Tsirk (1936)

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, the stage director there wants a copy ... See full summary »

Directors:

Grigori Aleksandrov, Isidor Simkov

Writer:

Grigori Aleksandrov

Stars:

Lyubov Orlova, Evgeniya Melnikova, Vladimir Volodin

Cast

Credited cast:
Lyubov Orlova	...	Marion Dixon
Evgeniya Melnikova	...	Rayechka, the director's daughter (as Ye. Melnikova)
Vladimir Volodin	...	Ludvig, circus director (as V. Volodin)
Sergei Stolyarov	...	Ivan Petrovich Martinov (as S. Stolyarov)
Pavel Massalsky	...	Kneishitz (as N. Massalskij)
Aleksandr Komissarov	...	Skamejkin (as A. Komissarov)
N. Otto	...	Chaplin
Jim Patterson	...	Jimmy, Marion's son (as Dzh. Patterson)
Fyodor Kurikhin	...	Captain Borneo, animal tamer (as F. Kurikhin)
Sergei Antimonov	...	Shprekhshtalmejster (as S. Antimonov)
Solomon Mikhoels	...	Cameo (as S. Mikhoels)
Pavel Geraga	...	Cameo (as P. Geraga)
Lev Sverdlin	...	Cameo (as L. Sverdlin)
Vladimir Kandelaki	...	Cameo (as V. Kandelaki)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Ross

Storyline

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, the stage director there wants a copy of this act for the USSR. She falls in love with a Soviet enginer, but von Kneischitz blackmails her with her dark spot in her life, she has a colored baby, to leave Moskau.

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Plot Keywords:

ussr | manager | blackmail | dancer | trapeze | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

25 May 1936 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

The Circus

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

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Connections

Featured in Komediya davno minuvshikh dney (1980)

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Soundtracks

"Hello, Good-Bye"

User Reviews

Good, Fun Propaganda

If you are going to make a movie endorsing the actions of one of history's greatest villains, in this case Stalin, at least make it fun to watch! "Tsirk" is a funny, melodramatic, accessible movie that features several entertaining acts, such as the impromptu Lion Tamer, the dance on the cannon, and the communal ending. It is heartwarming to see an entire country represented as they sing a child to sleep, until you realize that the Yiddish Representatives were executed after the production. The running theme of confusion, over translation and ideologies, provided the movie with several humorous moments of error, and provided the movie with an honest subtext.

Also, worth pointing out, is the movie's fearless attitude towards racism. Hollywood would hint at the problem, but rarely delve into it as much as "Tsirk" has.