Whoever said that one picture is worth a thousand words can go down in the record as a master of understatement when the picture in question is the Soviet documentary film, "Moscow Strikes Back."

At a time when clamor for a second front has given rise to serious questioning of the strength and integrity of our Russian allies, a film like this carefully prepared and intelligently presented account of the U.S.S.R.'s struggle against the Nazis is welcome fare. With a minimum of bravado and a maximum of restraint and straightforward presentation, "Moscow Strikes Back" paints a graphic and moving picture of heroic proportions about the struggle in which the Red Armies and the Russian people are now engaged. Every scene is packed with action, action that wasn't prepared in advance by scriptwriters and directors. It is action caught by the camera of photographers who followed the battles through the ruined villages and torn fields that are Russia's battle-grounds.

There are no stars in the film, and yet the acting is unsurpassed. For again it is the camera that has caught the battle as it is being fought, with every Russian playing his own part.

Hollywood has done an excellent job of editing and compiling the individual seenes of the Russian photographers. It has added an effective, if not overly original, musical score by Dmitri Tiomkin, and a restrained commentary by Albert Malty, read by Edward G. Robinson.

Most of us are convinced by now that we're in this war for keeps. If we would gain a fuller realization of what the battle has meant to others, to those who have borne the brunt of the attack that we may be called upon to face, then we owe it to ourselves to see "Moscow Strikes Back."