bob-verini

I got a chance to view the BFI's VHS copy of this elusive 1944 music score Oscar nominee. The title might suggest a balalaika musical but it's a lot grimmer than the poster indicates. It's really in the vein of SO PROUDLY WE HAIL!--remember that one? The nurses caught in the crossfire of the Pacific war? I'm pretty sure the Paramount epic influenced or inspired UA here. There actually are a lot more than three Russian girls in white in this propaganda melodrama. But however many, we follow them from volunteering to extremely hazardous duty at the front, captured through a mix of documentary footage and extremely unnerving F/X. Naturally, there's time for a romance between our heroine (Anna Sten, the poor man's Garbo) and a downed Canadian flier (Kent Smith, the poor man's Robert Taylor). And come to think of it, there's a great deal of choral singing along the way (yes, accompanied by the balalaika!), which must have influenced the nomination. (The credited scorer, Franke Harling, had previously won for helping to stitch together all of the traditional tunes in STAGECOACH, beating out Max Steiner for GWTW which I still can/t fathom.) Anyway, THREE RUSSIAN GIRLS disappeared in the wake of the postwar anti-Soviet purge of Hollywood, but at least this version of a print exists; I had to pay a bundle to view it--the BFI charges, as I guess it should--but I wasn't sorry.