic Order at IMDb
• Knights of the Teutonic Order at the TCM Movie Database
• Knights of the Black Cross at Rotten Tomatoes
• Krzyżacy at FilmPolski.pl