Czterej pancerni i pies

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Czterej pancerni i pies
Czterej pancerni i pies cinema poster
Genre	World War II action/drama miniseries
Creator(s)	Konrad Nałęcki Andrzej Czekalski
Starring	Janusz Gajos Franciszek Pieczka Włodzimierz Press Pola Raksa Wiesław Gołas Roman Wilhelmi Małgorzata Niemirska Aleksander Bielawski Tadeusz Fijewski
Country of origin	Poland
Language(s)	Polish / Russian / German
No. of episodes	21
Production
Running time	55 min
Broadcast
Original channel	TVP
Original run	25 September 1966 – 1970
Links
IMDb profile

Janusz Przymanowski (front left) on the set of Czterej pancerni i pies. In the background, wearing military uniforms, are Janusz Gajos (right, in the role of Janek Kos) and Włodzimierz Press (left, in the role of Grigorij Saakaszwili).

Czterej pancerni i pies (Four tank men and a dog) is a very successful Polish black and white TV series based on the book by Janusz Przymanowski. Made between 1966 and 1970, the series is composed of 21 episodes of 55 minutes each, divided into three seasons. It is set during the final year of World War Two and follows the adventures of a tank crew and their T-34 tank in the 1st Polish Army. Although both the book and the TV series contain elements of pro-Soviet propaganda, they have achieved and retain a cult series status in Poland.

The T-34 tank Rudy (Red hair) with the identifying number '102', a German Shepherd Dog from Siberia Szarik (a ball in Russian, in Polish the word is similar to Szary meaning Gray) and to a lesser extent the crew Jan Kos, Gustaw Jeleń, Grigorij Saakaszwili, Tomasz Czereśniak, and their commander and mentor Olgierd Jarosz (Wasyl Semen in the book), as well as other heroes of the series, have become icons in Polish popular culture.

The popularity of the series came from it being the first postwar series to depict the era of World War II in a somewhat lighter vein. As the tragic events of the war receded, the Polish public became tired of the mandatory dark, tragic tone of previous television series and films dealing with wartime events. A similar change in attitudes occurred elsewhere in the world at the time. At the same time the series was definitely not a comedy and contained many sad moments and intense battle scenes, while some of the main characters were wounded or killed.

The upbeat view of the war shown in the series was popular, but in many ways problematic. From the standpoint of military realism, the series is in fact almost grotesque, as its heroes have a very relaxed concept of military discipline, frequently fight their own "private" battles in defiance of orders, and effortlessly defeat German soldiers, who are depicted as faceless military incompetents (see Stormtrooper effect). The series is also loaded with a dose of Communist and especially pro-Soviet propaganda. An emphasis is put on friendship between frontline Polish and Soviet soldiers, but little or no mention of the problems in general Polish-Soviet relations of that era.

Despite its shortcomings, the series retained its huge popularity and was rerun yearly in Poland until 1989. It was also shown in other countries of the Soviet bloc.

In 2000s the series were released on DVD.

1 Characters
- 1.1 The crew
- 1.2 Other
2 List of episodes
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Characters

[edit] The crew

Olgierd Jarosz, "Olgierd" - first commander. Played by Roman Wilhelmi.
Gustaw Jeleń, "Gustlik" - loader. Played by Franciszek Pieczka.
Jan Kos, "Janek" - gunner/radio operator, later the second commander. Played by Janusz Gajos.
Grigorij Saakaszwili, "Grześ" - driver. Played by Włodzimierz Press.
Tomasz Czereśniak, "Tomuś, Tomek" - second gunner/radio operator, played by Wiesław Gołas.

[edit] Other

Marusia "Ogoniok" - Russian nurse, played by Pola Raksa.
Lidia Wiśniewska, "Lidka" - radio operator, played by Małgorzata Niemirska.
Franek Wichura - truck driver, played by Witold Pyrkosz.
The Colonel - played by Tadeusz Kalinowski.

[edit] List of episodes

A wooden tank made by unknown enthusiasts of the series from Rawicz

Season I, 1966
- 1. Załoga (Crew)
- 2. Radość i gorycz (Happines and bitterness)
- 3. Gdzie my - tam granica (Where we are - there's the border)
- 4. Psi pazur (Dog's claw)
- 5. Rudy, miód i krzyże (Red hair, honey and crosses)
- 6. Most (tv)|Most (Bridge)
- 7. Rozstajne drogi (Crossroads)
- 8. Brzeg morza (Seashore)

Season II, 1969
- 9. Zamiana (Exchange)
- 10. Kwadrans po nieparzystej (A quarter past an odd hour)
- 11. Wojenny siew (Wartime sow)
- 12. Fort Olgierd (Fort Olgierd)
- 13. Zakład o śmierć (Death bet)
- 14. Czerwona seria (Red burst)
- 15. Wysoka fala (High wave)
- 16. Daleki patrol (Long patrol)