31 June (russian: link=no, 31 июня, 31 iyunya) is a two-part

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

, loosely based on a story by J. B. Priestley. The film premiered in the USSR in 1978. The film was conceived and developed by Leonid Kvinikhidze and Aleksandr Zatsepin. It was archived for over ten years after its premiere, because

Alexander Godunov Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, a famous ballet dancer in the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and op ...

and one of the film's leads, requested

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Plot

The film takes place simultaneously in 12th and 21st centuries in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, on the fictional date of "31st of June, lunar day". Meliot, king of Peradore, is looking for a husband for his daughter, princess Melicent, but she keeps rejecting all her suiters. An evil warlock, Malgrim, tries to bribe Melicent with a future suiter in exchange for

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

's magical brooch, which can only be effective when passed on as a gift. Meanwhile, sometime on the thirtieth of June in the early twenty-first century, Sam Penty (said suiter), a resident artist in an advertisement agency, experiences a creative block concerning an image of a "stocking girl" for a commercial, which he must finish by the end of the day. Seeing Melicent in the mirror (as arranged by the warlock), Sam realizes that she is his "stocking girl" muse, and instantly falls in love. Malgrim arranges for a brief meeting between Melicent and Sam on the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked ey ...

, but breaks it up upon realization Melicent would not give up the brooch. The good magician Marlogram tries to help the couple by sending Melicent to the twenty-first century, but Malgrim joins forces with a jealous pretender to the throne, Lady Ninette, to sabotage that plan by bringing Sam back to the twelfth century and locking him in jail. Lady Jane, the ghost of the Peradore castle, travels to the twenty-first century, to warn Melicent that Sam is in danger and bring her back. Melicent fences her way to freeing Sam, but the lunar day ends, scattering everyone back to their time. However, Melicent utilizes the one and only wish granted by Merlin himself, giving up her princess status and agreeing to forget everything related to Perador, only to be with Sam. The epilogue shows Sam and Melicent, now married and without a shred of memory pertaining the film's events, taking a tour of the Peradore Museum. The curator, Malgrim, shows them the wax figures of the castle's inhabitants, tells that "they all died a long time ago, not from natural causes", vainly tries to trigger Melicent's memory, and sadly concludes that "it is a small museum, and it is only open one day a year – thirty first of June, lunar day". The camera then zooms in on a wax figure, presumably that of Malgrim, his face obscured by a mysterious scroll, and Merlin's brooch on his chest.

Cast

* Natalia Trubnikova as Princess Melicent, king's daughter (vocal by

Tatiana Antsiferova Tatiana (or Tatianna, also romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe. Variations * be, Тацця́на, Tatsiana * bg, Татяна, Tatyana * germa ...

) * Nikolai Yeremenko Jr. as Sam Penty, painter *

Vladimir Zeldin Vladimir Mikhailovich Zeldin (russian: Владимир Михайлович Зельдин; 10 February 1915 – 31 October 2016) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. A centenarian, he was among the longest-serving stage performers an ...

as Meliot, king of Peradore / Mr Dimmock, chief advertising agency * Vladimir Etush as Malgrim, Master of black and white magic, Marlagram's nephew * Lyudmila Vlasova as Lady Ninette, princess Melicent's lady-in-waiting / Ann, employee of an advertising agency (vocal by

Larisa Dolina Larisa Aleksandrovna Dolina (russian: link=no, Лариса Александровна Долина, , née Kudelman, Кудельман, formerly Mionchinskaya, Миончинская; born 10 September 1955) is an Azerbaijani-born prominent Rus ...

and Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya) *

as Lamison, the Royal minstrel/ Bob Taylor (voice by Aleksei Zolotnitsky, vocal by

Jaak Joala Jaak Joala (26 June 1950 – 25 September 2014) was an Estonian singer, musician and a member of two bands: Kristallid and Virmalised. He began as a flautist, later adding singing and bass guitar. Biography Early life Jaak Joala was born i ...

) * Lyubov Polishchuk as Miss Queenie, hostess of "The black horse" (vocal by Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya)'' * Igor Yasulovich as Master Jarvie / Dr. Jarvis * Marina Nud`ga as Lady Jane, ghost (vocal by

and Zhanna Rozhdestvenskaya) * Mikhail Kokshenov as King Meliot's servant * Emmanuil Geller as Marlagram, a wizard,

's disciple and Malgrim's uncle * Vladimir Soshalsky as Plunket, a skipper

External links

* *{{Amg movie, 168248 1978 films 1978 television films 1970s historical musical films 1970s romance films Films scored by Aleksandr Zatsepin Mosfilm films Russian musical films Russian science fiction films 1970s Russian-language films Soviet historical musical films Soviet television films Films based on works by J. B. Priestley