Seventeen Moments of Spring

Seventeen Moments of Spring (Russian: Семнадцать мгновений весны) is a 1973 Soviet twelve-part television series, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the novel of the same title by Yulian Semyonov.

The series portrays the exploits of Maxim Isaev, a Soviet spy operating in Nazi Germany under the name Max Otto von Stierlitz, portrayed by Vyacheslav Tikhonov. Stierlitz is tasked with disrupting the secret negotiations between Karl Wolff and Allen Dulles taking place in Switzerland, aimed at forging a separate peace between Germany and the Western Allies.

The series is considered the most successful Soviet espionage thriller ever made, and is one of the most popular television series in Soviet history. Two songs from the series: Moments and The Song on the Far-away Homeland became very popular.

Plot
12 February 1945, Germany. Max Otto von Stierlitz, a respected SS-Standartenführer in the Ausland-SD, is in fact Soviet spy Maxim Isaev, who has infiltrated into the German establishment many years ago. Though Adolf Hitler is determined to continue the Second World War, Walter Schellenberg convinces Heinrich Himmler to conduct secret negotiations with the Americans, hoping to reach a separate peace deal which would allow the Germans to concentrate all their forces on the Eastern Front. In the meantime, Ernst Kaltenbrunner becomes suspicious of Stierlitz, and orders Heinrich Müller to launch a covert investigation on him.

Stierlitz is ordered by Moscow to ascertain whether the Americans and the Germans have a backdoor channel and, if so, to foil any possible agreement. His mission is complicated when the house of his assistants, radio operators Erwin and Katherin Kinn, is bombed. Erwin is killed, and his pregnant wife is taken to a hospital, threatening to compromise Stierlitz. He recruits two new aides—Professor Pleischner, a former member of the German Resistance, and Pastor Schlag, a clergyman who disapproves of the regime. All the while, Stierlitz has to engage in a battle of wits with Müller, who seeks to expose him as an enemy agent. He must also maneuver between the opposing factions inside the Main Security Office, as different high-ranking officials vie for power.

After realizing Himmler and Schellenberg have sent Karl Wolff to negotiate with Allen Dulles in neutral Switzerland, Stierlitz—playing on the rivalries between the Nazi plenipotentiaries—succeeds in leaking the details of the negotiations, conducted under the code name Operation Sunrise Crossword, both to Hitler and to Stalin. The Soviets, now possessing evidence, demand to end those contacts and President Roosevelt must oblige them. Himmler narrowly convinces Hitler it was all merely an attempt to sow distrust between the Allies. On 24 March 1945, Stierlitz, who managed to clear all suspicions against him, returns to his duties. The Red Army is steadily approaching Berlin.

Cast

 * Vyacheslav Tikhonov — Max Otto von Stierlitz
 * Yevgeniy Yevstigneyev — Professor Pleischner
 * Lev Durov — Klaus
 * Svetlana Svetlichnaya — Gabi Nabel
 * Nikolai Volkov — Erwin Kinn
 * Yekaterina Gradova — Katherin Kinn
 * Oleg Tabakov — Walter Schellenberg
 * Leonid Bronevoy — Heinrich Müller
 * Mikhail Zharkovsky — Ernst Kaltenbrunner
 * Emilia Milton — Mrs Saurich
 * Otto Mellies — Helmut Kolder
 * Olga Soshnikova — Barbara Krein
 * Nikolai Prokopovich — Heinrich Himmler
 * Yevgeniy Kuznetsov — Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger
 * Edvard Izotov — Rudolf Schmundt
 * Vladimir Udalov — Wilhelm Burgdorf
 * Rostislav Plyatt — Pastor Fritz Schlag
 * Yuri Vizbor — Martin Bormann
 * Nikolai Gritsenko — General in the train
 * Leonid Kuravlyov — Kurt Eismann
 * Fritz Diez — Adolf Hitler
 * Vasily Lanovoy — Karl Wolff
 * Valentin Gaft — Gaevernitz
 * Vladimir Kenigson — Krause
 * Eleonora Shashkova — Isaev's wife
 * Alexei Safonov — Jürgen Rolf
 * Konstantin Zheldin — Wilhelm Holthoff
 * Lavrentiy Masokha — Scholz
 * Andro Kobaladze — Joseph Stalin
 * Wilhelm Burmeier — Hermann Göring
 * Yan Yanakiev — Eugen Dollmann
 * Vyacheslav Shalevich — Allen Dulles
 * Alexey Eybozhenko — Husmann
 * Vladimir Emelyanov — Wilhelm Keitel
 * Alexei Boryashinov — Albert Speer