Jack Frost (1965) Morozko (original title)

Director:

Aleksandr Rou

Writers:

Nikolay Erdman
Mikhail Volpin

Release Date:

September 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Fabulous Winter-Time Wonder-Maker!

Plot:

A fairy tale about a conceited young man and a young woman with a tyrannical step-mother, who must overcome magical trials in order to be together.

Plot Keywords:

Girl | Fairy Tale | Boy | Jack Frost | Tree

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Aleksandr Khvylya	...	Morozko / Jack Frost
Natalya Sedykh	...	Nastenka
Eduard Izotov	...	Ivan
Inna Churikova	...	Marfusha
Pavel Pavlenko	...	Father
Vera Altayskaya	...	Stepmother
Georgiy Millyar	...	Baba Yaga (The Witch)
Mikhail Yanshin	...	Old Mushroom
Galina Borisova	...	Old Mushroom
Anatoli Kubatsky	...	Bandit Chieftain
Valentin Bryleyev	...	Eligible Bachelor
Tatyana Pelttser	...	Eligible Bachelor's Mother
Tatyana Barysheva	...	Matchmaker
Varvara Popova	...	Old Woman
Zinaida Vorkul	...	Ivan's Mother
Anastasiya Zuyeva	...	Storyteller
Margarita Korabelnikova	...	Woman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
D. Bakhtin
Yuri Chekulayev
A. Chumin
T. Kharchenko
Klavdiya Kozlenkova
P. Mukhin
O. Peshkov
Vera Petrova		(as V. Petrova)
Lev Potyomkin
Mikhail Shcherbakov		(as M. Shcherbakov)
Andrei Stapran
Konstantin Starostin		(as K. Starostin)
Aleksandr Timontayev
Olga Yukina
Tatyana Yukina
V. Zhukovsky
Natalya Zorina
Dorothy Brown Green	...	Narrator (US version) (voice) (unconfirmed) (uncredited)

Directed by
Aleksandr Rou

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Nikolay Erdman
Mikhail Volpin

Original Music by
Nikolay Budashkin

Cinematography by
Dmitri Surensky

Production Design by
Arseni Klopotovsky

Sound Department
Anatoli Dikan	....	sound

Production Companies

• Gorky Film Studios

Distributors

• VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb (1965) (East Germany) (theatrical)
• Embassy Pictures Corporation (1966) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Kosmos-Filmi (1974) (Finland) (theatrical)
• EuroVideo (1994) (Germany) (VHS)
• Homestead Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Shout! Factory (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• United American Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

"Morozko" - Soviet Union (original title)
"Father Frost" - International (English title)
"The Crystal Star" - USA

Runtime:

84 min | East Germany:79 min

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-8 | West Germany:6

Company:

Gorky Film Studios

Trivia:

The English-dubbed version of this film was used for an episode of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" under the title "Jack Frost".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the beginning, when Nastyenka pleases the sun to wait till she finishes the socks, the sun rises from the right side (west). Russia is situated on Northern hemisphere, so it's clear that the scene was actually shot during twilight and the sunrise is actually dusk played backwards.

Quotes:

Singer #1:[singing] Oh, you dear boy, Ivan. Come to meet me at the gate! I got a brand-new sarafan, all of silk and lace it's made!
Singer #2:[singing] Vania, Vania, wait a bit, where have you been to? Don't pass by, we must meet. Look into my window!
Group of Singers:[singing] Please, Ivan, don't leave forever, on the porch we'll sit together. Of an apple, take a bite, we'll be talking, side by side.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Hexen - Magie, Mythen und die Wahrheit: Walpurgisnacht (#1.3)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Humorous Folk Song

Wow, what a misunderstanding!

For all of you, who think this movie is stupid, just because it doesn´t fit into your watching habits:

Is it bizarre? Of course it is, but check these really old German, French or English tales and legends. I wonder what you´d say to the original Brothers Grimm collection. I think that´s also the problem with understanding, the people of America simply don´t have this part of culture, because it comes directly from the medieval age.

The story has its roots so far away, so deep in the Slav history, that if Hollywood would like to make something comparable, they´d have to steal the story from some ancient native American tribe.