Volga-Volga (Russian: Волга-Волга) is a Soviet film comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov, released on April 24, 1938. It centres on a group of amateur performers on their way to Moscow to perform in a talent contest called the Moscow Musical Olympiad. Most of the action takes place on a steamboat travelling on the Volga River. The lead roles were played by Alexandrov's wife, Lyubov Orlova, and Igor Ilyinsky.
According to Orlova, the name of the film is taken from a popular Russian folk song, Stenka Razin, that Alexandrov sang while rowing with Charlie Chaplin in San Francisco Bay. Chaplin jokingly suggested the words as a title for a movie, but Alexandrov took it seriously and named his new film Volga-Volga.
The feature was said to be Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin's favourite film. Nikita Khrushchev in his memoirs says that in the pre-war period Stalin laughed at him since he resembled a character from the film.
Volga - Volga (1938) movie
Genre: Comedy
Production Co.: Mosfilm
Directed by Grigori Aleksandrov
Writing Credits: Nikolay Erdman, Vladimir Nilsen, Mikhail Volpin
Music by Isaak Dunayevsky
Cinematography by Vladimir Nilsen, Boris Petrov
Cast:
Igor Ilyinsky as Byvalov
Vladimir Volodin as The Pilot
Pavel Olenev as The Water-Carter
Sergei Antimonov as The Steamboat Captain
Andrei Tutyshkin as Alyosha Trubyshkin
Lyubov Orlova as Strelka Petrova
Anatoli Shalayev as The Boy Musical Prodigy
Mariya Mironova as The Secretary
Nikita Kondratyev as The Waiter
Vsevolod Sanaev as The Lumberjack
Alexei Dolinin as The Militia Man
Ivan Chuvelyov as The Olympiad Representative
Emmanuil Geller