Knights of the Teutonic Order (film)

Knights of the Teutonic Order (Polish: Krzyżacy) is a 1960 Polish film directed by Aleksander Ford based on the novel of the same name by Henryk Sienkiewicz.

The plot is situated in the late-14th century and early-15th century Poland and centers on the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War (1409-1411) and the final Battle of Grunwald (1410). 15,000 extras were employed to create the battle scenes.[2] The film attracted to cinema masses of viewers and remains one of the most attended films in Polish history: it sold 2 million tickets within several months,[3] 14 million after four years and as of 1987, it had some 32,315,695 admissions. It was also exported to forty-six foreign countries,[4] and sold 29.6 million tickets in the Soviet Union[5] and 2,650,700 in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic,[6] and was the most successful Polish film internationally.[7] It was a Polish submission to the 33rd Academy Awards.

It was released on 15 July 1960, the 550th anniversary of the battle of Grunwald.