''Volga-Volga'' () is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

musical comedy directed by

Grigori Aleksandrov Grigori Vasilyevich Aleksandrov (23 January 1903 – 16 December 1983, known by artist name Mormonenko) was a Soviet film director who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1947 and a Hero of Socialist Labour in 1973. He was awarded the S ...

, released on April 24, 1938. It centres on a group of amateur performers on their way to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to perform in a talent contest called the Moscow Musical Olympiad. Most of the action takes place on a steamboat travelling on the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

. The lead roles were played by Alexandrov's wife,

Lyubov Orlova Lyubov Petrovna Orlova ( ; – 26 January 1975) was a Soviet and Russian actress, singer, dancer, and People's Artist of the USSR (1950). Life and career Lyubov Orlova was born to a family of Russian nobility#Hereditary nobility, Russian h ...

, and

Igor Ilyinsky Igor Vladimirovich Ilyinsky (13 January 1987) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, director and comedian. Hero of Socialist Labour (1974) and People's Artist of the USSR (1949). Early years Igor Ilyinsky was born on 24 July 1901 in Mo ...

. According to Orlova, the name of the film is taken from a popular Russian folk song, ''

Stenka Razin Stepan Timofeyevich Razin (, ; c. 1630 – ), known as Stenka Razin ( ), was a Don Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia in 1670–1671. Early life Razin's father, Timofey Ra ...

'', that Aleksandrov sang while rowing with

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

. Chaplin jokingly suggested the words as a title for a movie, but Aleksandrov took it seriously and named his new film ''Volga-Volga''. The feature was said to be Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin's favourite film. Aleksandrov claimed Stalin watched it, "so often that he could recite many of the lines from memory".

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

in his memoirs says that in the pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

period Stalin laughed at him since he resembled a character from the film. In 1961, a new version of a movie was released, with the "Joseph Stalin" ship cut. In 2006, a colorization of the original black-and-white film began. The colorized version premiered on the Russian First Channel on February 14, 2010.

Background

Before ''Volga-Volga'', Grigory Aleksandrov wrote a script about a female

taper Taper may refer to: * Part of an object in the shape of a cone (conical) * Taper (transmission line), a transmission line gradually increasing or decreasing in size * Fishing rod taper, a measure of the flexibility of a fishing rod * Conically ta ...

(a ballroom cinema pianist), Katya Muratova, who could not find a better job after finishing her conservatory studies. It was based on his wife

's biography. When the film is torn, as was a regular occurrence in the

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

era, it takes time to repair the film, and the pianist has to fill the gap in order to calm down the audience, who is shouting "Bunglers!" and whistling in rage. So, the female pianist plays classical music and it usually works. But one time, the projectionist, delighted with her performance, deliberately delays the repair, and Katya Muratova performs the entire classical piece. The "purist" part of the public demanded that the theatre perform "the classics" instead of vulgar films; the other, of course, is against it. A fight ensues, and in the end, the cinema is smashed to pieces, and the taper is fired as a result. Unfortunately, the original film script was never given a green light, but the conflict between supporters of classical and contemporary music was incorporated into the film ''Volga-Volga'' by the director, with the addition of

angst Angst is a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity. ''Anguish'' is its Romance languages, Latinate cognate, equivalent, and the words ''anxious'' and ''anxiety'' are of similar origin. Etymology The word ''angst'' was introduced in ...

and Lyubov Orlova playing the opposite of her Katya Muratova part.

Plot

In the provincial city of Melkovodsk along the banks of the Volga river, the musically inclined letter carrier Dunya Petrova, aka "Arrow" travels on a barge to carry an important message to Ivan Byvalov. Arrow has a great passion for music, and wishes to be a singer. Also travelling with Arrow is her boyfriend Alesha Trubyshkin, the conductor of a classical orchestra. She breaks up with him after he insults her song-writing abilities. Byvalov is an ambitious, pompous and rather boorish apparatchik who is hoping for promotion that will take him to a job in Moscow, and is most interested in her message. Arrow delivers the message to Byvalov, which is that Moscow wants amateur performers for the Moscow Musical Olympiad. Byvalov replies that no one has any musical talent in Melkovodsk, and he can send no performers. Arrow then leads what appears to be the entire population of the city in a series of songs and dances intended to prove the people do have musical talents. Byvalov finally agrees to send performers when he realizes this is a chance to go to Moscow. Two groups of performers led by Trubyshkin and Arrow board a paddle-wheeler to go to Moscow, but Byvalov expels the group led by Arrow under the grounds that they have no musical talent while allowing Trubyshkin and his orchestra to stay. Undeterred, Arrow and her group board a raft and then a sailing boat to race the paddle-wheeler to Moscow. A series of comic mishaps occur as the two groups race to Moscow and along the way, Trubyshkin and Arrow exchange vessels, when both go looking for each other. Arrow and her group finally board the modern ship ''Iosif Stalin'', where she finishes off ''The Song of the Volga'' that Trubyshkin disparaged. Due to a storm, the lyrics and notes for the song are lost. Arrow is heart-broken when she discovers that her song has become the most popular song in the Soviet Union after the lyric notes are discovered, fearing that she will never receive the credit she deserves. Trubyshkin finally recognizes her musical talent and the two reconcile. In Moscow, Byvalov is credited as the author of the song because the lyrics are written on paper from his office; after first trying to take the credit, it is revealed that he has no musical ability. Reflecting his general ignorance, Byvalov names various long dead classical composers as the author before he is forced to admit that Arrow wrote ''The Song of the Volga''. After a frenetic search, Trubyshkin and Arrow appear together at the Moscow Musical Olympiad and sing ''The Song of the Volga'' to great acclaim, winning the prize for best song. In what appears to be a reference to the ''Yezhovshchina'', Arrow breaks the fourth wall to address the audience, saying that apparatchiks such as Byvalov are being disposed of.

Cast

- Ivan Byvalov, head of management at a small handicraft industry in the city Melkovodsk. The antagonist of ''Volga-Volga''. *

- Dunya Petrova (aka 'Arrow' ), letter carrier. The protagonist of ''Volga-Volga''. *

Vladimir Volodin Vladimir Sergeyevich Volodin (; 1896 – 1958) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1947). He died on March 27, 1958, in Moscow, and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. Selected filmography * 1936 – ...

- old pilot *

Pavel Olenev Pavel Olenev (; 1898 – 1964) was a Soviet and Russian film actor. He died on January 19, 1964, in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR, and was buried at the Vagankovo Cemetery Vagankovo Cemetery () is located in the Presnensky District of Moscow, Russia. It ...

- Kuzma Ivanovich, water carrier / chef (reciter) *Andrey Tutyshkin - Alesha Trubyshkin, accountant and Arrow's boyfriend. *Sergey Antimonov - janitor Okhapkin *Anatoly Shalaev - young composer *

Maria Vladimirovna Mironova Maria Vladimirovna Mironova (; – 13 November 1997) was a Soviet and Russian actress who worked in film, television and theatre. She was a member of the popular comedy-duo Mironova and Menaker (), which she performed with her husband, , for ...

- Zoya, secretary of Byvalov. *Nikita Kondratyev - Philip Ivanovich, waiter *

Vsevolod Sanayev Vsevolod Vasilyevich Sanayev (; 25 February 1912, Tula – 27 January 1996, Moscow) was a USSR, Soviet film and stage actor popular in the 1960s–1970s. Sanayev, a Moscow Art Theatre (and later Mossovet Theatre) actor, was honored in 1969 with t ...

- bearded lumberjack / member of the symphony orchestra *Aleksey Dolinin - policeman *Ivan Chuvelev - chairman of the jury of the Olympics

Gallery

File:Волга-Волга-кадр-1.jpg,

and

File:Волга-Волга-кадр-2.jpg, Igor Ilyinsky File:Волга-Волга-кадр-3.jpg,

File:Волга-Волга-кадр-4.jpg, Lyubov Orlova File:Волга-Волга-кадр-5.jpg, Andrey Tutyshkin

References

External links

*
''Stalin's favourite film restored in colour'', AFP, 12/02/2010.
1938 films Mosfilm films Films set in Moscow Films set in Ural Films set in the Soviet Union Films set on ships Soviet black-and-white films Films directed by Grigori Aleksandrov 1938 musical comedy films Soviet musical comedy films Russian musical comedy films Films shot in Moscow Films shot in Moscow Oblast Films shot in Nizhny Novgorod Films shot in Perm Krai Films shot in Russia Articles containing video clips Films scored by Isaak Dunayevsky Russian black-and-white films 1930s Soviet films 1930s Russian-language films Russian-language musical comedy films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub