The Desperate Ones
Cast & Crew
Alexander Ramati
Maximilian Schell
Raf Vallone
Irene Papas
Theodore Bikel
Maria Perschy
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Two Polish brothers, Victor and Marek, imprisoned in a Siberian labor camp since the partition of Poland, escape and make their way to Kermine, Uzbekistan, en route to join the Polish Army--in exile across the mountain border in Afghanistan. While they await a meeting with Hamlat, a smuggler who will guide them out of the U.S.S.R., the brothers rent a room in the home of Ibram Shukunov and his beautiful wife, Ajmi. Marek immediately falls in love with Ajmi, and Victor becomes enamored of waitress Marusia. Meanwhile, Kisielev, the local NKVD head, keeps the brothers under surveillance. Marek, the younger and weaker of the two, suffers from lingering night blindness as a result of his confinement, and his growing despair brings him into conflict with Victor. On the day of the planned escape, Victor is stricken with typhus. Hamlat is arrested and sent to stand trial in nearby Bokhara, but he flees when his train is bombed. Marek learns that Victor needs adrenalin to survive, but he is denied a travel visa; and Ibram volunteers to go to the black market in Bokhara. Left alone, Marek and Ajmi consummate their love; afterwards, Ajmi, burdened by guilt, attempts to take her own life. Marek saves her, Ibram returns with the adrenalin, and Hamlat is contacted for a last-ditch effort. Marusia is tricked by Kisielev into informing, but she warns Victor and Marek in time. As the brothers set out across the border with Hamlat, Hamlat's children, Ibram, and Ajmi, Marek sacrifices his life by drawing the fire of the border patrol, thereby allowing the others to escape.
Director
Alexander Ramati
Cast
Maximilian Schell
Raf Vallone
Irene Papas
Theodore Bikel
Maria Perschy
Fernando Rey
George Voskovec
Alberto De Mendoza
Antonio Vico
Vincente Sangiovanni
Robert Palmer
Danny Stone
Mariela Chatlak
Carmen Carbonell
Fernando Hilbeck
Andres Monreal
Maruchi Fresno
Mark Malicz
Max Slaten
Alexander Ramati
Ricardo Palacios
Cris Huerta
Antonio Duque
Luis Castro
Luis Tejada
Crew
Gene Collins
Commonwealth United Entertainment Inc.
Antonio Cortés
Félix Fabian
Jean Freber
Jack Grynberg
Cristobal Halffter
Peter Keen
Christian Matras
Gordon K. Mccallum
Daniel Mendoza
Wally Milner
Ricardo Navarrete
Margarita Pardo
Emilio Puyol
Alexander Ramati
Alexander Ramati
Jesús Sánchez
Anthony B. Unger
Peter Weatherley
Henry T. Weinstein
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Opened in Madrid in March 1967 as Mas alla de las montañas. U. S. title changed from Beyond the Mountains. Copyright claimant: Commonwealth United Entertainment.
