The Defection of Simas Kudirka

Name: The Defection of Simas Kudirka
Genre: Drama
Released: 1978-01-23
Duration: 1 h 40 min
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Alan Arkin, Richard Jordan, Donald Pleasence

TV Movie
1978
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

162

YOUR RATING

Drama

Based on the true story of the attempted defection in 1970 by a Lithuanian seaman seeking political asylum in the United States. Kudirka was denied asylum and returned to the Soviets, charge... Read allBased on the true story of the attempted defection in 1970 by a Lithuanian seaman seeking political asylum in the United States. Kudirka was denied asylum and returned to the Soviets, charged with treason, and sentenced to ten years of hard labor. It was later discovered and veri... Read allBased on the true story of the attempted defection in 1970 by a Lithuanian seaman seeking political asylum in the United States. Kudirka was denied asylum and returned to the Soviets, charged with treason, and sentenced to ten years of hard labor. It was later discovered and verified that his mother had been born in Brooklyn and gone to Lithuania at a young age, which... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

162

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 2 Primetime Emmys
- 3 wins & 3 nominations total

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Storyline

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Trivia
Scenes were filmed on Maine Maritime Academy's training ship, TV State of Maine, during its annual training cruise in May 1977. Some senior midshipmen were used as extras.

Goofs
During Mr. Chadway's yelling in his officer of what has happened, for over five seconds, we can see what appears to be the boom mic hanging just in frame overhead. A couple minutes later when letting some guests in, on the left, upward, we can see what appears to be another piece of filming equipment.

Quotes
Prosecutor: In the spring of 1963 while you were working on the Sovetskaya Litva, is it not true you monitored foreign broadcasts of propaganda and fed them through the ship's speaker system?
Simas Kudirka: Music.
[quietly]
Prosecutor: Speak up, please! Do you admit to this act?
Simas Kudirka: Rock and roll music.
Prosecutor: I can't hear you!
Simas Kudirka: What difference does it make?
Lithuanian Court Judge: The defendant will speak louder.
Simas Kudirka: What difference does it make!
[yelling and standing up]
Simas Kudirka: You will convict me of treason, the same way you made me radio operator: because it suits your needs! What about my needs?
Genna Kudirka: Simas.
[in a hushing tone]
Simas Kudirka: I tell you, you are looking at a frightened rabbit; all my life I have done everything out of fear! When I jumped to the American ship, the fuse pounding in my heart so much I thought it would break into a thousand pieces. But the fear behind me was much worse than anything I was going in to. That's why I jumped. That's why I jumped. There was no treason; there was a life time of walking with my eyes down. You say I should have guilt because of my family - I do! But worse than that is the shame that I feel, that I felt, because I feared you so much! You accuse me of treason? I accuse YOU OF TREASON! You've taken a nation of men and turned us into sheep! But I have been in your prisons, I have been through your nightmare! What more is there to fear from you?

Connections
Featured in The 30th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1978)

User reviews5

Review

Featured review

10/10

Cold War Drama at Sea

The Defection of Simas Kudirka is a made-for television movie based on the actual defection of a Lithuanian sailor to a U.S. Coast Guard cutter in 1970. Simas Kudirka, played by Alan Arkin, jumps ship only to be returned to the Soviet ship by force. After spending time in a Soviet prison, Kudirka is allowed to immigrate to the United States after it is learned that his mother was born in New York.

The movie nicely details the political and military ramifications from the fallout of one of the most shameful episodes in Coast Guard history. I was a sailor on board one of the two Coast Guard cutters involved in the filming of the movie in 1977. The movie was filmed in Portsmouth, NH, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery Maine, and off the coast of New Hampshire and southern Maine. The final scene shows Simas Kudirka (Arkin) and his wife Genna (Shirley Knight) reviewing the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Vigilant, the ship onto which Kudirka jumped. The actual ship shown in the movie was the USCGC Decisive at its home port of New Castle, NH.