Shine, Shine, My Star (1970 film)


Shine, Shine, My Star is a 1970 comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Mitta.

Plot

Events in the film take place during the Russian Civil War. In a small provincial town at first come to power the red, then the white and then the green. The protagonist is the self-taught theater director Vladimir Iskremas stages the tragedy of Joan of Arc. He is obsessed with the ideas of theater and its transformation under the new revolutionary art.

Cast

At first Rolan Bykov was supposed to play Iskremas. But after he starred in the prohibited 1967 film Commissar, the actor was listed as "disgraced" and Oleg Tabakov was hired for the role instead. The working title of the picture, Comedy about Iskremas, was not accepted by the commission at acceptance of the picture. Mitta came up with the new name Shine, Shine, My Star - coinciding with the famous romance. In the episodic roles of white officers in the film three notable Soviet film directors were cast: Vladimir Naumov, Marlen Khutsiev and Konstantin Voinov.