Volga-Volga

Volga-Volga (Russian: Волга-Волга) is a Soviet musical comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres on a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called the Moscow Musical Olympiad. Most of the action takes place on a steamboat travelling on the Volga River. The lead roles were played by Alexandrov's wife, Lyubov Orlova, and Igor Ilyinsky.

For the German film, see Volga Volga (1928 film).
Volga-Volga
Film poster, 1938.
Directed byGrigori Aleksandrov
StarringLyubov Orlova
Igor Ilyinsky
Music byIsaak Dunayevsky
Edited byYeva Ladyzhenskaya
Release date
April 24, 1938 (Soviet Union)
May 16, 1941 (U.S.)
Running time
104 min.
CountrySoviet Union
LanguageRussian

According to Orlova, the name of the film is taken from a popular Russian folk song, Stenka Razin, that Alexandrov sang while rowing with Charlie Chaplin in San Francisco Bay. Chaplin jokingly suggested the words as a title for a movie, but Alexandrov took it seriously and named his new film Volga-Volga.[1]

The feature was said to be Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin's favourite film.[2] Nikita Khrushchev in his memoirs says that in the pre-World War II period Stalin laughed at him since he resembled a character from the film.

In 2006, a colorization of the original black-and-white film began. The colorized version premiered on the Russian First Channel on February 14, 2010.

Cast
  • Igor Ilyinsky - Ivan Byvalov, head of management at a small handicraft industry in the city Melkovodsk
  • Lyubov Orlova - Dunya Petrova (aka Arrow), letter carrier
  • Vladimir Volodin - old pilot
  • Pavel Olenev - Kuzma Ivanovich, water carrier / chef (reciter)
  • Andrey Tutyshkin - Alesha Trubyshkin, accountant
  • Sergey Antimonov - janitor Okhapkin
  • Anatoly Shalaev - young composer
  • Maria Mironova - Zoya, secretary of Byvalova
  • Nikita Kondratyev - Philip Ivanovich, waiter
  • Vsevolod Sanayev - bearded lumberjack / member of the symphony orchestra
  • Aleksey Dolinin - policeman
  • Ivan Chuvelev - chairman of the jury of the Olympics
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References
  1. Борис Виленкин: "Как стреляли Любовью Орловой" - "КП" от 15.04.1994 (in Russian).
  2. "Volga, Volga".

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