''The Ural Front'' (russian: Большая земля, Bolshaya zemlya) is a 1944 Soviet

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

directed by Sergey Gerasimov and starring

Tamara Makarova Tamara Fyodorovna Makarova (russian: Тама́ра Фёдоровна Мака́рова; 13 August 1907 – 19 January 1997) was a Soviet and Russian film actress and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1950) and Hero of Socialist Labo ...

Viktor Dobrovolsky Viktor Nikolaevich Dobrovolsky (russian: Виктор Николаевич Добровольский; uk, Віктор Миколайович Добровольський; January 23, 1906 – July 28, 1984), was a Soviet and Ukrainian film and ...

and

Sofya Khalyutina Sofya Vasilyevna Khalyutina (russian: Софья Васильевна Халютина, 22 January 1875 – 10 March 1960) was a Russian and Soviet actress, associated with Moscow Art Theatre which she started to perform at in 1898, officially joi ...

.Nowell-Smith p.396 The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Ivan Stepanov Ivan Stepanov (1887–1953) was a Soviet art director.Barsacq p.251 Selected filmography * '' The Stationmaster'' (1925) * '' The Nightingale'' (1936) * ''The Childhood of Maxim Gorky ''The Childhood of Maxim Gorky'' (russian: Детство Г� ...

. It was distributed in the United States in 1945 by

Artkino Pictures Nicola Napoli, was the President of Artkino Pictures, Inc., the primary distributor of Soviet films in the United States, Canada, Central America and South America from 1940 to 1982. Napoli was a double agent Soviet Spy for the United States. In 19 ...

Plot

The picture begins in August 1941, during the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

. In one town of the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...

, women accompany their husbands to the war. Now they are alone and have to cope with chores by themselves. Anna, the protagonist of the film, displays strong will and organizational skills which are needed. Industry is evacuated to the Urals, along with equipment, and people come from places where the fighting is underway or could begin soon. These people have become refugees and they need shelter. Anna takes into her house a family - a woman with children and others also follow suit.

Cast

as Anna Sviridova *

as Anikeyev *

as Maria Gavrilovna * Vladimir Solovyov as Yegor Sviridov *

Sergei Blinnikov Sergei Blinnikov (russian: Серге́й Капито́нович Бли́нников) was a Soviet actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1963),

as Prikhodko * Georgi Kovrov as Chernykh *

Mark Bernes Mark Naumovich Bernes (russian: link=no, Ма́рк Нау́мович Берне́с) (,This date: – is a mistake found in the '' Great Soviet Encyclopaedia''. True date: – was engraved on the Bernes's gravestone at Novodevichy Cemeter ...

as Kozyrev * Pyotr Aleynikov as Kostya Korotkov *

Vera Altayskaya Vera Vladimirovna Altayskaya (russian: Ве́ра Влади́мировна Алта́йская) (21 May 1919 – 28 December 1978) was a Soviet actress known for her roles in children's fairy tale films and comedies. Born in Petrograd, she wa ...

as Antonina Ushakova * Nikolai Konovalov as Kurochkin

References

Bibliography

* Geoffrey Nowell-Smith. ''The Oxford History of World Cinema''. Oxford University Press, 1996.

External links

* 1944 war films Mosfilm films Soviet war films 1940s Russian-language films World War II films made in wartime Films directed by Sergei Gerasimov Soviet black-and-white films Soviet World War II films Russian World War II films {{1940s-USSR-film-stub