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The Golden Calf

Original title: Zolotoy telyonok
  • 19681968
  • 2h 44m
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
The Golden Calf (1968)
  • Comedy
A crook named Ostap Bender, who survived a murder attempt by Kisa Vorobyaninov in "12 Chairs, " now schemes to extort 1 million from an underground millionaire.A crook named Ostap Bender, who survived a murder attempt by Kisa Vorobyaninov in "12 Chairs, " now schemes to extort 1 million from an underground millionaire.A crook named Ostap Bender, who survived a murder attempt by Kisa Vorobyaninov in "12 Chairs, " now schemes to extort 1 million from an underground millionaire.
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Mikhail Shvejtser
  • Writers
    • Ilya Ilf(novel "Zolotoy telyonok")
    • Yevgeni Petrov(novel "Zolotoy telyonok")
    • Mikhail Shvejtser
  • Stars
    • Sergey Yurskiy
    • Leonid Kuravlyov
    • Zinoviy Gerdt
Top credits
  • Director
    • Mikhail Shvejtser
  • Writers
    • Ilya Ilf(novel "Zolotoy telyonok")
    • Yevgeni Petrov(novel "Zolotoy telyonok")
    • Mikhail Shvejtser
  • Stars
    • Sergey Yurskiy
    • Leonid Kuravlyov
    • Zinoviy Gerdt
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 2User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos33

    The Golden Calf (1968)
    Zinoviy Gerdt, Leonid Kuravlyov, and Sergey Yurskiy in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Zinoviy Gerdt, Leonid Kuravlyov, and Sergey Yurskiy in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Sergey Yurskiy in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Leonid Kuravlyov and Sergey Yurskiy in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Zinoviy Gerdt and Evgeniy Evstigneev in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Zinoviy Gerdt in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Nikolay Boyarskiy, Zinoviy Gerdt, Leonid Kuravlyov, and Sergey Yurskiy in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Zinoviy Gerdt and Leonid Kuravlyov in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Zinoviy Gerdt and Leonid Kuravlyov in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Evgeniy Evstigneev in The Golden Calf (1968)
    Nikolay Boyarskiy and Leonid Kuravlyov in The Golden Calf (1968)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sergey Yurskiy
    Sergey Yurskiy
    • Ostap Bender
    Leonid Kuravlyov
    Leonid Kuravlyov
    • Shura Balaganov
    Zinoviy Gerdt
    Zinoviy Gerdt
    • Panikovsky
    Evgeniy Evstigneev
    Evgeniy Evstigneev
    • Koreiko
    Svetlana Starikova
    Svetlana Starikova
    • Zosya Sinitskaya
    Nikolay Boyarskiy
    Nikolay Boyarskiy
    • Adam Kozlevich
    Mikhail Kokshenov
    Mikhail Kokshenov
    Pavel Pavlenko
    Pavel Pavlenko
    • Funt
    Pavel Vinnik
    Pavel Vinnik
    • Berlaga
    Konstantin Voinov
    Konstantin Voinov
    • Skumbriyevich
    Igor Yasulovich
    Igor Yasulovich
    • Car Enthusiast
    • Director
      • Mikhail Shvejtser
    • Writers
      • Ilya Ilf(novel "Zolotoy telyonok")
      • Yevgeni Petrov(novel "Zolotoy telyonok")
      • Mikhail Shvejtser
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Kavkazskaya plennitsa, ili Novye priklyucheniya Shurika
    8.3
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      At the end of the movie Bender said to Sosya that he is 33 years old. the age of Jesus Christ. In fact Sergej Yurskij, who played Bender in this movie, was actually 33 years old while filming the movie, which also fits the age of Ostap Bender from the original novel.
    • Goofs
      The plane Ostap Bender wants to buy from his earned million is an An-2, which was built in 1947, 17 years after the movie's setting.
    • Quotes

      Ostap Bender: The automobile is not a luxury, but a means of transportation.

    • Crazy credits
      Before the movie's title is shown, the photos of Ilya Il'f and Yevgeniy Petrov, the original novel's writers, appear along with their signatures.
    • Connections
      Featured in Legends of World Cinema: Zinovy Gerdt
    • Soundtracks
      Tango Brésilien (El choclo)
      (uncredited)

      written by Angel Gregorio Villoldo

      Played in the background during the late office scene until Bender arrives at Koreyko's flat)

    User reviews2

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    "No, it is not Rio de Janeiro. It is much worse",
    The film is a screen adaptation of the cult novel "The Golden Calf" by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov. The book is the sequel to "Twelve Chairs" and both are among the most deservingly famous and adored, wittiest satirical books written during the Soviet period. I believe that the film "Zolotoy Telyonok" is the most successful adaptation of Ilf and Petrov's works due to the skillful directing by Mikhail Schweitzer, spectacular B/W cinematography and unmatched performances by some of the most talented Soviet actors.

    "The Twelve Chairs", the first Ostap Bender novel is the funny story with the dramatic end that depicts the adventures of a con-man (Ostap) and a former nobleman (Kisa Vorobianinov) in post-revolution Russia of 1920th in search for a chair with the hidden diamonds. Presumably dead at the end of the first book, charming and irrepressible Ostap Bender – who respected the law and knew hundreds of legal ways to make people part with their money (Sergey Yursky, the best screen Ostap) was resurrected in a sequel, "Zolotoy telyonok" ("The Golden Calf"), an equally humorous but more serious and sharper satire on the drawbacks of the Soviet System. In "Zolotoy Telyonok", Bender discovers an "underground Soviet millionaire", Alexander Koreiko (Bender meets his match in the seemingly plain and insignificant accountant with 46 rubles per month salary Alexander Ivanovich Koreiko) and blackmails him in hopes to extort one million rubles and fulfill his "crystal" dream of moving to Rio de Janeiro. In his quest, he has been helped by the hilarious trio of the characters - young and naive ex-convict, Shura Balaganov, an older unlucky con-man, Panikovsky (the brilliant performance by one of the most beloved Russian actors, Zinoviy Gerdt) and the sad-eyed driver of the unique and ugliest car, Adam Kozlevich. Bender eventually learns that it is easier to get a million rubles in Soviet Russia than to spend it. Would he be able to cross the border and see Rio de Janeiro?
    helpful•24
    2
    • Galina_movie_fan
    • Sep 1, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 8, 1968 (Soviet Union)
    • Country of origin
      • Soviet Union
    • Language
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • If I Had a Million Rubles
    • Production company
      • Mosfilm
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 44 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

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