The film "Carnival Night": actors and roles

On the eve of the New Year, many residents of the countries of the former Soviet Union are happy to review the film "Carnival Night", the actors of which, with their usual enthusiasm and humor, are able to cheer up and set up a festive mood. What was Eldar Ryazanov's comedy about, and why have viewers constantly been reviewing it for sixty years now?

Carnival Night: actors and roles. Igor Ilyinsky as Ogurtsov

The film begins with the fact that on one of the houses of culture on the eve of the New Year holidays, the acting director Comrade Ogurtsov is appointed.

Cucumbers - a very narrow-minded character, he absolutely does not understand anything in art, and even more so in entertainment. Serafim Ivanovich in the bud cuts all the undertakings of the creative team of the Palace of Culture. And then the workers, led by Lenochka Krylova, announced an unspoken boycott to Ogurtsova: they made a firm decision to do everything so that Serafim Ivanovich could not ruin the holiday. The plot of the film “Carnival Night” is based on this: the actors, or rather their characters, constantly fall into comic situations, trying to resist the despotism of the acting directors.

Igor Ilyinsky was well known to the Soviet audience precisely for his comic role. Best of all, he managed the roles of limited officials and bureaucrats. Most of all, the actor is known for the role of Ivan Byvalov in the film "Volga-Volga": "Disgrace! - shouted his character in one of the episodes of the film, - they call me to Moscow, and their mares are unchained! ”

Carnival Night: actors. Lyudmila Gurchenko as Helen Krylova

The role of Lena Krylova became a film debut for Lyudmila Gurchenko. True, there was still an episodic role in the film by Jan Fried “The Road of Truth”, but Gurchenko became truly recognizable only after the film by Eldar Ryazanov.

Helen Krylova, according to the plot of "Carnival Night", is rooting for the common cause: organizing a good New Year's holiday for her is a matter of life and death. However, she is not the director of the Palace of Culture, but Ogurtsov “puts a marriage” on all the numbers that were prepared by Krylova. Anticipating the catastrophe, the heroine Gurchenko, at her own peril and risk, engages in “underground” activities: the creative team of the Palace of Culture only pretends to fulfill Ogurtsov’s instructions, but in fact leaves the previously prepared program without changes.

For Lyudmila Gurchenko, cooperation with Eldar Ryazanov was a good start to her career: a little later, the actress played in such wonderful films as “Station for Two”, “Straw Hat”, “Old Nags” and others.

Yuri Belov as Grishka Koltsov

In the film “Carnival Night”, actors Yuri Belov and George Kulikov play the roles of electrician and artist, who help Lena Krylova in everything. However, the character of Yuri Belov - Grishka Koltsov - does this not at all from altruistic motives: he is secretly in love with Lena and thus hopes to achieve reciprocity from her. Sometimes a young man even goes into outright blackmail. And in the final of the picture, he still manages to attract the attention of a beautiful woman.

For Yuri Belov, filming in Carnival Night also became crucial: for the first time he was entrusted with the main role, and even in the film, which turned out to be the leader of the Soviet hire in 1956. After that, the actor appeared in many more films that became classics: in the film “Burn, my star ”, in the comedy by Eldar Ryazanov“ Girl without an address ”, in the melodrama“ Aleshkina love ”, in“ Hussar ballad ”,“ Queen of gas station ”and in many other paintings.

George Kulikov in the role of Usikov

Young actors of the film “Carnival Night” later became famous and recognizable personalities. Georgy Kulikov, who appeared in the picture in the image of the artist Usikov, was no less fortunate: throughout his life he played the main roles in nine films, and in dozens of films appeared as secondary characters. The actor can be seen in the films “Ordinary Man”, “Girl without an Address”, “Cranes Are Flying”, “Three Times Risen”, “Clear Sky” and in many others.

The most spectacular scene with the participation of Georgy Kulikov in “Carnival Night” is when the artist Usikov, on behalf of Lenochka Krylova, must “neutralize” the lecturer from the “distribution society”. The simple-hearted Sergey understands this task in his own way and simply solders the hero Sergei Filippov. And then what happens next on the screen, but you can’t call a pun.

Sergey Filippov as a lecturer

The film "Carnival Night", the actors and the roles of which have sunk into the souls of representatives of the audience of various generations, is woven from funny little things that constantly keep the viewer's attention and make him smile.

For example, Sergey Filippov, a recognized master of Soviet cinema, appears in the frame for only 5-7 minutes - he plays the same lecturer who should give the audience a boring lecture on space on New Year's Eve. After the artist Usikov treats the unfortunate lecturer with a couple of glasses of cognac, the hero of Filippov nevertheless enters the stage of the Palace of Culture, swinging and talking. And then a whole humorous sketch by the actor follows: first, instead of gesturing with a microscope, he grabs an imaginary glass and holds it to his lips, and then, waving his briefcase, utters a sacramental phrase: “Is there life on Mars? Is there life on Mars? Science is not known. Science is not yet up to date. ”

Sergei Filippov can also be seen in Leonid Gaidai's film “The Twelve Chairs,” where he brilliantly played Kisu Vorobyaninov.

Other role performers

Also in the film “Carnival Night” you can see Tamara Nosova (“Hello, I’m your aunt”), operetta actress Olga Vlasova, Andrei Tutyshkin (“Anna Karenina”) and Vladimir Zeldin (“Dance Teacher”).

Film continuation

In 2006, in honor of the anniversary of the original painting, Eldar Ryazanov made the film-musical "Carnival Night-2." Actors Alena Babenko (“Driver for Vera”), Sergey Bezrukov (“Admiral”) and Sergey Makovetsky (“Liquidation”) tried to resurrect a long history, but play it out under new circumstances. Of course, the film was not as popular as the original. But, most likely, Eldar Ryazanov did not count on deafening success, but simply wanted to once again remind the viewer of the once created masterpiece.