The Diamond Arm (1969)

An ordinary Soviet citizen accidentally intervenes into a huge operation of international criminal group that trades illegally obtained jewelry.

Director:

Leonid Gaidai

Writers:

Moris Slobodskoy (screenplay by), Yakov Kostyukovskiy (screenplay by)

Stars:

Yuriy Nikulin, Nina Grebeshkova, Andrey Mironov

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yuriy Nikulin	...	Semyon Semyonych Gorbunkov / Senya
Nina Grebeshkova	...	Nadezhda Gorbunkova
Andrey Mironov	...	Gennady Kozodoev
Anatoliy Papanov	...	Lyolik
Stanislav Chekan	...	Captain Mikhail Ivanovich
Vladimir Gulyaev	...	Lieutenant Volodya
Nonna Mordyukova	...	Superintendent
Svetlana Svetlichnaya	...	Anna Sergeyevna
Roman Filippov	...	Man in the Restaurant
Grigoriy Shpigel	...	Main Foreign Smuggler
Leonid Kanevskiy	...	Assisstant Foreign Smuggler
Igor Yasulovich	...	Dog Owner
Maksim Nikulin	...	Boy, 'Walking on Water'
Aleksandra Lisyutina	...	Gorbunkov's Daughter (as Sashenka)
Aleksandr Khvylya	...	Weeping Willow' Maitre dHotel

Storyline

Semyon Gorbunkov goes on a cruise. In Istanbul, he slips and breaks his arm. What he didn't know is that this was a signal for a gang of smugglers (a real smuggler - Gena - was also on board the same ship). So his arm gets bandaged with gold and diamonds. After he returns home, the gangsters are trying to get their stuff back, while the police try to catch them using Gorbunkov and his arm.

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Plot Keywords:

umbrella | smuggler | switch | plaster cast | coin | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian

Release Date:

November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Diamond Arm

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The well-known quote of the film, "I won't be surprised if we are to find out your husband is secretly seeing a mistress," was originally, "I won't be surprised if we are to find out your husband is secretly going to synagogue." However, the Communist Party Committee of Ideology banned the phrase, because they felt it was "too anti-Semitic for the USSR". The phrase was re-dubbed, however, the original meaning can be easily spotted by looking at actors lips.

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Goofs

While the filmmakers took care to correctly dot the capital I in the pharmacy name CHIKANUK, the first two letters are wrong. The "ch" sound is spelled Ç (C-cedilla) in Turkish.

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Quotes

[Cops are carrying a body of a passed out drunk, Gorbunkov thinks he is dead]
Semyon Gorbunkov: I should have been in his place!
Cop: Get drunk, then you will be.

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Crazy Credits

The summary of the first part of the movie, written in an extremely small and blurry font, races through the screen in a matter of two seconds.

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Connections

Spoofed in Kremlyovskiy koncert: Den svyatogo valentina (2003)

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Soundtracks

Pesnya o zaytsakh
("A song about hares")
Written by Aleksandr Zatsepin and Leonid Derbenyov
Performed by Yuriy Nikulin

User Reviews

Gets better every time I see it.

This is a comedy that stood the test of time. I've recently bought the newly released DVD of this movie and it's worth every penny. Of course I've seen this comedy a million times on TV and video, but the DVD makes this funny in a whole new way. I believe that even english speaking audiences will love this flick if they get the DVD. The translation into English is superb. Speaking Russian myself , it's actually very funny to hear this Soviet cinema classic translated into English , having seen it only in Russian before. Now , I believe that even our friends in Turku, Finland would find this film funny. Mironov , Nikulin and Papanov give superb comical performances by any standards. And the actors who's voices are used to dub this film into english are an excellent match. What can I tell you, go to your nearest Russian video store and get this DVD, you'll love it.