Kavkazskaya plennitsa, ili Novye priklyucheniya Shurika (1967)

A young student Shurik comes to a remote mountainous region in search of ancient legends and traditions. Fooled by the corrupt local governor, he helps him to kidnap a beautiful young girl, but soon realizes what he's done.

Director:

Leonid Gaidai

Writers:

Leonid Gaidai (as L. Gayday), Yakov Kostyukovskiy (as Ya. Kostyukovskiy)

Stars:

Aleksandr Demyanenko, Natalya Varley, Vladimir Etush

Cast

Credited cast:
Aleksandr Demyanenko	...	Shurik
Natalya Varley	...	Nina
Vladimir Etush	...	Comrade Saakhov
Mher Mkrtchyan	...	Dzhabrail (as Frunzik Mkrtchyan)
Ruslan Akhmetov	...	Edik
Yuriy Nikulin	...	Balbes
Georgiy Vitsin	...	Trus
Evgeniy Morgunov	...	Byvalyy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Noy Avaliani	...	Rabotnik gostinitsy (as N. Avaliani)
Emmanuil Geller	...	Shashlichnik (as E. Geller)
Mikhail Gluzskiy	...	Administrator gostinitsy (as M. Gluzskiy)
Nina Grebeshkova	...	Doktor (as N. Grebeshkova)
Georgiy Millyar	...	Gostepriimnyy khozyain s rogom (as G. Millyar)
Donara Mkrtchyan	...	Zhena dzhabraila (as D. Mkrtchyan)
Pyotr Repnin	...	Glavvrach psikhbolnitsy (as N. Repnin)

Storyline

In this comic story, nerdy Shurik travels to the Caucasus in search of native legends and folklore. But what he finds is a beautiful girl whom, due to intoxication and deceit of the local "gang", he ends up literally stealing for the local deceitful governor. All the time Shurik thinks that it is all just a one old Caucasian custom. When he, finally, realizes what he did he goes out in search for the girl of his dreams.

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Plot Keywords:

donkey | escape from a mental institution | truck driver | farce | kidnapping | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film was even more popular than Leonid Gaidai previous work and topped the Soviet box office in 1967 with 76.54 million viewers.

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Goofs

At c. 38 minutes, we hear a baritone saxophone but the band member we see is playing an alto saxophone.

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Quotes

[Comrade Saakhov is negotiating with Nina's uncle to buy her as his bride. Her uncle demands 25 rams. Saakhov pretests that the region has not yet met the Soviet quota for fleeces]
Nina's uncle: Aren't you confusing your own fleece with the State's?
comrade Saakhov: I, among other things, Comrade Jabrial, was appointed here to watch over State interests. You'd better sit down.

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Connections

Spoofed in Bolshaya raznitsa: Release 21 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Esli b ya byl sultan
("If I Was a Sultan")
Music by Aleksandr Zatsepin
Lyrics by Yakov Kostyukovskiy and Moris Slobodskoy
Performed by Yuriy Nikulin (solo), Georgiy Vitsin and Evgeniy Morgunov

User Reviews

Great Comedy! A must see for everyone (who speaks Russian)

One of the best Russian (Former Soviet Union) comedies. Very light, funny and smart. I have watched it many times and had lots of good laugh. There is virtually no Russian who has not watched this good old classic comedy.

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

3 April 1967 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

Prisoner of the Caucasus, or Shurik's New Adventures

Filming Locations:

Ai-Petri, Crimea, Ukraine

Box Office

Budget:

RUR25,313 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tvorcheskoye Obyeduneniniye "Luch", Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1