Cinematheque: Red Hollywood, The Musicals of Grigori Alexandrov and Lubov Orlova

Yelena, an ambitious but untalented singer, mistakes Kostya, a simple shepherd, for a famous jazz band leader. Kostya readily accepts when she invites him to a swank get-together, but instead of a saxophone, he brings along his pan-pipes. All is not lost: Yelena’s long-suffering servant happens to be a terrific singer. An enormous success, the film transformed Utyosov and especially Orlova into the first Soviet movie stars.
Vesyolye rebyata, Russia, 1934, 35mm, b/w, 96 min., subtitled.