AllMovie

This children's adventure movie is a charming tale of a group of youngsters in Prague who hear that Soviet sailors abandoned their failing ship in the Arctic Sea before it went down, but no one had been able to find the sailors yet. Inspired by the efforts to save the men, the youngsters strike out on their own to help in the rescue attempt. One child is in charge of making the potato pancakes, one is in charge of the compass, and others all have their particular tasks to handle. Their progress toward the Arctic Sea is necessarily slow, whether by foot or cart or train, and they have to hole up in a relative's country cottage to spend their first night away from home. Meanwhile, worried parents have been to the authorities and a hunt is on for the children that parallels the hunt for the seamen. The children hear that they have been reported missing in the news on the radio, and they decide to turn back -- not because they have done anything wrong, but because they have to go through a dark tunnel to continue their journey -- and they are all afraid of the dark. Except for a bit of serious footage on the ship and sailors lost at sea -- which detracts from the focus of this story, the film is entertaining for adults and children alike.