The Burning Miles (Огненные вёрсты, Ognennye Versty, 1957), is an early Red Western. Often considered the earliest of the 'Red Westerns' or Osterns, it was made before the term was even coined. It was titled Miles of Fire for American release; the title given here, "The Burning Miles", is something someone made up. A verst (Russian versta, верста) is an obsolete Russian unit of length. ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ostern (Eastern) or Red Western was the Soviet Union and Iron Curtain countries take on the Western movie. ... The Ostern (Eastern) or Red Western was the Soviet Union and Iron Curtain countries take on the Western movie. ...

One time Mosfilm actor, Samson Samsonov had a versatile directorial career coming to the Burning miles fresh from an adaptation of Chekhov's The Grasshopper that won two prizes as Venice Film Festival. He was later awarded the title of 'People's artist of the USSR'. Mosfilm (in Russian, Мосфи́льм) is a Russian movie studio founded in November of 1923 by the Soviet State Committee for Cinematography. ... Anton Chekhov, Russian writer Pavel Chekov, character in Star Trek Chekhov, town in Moscow Oblast, Russia Chekhov, town in Sakhalin Oblast, Russia Chekhovo, health resort in Bashkiria, Russia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Venice Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale dArte Cinematografica) takes place every year in late August/early September on the Lido di Venezia in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, in Venice, Italy. ...

It is a Russian civil war drama, unfolding in the conflict between the Reds and the Whites, rather than the Basmachi rebels of films such as White Sun of the Desert and Telokhranitel. The Russian Civil War was fought between 1918 and 1922. ... The Basmachi Revolt, or Basmachestvo as it is called in the Russian language, was an uprising against Soviet rule in Central Asia. ... White Sun of the Desert (Beloe Solntse Pustyni/Белое солнце пустыни) (1969), a classic Eastern or Ostern film of the Soviet Union. ... Telokhranitel (Телохранитель), or The Bodyguard in its English title, is a 1979 Soviet film. ...

Plot

The White Guard Army led by General Anton Denikin are laying siege to a southern city in order to prevent a rebellion. They are also blocking the railway, but Chekist Zavarzin is in a hurry to travel south. In a flash of inspiration, he decides to use tachankas or machine gun carts to reach his destination, and attracts an unusual group of equally desperate fellow travellers. The White movement, whose military arm is known as the White Army (Белая Армия) or White Guard (Белая Гвардия, белогвардейцы) and whose members are known as Whites (Белые, Беляки) or White Russians (a term which has other meanings) comprised some of the Russian forces, both political and military, which opposed... Anton Denikin on the day of his resignation in 1920 Anton Ivanovich Denikin (Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин) (December 16, 1872 - August 8, 1947) was a Russian army officer before and during World War I. Following the Russian Revolution he was part of the counter-revolutionary White Russian forces in the civil... The Cheka (ЧК in Russian) was the first of many Soviet secret police organizations. ... The tachanka (тачанка) was a horse-driven fighting vehicle, usually a cart or an open wagon with a stationary heavy machine gun, often called Maxim, installed in the back. ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ...

The Burning Miles is obviously a film that is much influenced by the railway Western films like John Ford's classic Stagecoach, because of the diverse set of characters thrown together in desperate circumstances. Zavarzin's companions on his journey include the doctor Shelako, the nurse Katya and a mysterious white guard officer Beklemishev, disguised as a veterinary surgeon. This formula gives the film an extra psychological dimension as the characters' progress towards their destination echoes the resolution of their problems and transitions in relationships. Broncho Billy Anderson, from The Great Train Robbery The Western movie is one of the classic American film genres. ... John Ford (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) was one of the most accomplished American film directors of the 1930s to 1960s, known particularly as a director of the Westerns, although his tributes to the veterans of World War II and Americana are also equally effective. ... Stagecoach is a 1939 Western which tells the tale of Oprah Winfrey and some strangers thrown in a castle made of shoddy clothing on a stagecoach which is attacked by Dr Phil and the Bandits. ... In American and Canadian English, a veterinarian (from Latin veterinae, draught animals) is an animal doctor, a practitioner of veterinary medicine. ...

Main Cast

Igor Savkin (Gregori Fedor Zavarzin) Margarita Volodina (Katerina Gavrilovna) Mikhail Troyanovsky (Dr. Shelako) Vladimir Kenigson (Sergei Beklemishev)

Crew

• Film director: Samson Samsonov
• Screenwriters: Nikolai Figurovsky
• Studio: Mosfilm

The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Screenwriters, or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies are made. ... A studio is an artists workroom. ... Mosfilm (in Russian, Мосфи́льм) is a Russian movie studio founded in November of 1923 by the Soviet State Committee for Cinematography. ...

External link

• The Burning Miles at the Internet Movie Database