''St. Jorgen's Day'', (''Holiday of St. Jorgen'', ''The Feast of St. Jorgen'', russian: Праздник Святого Йоргена, Prazdnik svyatogo Yorgena) is a 1930 Soviet, partly

silent comedy Silent comedy is a style of film, related to but distinct from mime, invented to bring comedy into the medium of film in the silent film era (1900s–1920s) before a synchronized soundtrack which could include talking was technologically ava ...

film by

Yakov Protazanov Yakov Alexandrovich Protazanov (russian: Яков Александрович Протазанов; 4 February ( O.S. 23 January ) 1881 – 8 August 1945) was a Russian and Soviet film director and screenwriter, and one of the founding fathers of ...

and starring

Igor Ilyinsky Igor Vladimirovich Ilyinsky (russian: И́горь Влади́мирович Ильи́нский; 24 July 1901 – 13 January 1987) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, director and comedian. Hero of Socialist Labour (1974) and People ...

. Uncredited are the original novel by Harald Bergstedt, and the cues written by

Ilf and Petrov Ilya Ilf (Ilya Arnoldovich Feinsilberg or russian: Илья Арнольдович Файнзильберг, 1897–1937) and Yevgeny Petrov (Yevgeniy Petrovich Katayev or russian: Евгений Петрович Катаев, 1902–1942 ...

(with the additional contribution of Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky).

Plot summary

Before the church holiday celebrating St. Jorgen, the thief Korkis (

Anatoly Ktorov Anatoly Petrovich Ktorov ( Russian: Анатолий Петрович Кторов; April 24, 1898September 30, 1980) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1963). Early years He was born Anatoly Petrovich ...

) escapes from prison and mingles with the gathering celebrants. He sees the large amounts of money being made by those hosting the celebration, who are mainly clergy. Korkis cannot refrain from getting involved in this venture. Together with an accomplice (

) they conceive and realize a way to fraudulently extract at least a small part of the money flowing into the hosts' coffers.

Cast

as Franz Schulz *

as Michael Korkis * Mikhail Klimov as adjunct of the St. Jorgen church * Ivan Arkadin as treasurer of St. Jorgen Church * Mariya Strelkova as Oleandra *

Vladimir Uralsky Vladimir Mikhailovich Uralsky (russian: link=no, Владимир Миха́йлович Уральский) was a Soviet actor. Vladimir played in more than 100 films. Selected filmography * 1924 — ''Aelita'' * 1925 — ''Strike'' * 1925 � ...

as conductor of the railway * Anatoly Goryunov as relic seller

Credited crew

*Director: Yakov Protazanov *Script: Yakov Protazanov, Vladimir Shveitser *Operator: P. Yermolov *Co-director: Porfiri Podobed *Composer: Sergei Bugoslavsky *Soundmaster: D. Blok *Zvuk: S. Yurtsev, N. Ozornov *Orchestra and chorus of Mezhrabpom-Film *Tagefon sound system

Part-talkie

Films from this period often combine silent and sound sequences. Most of ''St. Jorgen's Day'' was shot without recorded sound. These sequences have Russian intertitles, an orchestral and choral score, and occasional sound effects (e.g. the sound of a hand knocking on a door) or added dialogue. A specific scene can use sound effects and intertitles together. The often-impressive exterior scenes were shot silent on location. Interspersed throughout the film are short indoor scenes with recorded sound. The opening credit sequence uses sound, with the principal performers speaking in costume as their characters.Source: DVD release from Незабытое Кино.

Quotes

* «Primary task in a thief profession as in the saint profession is to vanish at right time!» * «Learn how to handle it without a

jemmy A crowbar, also called a wrecking bar, pry bar or prybar, pinch-bar, or occasionally a prise bar or prisebar, colloquially, in Britain and Australia sometimes called a jemmy or jimmy (also called jemmy bar), gooseneck, or pig foot, is a tool ...

!» * When I was just an infant... My dear poor mother had dropped me from the ...nth floor... * - Please, make one more miracle - an ascension!
- And how about ''ascendables''? (Korkis, talking about money)

References

*Rollberg, Peter. ''Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema''.

External links

* 1930 films Soviet black-and-white films 1930 comedy films Soviet comedy films Russian comedy films Russian satirical films Religious satire films Films directed by Yakov Protazanov Transitional sound comedy films Films critical of Christianity and Christians Russian black-and-white films {{1930s-comedy-film-stub