Main Cast: Alexei Dikiy, Maxim Shtraukh, Yuri Tolubeyev, Mikhail Derzhavin Sr., Yuri Shumsky, Vasily Merkuryev, Boris Livanov
Release Year: 1949
Country: SU
Run Time: 81 minutes
Plot
The First Front was part one of Russian filmmaker Vladimir Petrov's two-part historical epic The Battle of Stalingrad. The hero of the piece is, of course, Josef Stalin (Alexei Dieky), who courageously (in this film at least) urges his countrymen to stand their ground as the Nazis lay siege to Stalingrad in 1941. One suspects that Petrov's positive portrayal of Stalin as a cunning, cool-headed military strategist would cause him no end of trouble during Khrushchev's de-Stalinization campaign of the 1950s. Other historical personages appearing in The First Front are generals Vasilievsky, Voronov, Rokossovsky, Yeremenko and Chukov--not to mention Roosevelt, Churchill and Hitler, all depicted according to the current Soviet party line. The film's vibrant musical score was composed by no less than Aram Khatchaturian. First Front was followed in 1950 by the second part of Petrov's Stalingrad saga, The Victors and the Vanquished. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cast
Alexei Dikiy - Stalin
Maxim Shtraukh
Yuri Tolubeyev
Mikhail Derzhavin Sr.
Yuri Shumsky - Col. General Vasilievsky
Vasily Merkuryev - Colonel General Voronov
Boris Livanov - Lieutenant General Rokossovsky
Vladimir Solovyov; Nikolai Cherkasov - Franklin D. Roosevelt; Pavel Massalsky; N. Rybnikov - Weichs; Nikolai Kryuchkov; Mikhail Nazvanov; Rostislav Plyatt; Mikhail Astangov - Adolf Hitler; Viktor Stanitsyn - Winston Churchill
