The musical comedy "Sky Swallows", whose actors thundered the whole Soviet Union with their names, was directed by Leonid Kvinikhidze in 1976. The film contains wonderful songs written by Viktor Lebedev, and a light and simple plot allows you to relax in the 126 minutes that the film lasts . Who played the main roles in the film Kvinikhidze and what are her events narrated about?
The creators of the picture
The first notable work of Leonid Kvinikhidze in the cinema is connected with the novel “Hyperboloid of Engineer Garin”, based on which the director directed the series “Collapse of Engineer Garin”. Then Kvinikhidze made a number of cult films that viewers repeatedly revise even today: it is about the Straw Hat, the tale of Mary Poppins, goodbye! and, of course, Heavenly Swallows.
Cameraman Nikolai Zhilin, who worked on Mikhail Ershov’s drama Chelyuskintsy, filmed material for Sky Swallows for the director.
Especially for Kvinikhidze’s comedy, wonderful songs were written by musician Viktor Lebedev, who is also known for his compositions created for the films “Diary of the school principal”, “Look for a woman” and “Midshipmen, go!”
The shooting took place in the Vorontsov Palace, located near Alupka. Part of the material was shot on the streets of Yalta.
Short story
Actors of the film “Sky Swallows” play in the frame a funny story of a young mischievous pupil of a boarding house who escapes from a monastic monastery and becomes an artist in variety shows.
Denise de Florigny in the face of the nuns who teach the boarding school girls good manners, acts as a humble and humble person. But in fact, she hides from all her dreams of becoming a famous artist who bathes in the rays of fame and colors from grateful fans.
Not only Denise is hypocritical in this monastery: the music teacher, a certain Celestin, pretends to be a devout monsieur of strict rules during the day, and composes frivolous operettas for the local theater in the evening.
And once Denise was informed that she was engaged to one young man and would soon be married. Mr. Celesten was to take the girl home from the guesthouse. However, instead they found themselves in local variety show, where Denise had to save Mr. Celesten’s performance from collapse. As a result, this whole story results in a completely unexpected ending.
Sky Swallows: actors and roles. Iya Ninidze as Denise
When Iya Ninidze got a role in the film Kvinikhidze, she was only 14 years old. It was a landmark film: the celebrity swallows made the famous Ninidze throughout the Soviet Union. The actors who starred with Iya in the film had great experience and sonorous names. However, Ninidze was not lost against their background and took her rightful place in the picture.
Iya Ninidze danced very well and starred in films since childhood (“Do not Cry!”, “The First Swallow”). However, she could not sing, so the role of Denise was voiced by singer Elena Dryatskaya, who had a clear youthful voice.
After participating in this project, Iya Ninidze went to get a higher acting education at VGIK. After graduation, the artist worked for more than ten years at the Tbilisi Drama Theater. In the late 90s, she had to move to Moscow and start performing at the Bat Theater. Soon, a massive decoration fell on her, and due to injuries, Ninidze temporarily had to leave the scene.
Recently, the artist often appears in the series "Vasilievsky Island", "The Hunt for Beria", "Turkish March", etc.
Sky Swallows: actors and roles. Photo by Andrey Mironov and his character Celestin
Andrei Mironov is a hero of his time, a lady's favorite. He knew how to please not only the audience, but also the directors of the country, so the artist starred in the best films of the USSR. Every second tape with the participation of Mironov was included in the golden collection of Soviet cinema.
In the film "Sky Swallows" the actors Mironov and Ninidze played a teacher and a student. Mr. Celesten, according to the plot, taught music in the hostel of young Denise. However, Celesten had a little secret: for the abbesses of the monastery and students, he was a devout and high-moral master, and in his free time in the city he was known as Floridora - the composer of operettas for a local cabaret.
Once, Celesten was instructed to lead Denise to the train, but the composer needed to settle his affairs in the theater, so he leaves Denise unattended. The girl uses this chance to at least for a minute feel like an operetta star.
Irina Gubanova in the role of Carolina
Irina Gubanova in the film by Leonid Kvinikhidze played the role of the abbess of the monastery, in which girls from decent families are brought up. Her heroine piously believes in her good deed, however, the comic of the situation is that Carolina does not even suspect what is happening in her guesthouse: the girls dream of romance with the military, the most exemplary student Denisa plans to escape from her parents, and the well-bred lord Senor Celesten actually leads a double life. In a word, worldly life is seething in the Monastery of Heavenly Swallows.
Actors Irina Gubanova, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Alexander Shirvindt were very popular in the USSR. Gubanova began her career in Ryazanov’s
lyrical comedy “Girl Without an Address”, playing the main character's roommate. Then there was the role of Polina in the movie opera by R. Tikhomirov “The Queen of Spades” and the role of Svetlana in Annensky's melodrama “The First Trolleybus”. Also, the actress can be seen in the films “War and Peace”, “The Snow Queen” and “The Green Carriage”.
Lyudmila Gurchenko as Coco
The biography of the actors of the film “Sky Swallows” is like a script for a separate film. By the way, the history of the life and work of the People's Artist of the USSR Lyudmila Gurchenko, the Russia-1 TV channel, has recently devoted a whole series.
Lyudmila Markovna was one of those rare actresses who knew how to create catchy images and at the same time sang pretty well. Gurchenko starred in many musical films (Carnival Night, Straw Hat) and at the same time performed the vocal parts of her heroines on her own.
In the career of the artist, there were also serious dramatic roles: for example, in the films “Station for Two”, “Baltic Sky”, “Love and Pigeons”.
In "Sky Swallows" Gurchenko got the role of the prima of the Coco operetta theater, which, on the day of one of the performances of Floridor's show, escaped with a military officer. After such an emergency, the theater director was simply forced to urgently introduce young Denise into the play, who offered her services.
Other role performers
The film "Sky Swallows", the actors and roles of which are especially bright and colorful, was also included in the list of the best films by Alexander Shirvindt, Sergey Zakharov, Era Ziganshina, Gelena Ivlieva and Boris Loskin.