Николай Майоров
Screen: Volga Follies; Soviet ‘Variety Stars’ Opens at the Stanley
H.H.T. Feb. 21, 1955
THE sad news this morning is that Vera Stroyeva, the director whose “The Grand Concert” remains the most impressive post-war Soviet film, has pulled a fast one on us. Miss Stroyeva may not be entirely responsible for “Variety Stars,” which Artkino unveiled Saturday at the Stanley, but the contrast in talent and format of the two imports is baldly obvious.The new picture begins, as did the other, with a trainload of bubbling tourists bound for Moscow, where, it seems, amateur entertainers are converging for a contest. After one stop-over for a quite fetching musical jamboree after a country wedding, the spectator can rightfully anticipate another of those alluring, informal musical variety programs, by now a Soviet screen specially. You’d never know it, though, from what follows.Most of the acts are strictly fragmentary, performed on stage or in rehearsal halls. And for a mighty big country, the round-up of talent is surprisingly skimpy. The best of the lot are an exotic Turkmenian dance ensemble, an incredibly nimble workout by a small acrobatic ballet group, and, toward the end, several songs by a sweet-voiced lady named M. Mironova. In all fairness to Miss Stroyeva, one or two exterior performances suggest that the director, had she been given her way, would have let the numbers cue in a picturesque tour of the city, or vice versa.However, she and her artists don’t stand a chance, pitted, for a good half of the time, against a pair of excruciatingly unfunny comedians named E. Berezin and L. Mirov. The boys may be considered hot stuff along the Volga, but heaven help them if they ever turn up here at the Palace.
VARIETY STARS, scenario by E. Pomeshchikov and V. Tipot; directed by Vera Stroyeva for Mosfilm Productions; released by Artkino. 19 February 1955
A musical variety show, featuring Y. Timoshenko, E. Berezin, L. Mirov, M. Novitsky, Leonid Utyosov, M. Mironova, A. Menaker and T. Savva. At the Stanley.
“Веселые звезды”
Выпущен на экран 19 июля 1954 года в московских кинотеатрах: Ударник, Метрополь, Колизей, Художественный, Родина, им. Моссовета, Москва, Уран, Таганский, «Эрмитаж», Шторм, сад им. Баумана, Призыв. Динамо, Дружба, Баррикады, Радуга, Салют, ЦПКиО им.М. Горького, ПКиО «Сокольники», Орион, Центральный, Перекоп, Форум, Диск.
Выпущен на экран в Венгрии 18 ноября 1954 года
Выпущен на экран в США 19 февраля 1955 года.
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