''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 film by Yakov Protazanov and starring Igor Ilyinsky. Uncredited are the original novel by

Harald Bergstedt Harald Bergstedt (Harald Alfred Petersen; 10 August 1877, in Køge – 19 September 1965, in Copenhagen) was a Danish writer, novelist, playwright and a poet. Author of the genre and satire verses (collections: ''Song of the province / Sange fra ...

, and the cues written by Ilf and Petrov (with the additional contribution of

Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky Sigizmund Dominikovich Krzhizhanovsky ( rus, Сигизму́нд Домини́кович Кржижано́вский, p=sʲɪɡʲɪzˈmunt dəmʲɪˈnʲikəvʲɪtɕ krʐɨʐɨˈnofskʲɪj, pl, ; – 28 December 1950) was a Russian and Soviet ...

Plot summary

Before the church holiday celebrating St. Jorgen, the thief Korkis ( Anatoly Ktorov) 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 ( Igor Ilyinsky) they conceive and realize a way to fraudulently extract at least a small part of the money flowing into the hosts' coffers.

Cast

* Igor Ilyinsky as Franz Schulz * Anatoly Ktorov as Michael Korkis *

Mikhail Klimov Mikhail Mikhailovich Klimov (Russian: Михаил Михайлович Климов; November 20, 1880July 9, 1942) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1937). From 1909 to 1940 he was a leading actor of ...

as adjunct of the St. Jorgen church *

Ivan Arkadin Ivan Arkadin (russian: link=no, Иван Аркадин) was a Soviet actor. Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Biography In 1908 Ivan began to play in the drama theater of P.P. Gaideburov. In 1914-1938 he worked at the Moscow Chamber Theater, and ...

as treasurer of St. Jorgen Church *

Mariya Strelkova Mariya is a variation of the feminine given name Maria (disambiguation), Maria. People * Mariya Abakumova (born 1986), Russian Olympic javelin thrower * Mariya Agapova (born 1997), Kazakhstani mixed martial arts fighter * Maria Alyokhina, Mariya ...

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!» * 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