his fragile life.
- The ice is slippery.
- You slip, you take a risk.
Right you are,
you've said a mouthful.
I've received yet another wire
from Velyurov.
He'll go bankrupt, really.
- Don't tease me.
- I'm being serious.
By the way, he is
a very nice person.
Oh yeah, all the war hawks
look at him with trepidation.
- What about you?
- I'm a person of free choice.
- And there he is, by the way.
- Wow! And he too!
He looks quite imposing!
I'll split. I don't want
to upset him without need.
God will reward you
for your kindness.
Why are you wandering here,
oh restless soul?
I feel so blue, I need
to get distracted.
- What depresses you so?
- You wouldn't understand.
- You're having a crisis?
- Like any artiste, I do.
You've just outgrown
stand-up comedy.
You can't play one and
the same role all your life.
An artiste must be in constant
search and don different clothes.
- Your dinner-jacket is not popular.
- I'm a master of the word!
No, a writer is.
I'm a reciter, a soloist,
a master of skits and lampoons!
You can't depend on Soev and
his spouse all your life.
- An artiste must change his outfit!
- You're so emphatically monosyllabic!
Well, it's up to you, Velyurov.
- You feel bad?
- Can you see...
- What? Whom?
- It's she!
- Who?
- Oh, what a beauty!
She disappeared.
A glimpse, a vision, a mirage...
A vision, a mirage...
It's in the spirit of the day.
But there is a hope I'll find her!
Lyuda, it's me.
I've good news for you!
Excuse me.
Lyuda, I've got good news!
They're getting married tomorrow!
At 13 p.m, yes.
At this hour we'll be admiring
the Novodevichy monastery frescoes.
No, nothing is wrong with my
breathing, no asthma!
I'm healthy! I'm happy!
I love you, Lyudochka!
I kiss you!
What's wrong with you?
Why're you wearing a fur-coat?
It's awfully cold. I'm awfully cold.
I'm cold...
The cast:
Oleg MENSHIKOV as Kostya
Sofya PILYAVSKAYA
as Aunt Alice
Leonid BRONEVOY
as Arkady Velyurov.
Inna ULYANOVA
as Margarita Khobotova
Anatoly RAVIKOVICH
as Lev Khobotov
Victor BORTSOV
as Savva Ignatievich
Elena KORENEVA
as Lyudochka
Tatiana DOGHILEVA
as Svetlana
Elizaveta NIKISCHIKHINA
as Nina Orlovich
Igor DMITRIEV
as Gleb Orlovich
Evgheny MORGUNOV
as the poet Soev
Natalya KRACHKOVSKAYA
as Mrs. Soev
End of Part One
MOSFILM
Made for the State Committee
on Radio and Television, USSR
The Association of TV Films
THE POKROVSKY GATES
Part Two
'Flap your ears, hither come,
Hey, good people, listen!
'We'll give you a lot of fun,
We'll keep the tradition!
'Jesters with a funny face,
For the crowd to jeer:
'Circus now a marketplace,
You can buy things here!'
Well, I've bought everything.
Where is Arkady?
We shouldn't have entrusted
him with strong drinks.
Arkady, Margarita told us
not to be too long.
- Take it easy.
- Arkady, alles gemacht!
Funf Minuten', Savva Ignatievich.
'Hey, come hither!
'Many barkers in the town,
But the best one is a clown.
'Buy a ticket, Muscovite,
We're all too glad to sell!
'We the gates shall open wide,
We shall ring the bell!'
Once I met a woman
of extraordinary beauty.
For the one getting married these
are quite inappropriate recollections.
I've no ulterior motive.
He is turning over a leaf,
let him give vent to his feelings.
As bride's witness, you
didn't rise to the occasion.
You are a moralist,
and it is unbearable.
- Yep, I am a moralist!
- You are a Pharisee!
- Where were you last night?
- I had a simultaneous chess game.
A simultaneous love game maybe?
- I'm 10 min from being a grandmaster!
- You are already a master!
Oh, let us be going now.
Alice, it is for Kostya.
- Let them call a bit later.
- All right.
Would you call a bit later?
- Arkady, let's be going.
- Let go of me.
- Really, we must go now.
- I'm feeling blue like the poet Blok.
What?
- My naiad has disappeared.
- Don't panic.
I have showered her with telegrams.
Too bad. I could open your eyes
on