🎬 Movie

The Defection of Simas Kudirka

Name: The Defection of Simas Kudirka
Released: 1978
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 6.0
Cast: Alan Arkin, Richard Jordan, Donald Pleasence, George Dzundza, John McMartin

📅 1978 ⭐ 6.0 🕐 1h 40m

tt0077418 257437

Drama TV Movie

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, 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 meant she was a U. S. citizen. As a result, Kudirka was declared a U. S. citizen and in 1974 released by the Soviets.