AllMovie

Men of the Sea, like many Russian productions, was filmed at the behest of Joseph Stalin to honor the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution. In 1918, the Bolshevik fleet, under personal orders from marshal-to-be Stalin, defends Petrograd and the Baltic Sea from their German, British and White Russian enemies. It isn't easy, inasmuch as the Soviet navy is festered with traitors and saboteurs, but in the end the Bolsheviks prevail. Most the cast members were drawn from the ranks of the actual Russian navy; actors they're not, but they play their roles with sincerity and conviction. Making certain that Men of the Sea maintained at least an aura of authenticity was technical advisor Captain K. I. Samoilov.