''The Actor and the Savages'' () is a 1975 Romanian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Manole Marcus. Inspired by the life of actor

Constantin Tănase Constantin Tănase (; 5 July 1880 – 29 August 1945) was a Romanian actor and writer for stage, a key figure in the revue style of theater in Romania. Life He was born into a working-class family living in a peasant house in Vaslui, Roma ...

, it stars

Toma Caragiu Toma Caragiu (; 21 August 1925 – 4 March 1977) was a Romanian theatre, television and film actor. He was born in an Aromanian family from the village of Chroupista (since 1926 renamed Argos Orestiko) in the region of Macedonia in Greece on 21 ...

. It was entered into the

9th Moscow International Film Festival The 9th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 10 to 23 July 1975. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Polish film '' The Promised Land'' directed by Andrzej Wajda, the Soviet-Japanese film '' Dersu Uzala'' directed by Akira Kurosawa ...

Cast

as Costică Caratase *

Mircea Albulescu Iorgu Constantin Albulescu (4 October 1934 – 8 April 2016), known professionally as Mircea Albulescu (), was a Romanian actor, university professor, journalist, poet, writer, and member of the Writers' Union of Romania (''Uniunea Scriitorilor'' ...

as Ionel Fridman * Tricy Abramovici as Negreasca *

Margareta Pogonat Margareta-Caliopi Pogonat (6 March 1933 – 11 May 2014) was a Romanian theatre and film actress. She was born in Iași. Her father, Alexandru Pogonat, was a journalist and poet who died in 1941 on the Eastern Front; her grandfather, , was a jur ...

as Elvira Caratase * as Minister of Interior * as Puiu Mugur * as Peasant *

Marin Moraru Marin Moraru (; 31 January 1937 – 21 August 2016) was a Romanian stage, film and television actor. He graduated from the Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography in 1961. Moraru performed at the Youth Theatre (1961–1964), Com ...

as Vasilică * Carmen Berbecaru as Marioara *

Ion Besoiu Ion Besoiu (; 11 March 1931 – 18 January 2017) was a Romanian actor. Biography He was born in Sibiu in 1931 and graduated the city's Theater and Music Academy. After making his debut in 1957, he played for 16 years at the Radu Stanca National T ...

as Guță Popescu * Maria Chira as Caratase's Daughter * as Legionnaire *

Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan Ovidiu Iuliu Moldovan (; January 1, 1942 – March 12, 2008) was a Romanian actor known for his work in Romanian film and television roles. However, Moldovan focused almost exclusively on theater and stage roles during the later years of his care ...

as Legionnaire *

Constantin Drăgănescu Constantin Drăgănescu (27 September 1936 – 26 March 2020) was a Romanian actor. He appeared in more than fifty films since 1972. Selected filmography References External links * 1936 births 2020 deaths Romanian male film actors ...

as Legionnaire *

Mircea Veroiu Mircea Veroiu (; 29 April 1941 – 26 December 1997) was a Romanian film director and screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, k ...

as Legionnaire *

Mircea Diaconu Mircea Diaconu (; 24 December 1949 – 14 December 2024) was a Romanian actor, writer and politician. First appearing on stage in 1970, and on screen two years later, Diaconu pursued a lengthy career in both formats, working with a series of pro ...

as Commissioner Radu Toma * as King Carol II *

Florin Zamfirescu Florin Zamfirescu (; born 12 April 1949) is a Romanian theatre and film actor and director, and university professor. Zamfirescu was born in Călimănești, Vâlcea County; his grandfather, Gheorghe Zamfirescu, was mayor of the town. He graduate ...

as Ghiță Gherdan *

Ioana Crăciunescu Ioana Crăciunescu (born 1950) is a Romanian actress and poet. She has published six volumes of collected poetry, beginning in 1980, and was awarded the Writers' Union of Romania Prize in 1981. In 2009, she received the Nichita Stănescu Nationa ...

as Student * Ștefan Thury as George, the choreographer

Production

The movie scenario was written by

Titus Popovici Titus Viorel Popovici (16 May 1930 – 29 November 1994) was a Romanian screenwriter and author. Biography He graduated from the University of Bucharest in 1953. Two years later, he published his first novel, ''Străinul'' (The Stranger). Hi ...

and it first name was "Actor, policeman and...savages". As the actors who played in the movie recall, the main role was written for

.Iohanna Onaca - ''"Toma Caragiu a vrut să moară în picioare"'', in "

Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchares ...

", 23 february 2004. When the movie director and production company finalized the "ideological and artistic conception", the scenario was approved by the State Committee on Culture and the Arts on 8 March 1974.. On March 16, 1974, the film entered into the production phase. The film shooting took place from 3 June to 17 September 1974. In 65 days of movie shooting, the team worked over 10 hours per day. On 4 April 1975, Dumitru Popescu watched the movie and the re-montage and texts inputs were required. On 21 April 1975, the standard copy was finished. On 26 December 1974, the standard copy was finalized. Production costs amounted to 4,850,000 leis. There were a number of mix-ups during the filming. In one scene, Caratase finds in his bed a cut-off hand left by the Legionnaires to frighten him. In the scene the real hand was used, the hand was brought from the

morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...

. The next day it was thrown out into the garbage bin and then, someone found it. The investigation was started but then stopped, when it was revealed that this is the garbage left the after the movie shooting. The gun used in the movie by the Commissioner Radu Toma was a real one. The gun was given to the actor

, by the Capitan of the security services, only for the moment when the related scene was shot and after that he took it back. The Capitan of the security service refused to leave the gun to the actor before the scene, so that the actor could have a bit of practice with it. When Caratase is saying his final monologue, the actor is disguised as Hitler and is satirizing the fascist spirit, and then, he is taken backstage. According to the scenario, the main character has to die in bed, but Toma Caragiu insisted that main character should die "standing." For the first time in Socialist Romania, a Romanian king appeared in the movie;

Sergiu Nicolaescu Sergiu Florin Nicolaescu (; 13 April 1930 – 3 January 2013) was a Romanian people, Romanian film director, actor and politician. He was best known for his historical films, such as ''Michael the Brave (film), Mihai Viteazul'' (1970, released in ...

found this insulting.

, ''"Viață, destin și film"'' (2nd revised edition, Editura Universitară, București, 2011), p. 30. The music for the movie was composed by George Grigoriu and includes 57 minutes of original music, arrangements and musical "fantasies". The lyrics were written by Ion Vasilescu and Mișu Iancu, the songs being played by Carmen Berbecaru and Tricy Abramovici. The Funny Couplets were written by Dan Mihăescu and Grigore Pop.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Actor And The Savages, The 1975 films 1975 drama films 1970s Romanian-language films Romanian drama films