Knights of the Teutonic Order (Polish: Krzyżacy), also known as Knights of the Black Cross, is a 1960 Polish historical epic film adapted from a 1900 novel by Nobel laureate, Henryk Sienkiewicz. Directed by Aleksander Ford, it is one of the most successful movies in the cinema of Poland.
The plot centers on the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War and the climactic Battle of Grunwald in 1410. For the battle scenes, 15,000 extras were hired. The release date of 15 July 1960 was the battle's 550th anniversary.
The film attracted huge audiences: it sold 14 million tickets in its first four years of release and had more than thirty million viewers as of 2000, making it the most popular film ever screened in Poland. It was later exported to 46 foreign countries, selling 29.6 million tickets in the Soviet Union and a further 2.6 million tickets in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was the most successful Polish film internationally and a Polish submission to the 33rd Academy Awards.
Cast
Grażyna Staniszewska as Danusia Jurandówna
Urszula Modrzyńska as Jagienka ze Zgorzelic
Mieczysław Kalenik as Zbyszko z Bogdańca
Aleksander Fogiel as Maćko z Bogdańca
Andrzej Szalawski as Jurand ze Spychowa, father of Danusia
Leon Niemczyk as Fulko de Lorche
Henryk Borowski as Zygfryd de Löwe
Tadeusz Białoszczyński as Duke Janusz I of Warsaw
Emil Karewicz as King Władysław Jagiełło
Józef Kostecki as Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas the Great
Lucyna Winnicka as Duchess Danutė of Lithuania, wife of Janusz I of Warsaw
Cezary Julski as Zawisza Czarny
Jerzy Kozakiewicz as Cztan z Rogowa
Janusz Paluszkiewicz as royal marshall
Jerzy Pichelski as Powala of Taczew
Stanisław Jasiukiewicz as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Ulrich von Jungingen
Mieczysław Voit as Kuno von Lichtenstein
Janusz Strachocki as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights Konrad von Jungingen