The First Echelon (Russian: Первый эшелон, translit. Pervyy eshelon) is a 1955 Soviet war romance film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov, for which Dmitri Shostakovich wrote the music. The film tells the story of the touching romance between Komsomol secretary Alexey Uzorov and tractor driver Anna Zalogina against the background of Virgin Lands Campaign in Kazakhstan. Part of Shostakovich's score was used as the basis for the Suite for Variety Orchestra No. 1. "Waltz II" from the suite was used in the 1999 Stanley Kubrick film Eyes Wide Shut.
Cast
Vsevolod Sanayev as Alexey Yegorovich Dontsov, state farm director
Nikolay Annenkov as Kashtanov, secretary of the RC
Oleg Yefremov as Alexey Uzorov
Izolda Izvitskaya as Anna Zalogina
Nina Doroshina as Nelly Panina
Vyacheslav Voronin as Troyan
Khoren Abrahamyan as Varten Vartanyan
Tatiana Doronina as Zoya