Tsirk (1936)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Directors:

Grigori Aleksandrov
I. Simkov (co-director)

Writer:

Grigori Aleksandrov (writer)

Release Date:

25 May 1936 (Soviet Union)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Plot:

US - Vaudeville dancer Marion Dixon is with her German manager von Kneischitz on tour - in Moskau. Her act includes a gun shooting her to the trapeze...

Plot Keywords:

Dancer | USSR | Trapeze | Manager | Vaudeville

Cast

Lyubov Orlova	...	Mary (Marion Dixon)
Yevgeniya Melnikova	...	Rayechka (as Ye. Melnikova)
Vladimir Volodin	...	The circus director (as V. Volodin)
Sergei Stolyarov	...	Ivan Petrovich Martynov (as S. Stolyarov)
N. Massalsky	...	Von Kneishitz
Aleksandr Komissarov	...	Skamejkin (as A. Komissarov)
N. Otto	...	The clown 'Charlie Chaplin'
Jim Patterson	...	Mary's little son (as Dzh. Patterson)
Fyodor Kurikhin	...	Captain Borneo, animal tamer (as F. Kurikhin)
Sergei Antimonov	...	Shprekhshtalmejster (as S. Antimonov)
Solomon Mikhoels		(as S. Mikhoels)
Pyotr Geraga		(as P. Geraga)
Lev Sverdlin		(as L. Geraga)
Vladimir Kandelaki		(as V. Kandelaki)

Also Known As:

Цирк (Soviet Union: Russian title)
The Circus

Runtime:

94 min | USA:89 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16

Company:

Gosudarstvennoe Upravlenie Kinematografii i fotografii (GUKF)

Trivia:

In the scene where people sing a lullaby in various languages to the black child, the bit sung in Yiddish by Solomon Mikhoels was cut out of the film for distribution in the USSR, for a time when a state-backed anti-Semitism campaign was unleashed.

Soundtrack:

Hello, Good-Bye

Propaganda, but talented

It`s funny to see Americans so picky about this movie, when Russians at than time and still are portrayed much worse in Hollywood productions. It`s either gangsters or drunk "comrades". Also I have to add that the famous singer Paul Robson was living some time in Soviet Russia and sent his son to Soviet high school. In later interview the son told BBC that it was the only time when he didn`t felt subhuman in his entire life. There`s the racism for you ! As for the Stalin - people didn`t know anything at that time and were just rebuilding the country that was finally theirs, so the jubilant scenes are absolutely rightful,they were supposed to gratify people for their immensely hard work and show what they have already achieved. Plus the march scenes are not a bit more silly than for example "water games" shot in Hollywood and featuring just diving, swimming an endless liters of colored water and smoke. I have to mention the actress in lead role - Orlova. She was a prime dancer of the Soviet cinema. Film features one shot that shows just how great her talent as an actress was. When she dances on the cannon, it`s closed with a thick glass and lit up from inside. The glass during the dance heated up, and when she sits down she actually sits on something like an oven ring. But she continues to sing !! You can only note the slight trepidation in her voice if you know about the accident, otherwise it`s seamless !

Overall, this movie has to be taken along with the context and ability to be fair both ways. After all, Stalins face was used by filmmakers as a means to get their films through,so you can just peel that away as an ugly wrapping.