The Carnival Night
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The Carnival Night (1956) (Russian: Карнавальная ночь, Karnavalnaya Noch) is Eldar Ryazanov's first big-screen film and Lyudmila Gurchenko's first role. The film became the Soviet box office leader of 1956 with a total of 48.64 million ticket sales.
The film made both of them stars of Soviet Cinema literally overnight. It is the New Year's Eve and the employees of an Economics Institute are ready with their annual New Year's entertainment program. It includes a lot of dancing, singing, and even magic tricks. Suddenly, an announcement is made that a new director has been elected and that he is arriving shortly. Comrade Ogurtsov arrives in time to review and disapprove of the scheduled entertainment. To him, holiday fun has a different meaning. He imagines speakers reading annual reports to show the Institute's progress over the year, and, perhaps, a bit of serious music, something from the Soviet Classics.
Obviously, no one wants to change the program a few hours before the show, much less to replace it with something so boring! Now everyone has to team up in order to prevent Ogurtsov from getting to the stage. As some of them trap Ogurtsov one way or another, others perform their scheduled pieces and celebrate New Years.
The movie is filled with beautiful songs that have become the classics. Dancing is spectacular, jokes are witty, costumes - gorgeous (especially for that time). You will note Gurchenko's singing talent - she is incredible! Since it came out in the 1950's, the movie has become a New Year's classic.
The stars of the film include famous Russian actors such as Lyudmila Gurchenko, Igor Iljinsky, and Sergey Filippov. Directed by Eldar Ryazanov.
