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A Western comical musical
Mosfilm, 1987
Director: Alla Surikova
Screenplay: Eduard Akopov
Cinematography: Grigory Belenky
Composer: Gennady Gladkov
Verses: Yuly Kim
Cast: Andrei Mironov, Alexandra Yakovleva-Aasmyae, Mikhail Boyarsky, Oleg Tabakov, Nikolai Karachentsov, Igor Kvasha, Lev Durov, Galina Polskikh, Natalia Krachkovskaya, Natalia Fateyeva, Spartak Mishulin, Albert Filozov, Mikhail Svetin, Leonid Yarmolnik, Borislav Brondukov
Songs performed by Andrei Mironov, Larisa Dolina, Mikhail Boyarsky
Andrei Mironov: Best Actor 1987
Box-office leader (1987, 2nd place): 39.8 million viewers
Awards: Golden Duke 87 (Odessa); Women in Film (Los Angeles)
The life of a cowboy town in the Wild West is transformed when Mr First arrives and starts showing silent movies on his film projector. The residents instantly forsake their normal routine of card games, drinking bouts and gunfights. Every day, over a glass of milk, they see scenes from a whole new life, captured on film by the Lumière brothers. Under the influence of the silver screen, the lives, habits and morals of the town change beyond recognition. The great art of the cinema makes them decent and kind; they stop drinking whisky. Even the local “savages” – the chief of an Indian tribe and his squaw – storm the town in the hope of seeing a movie. Mr First, meanwhile, wins the heart of the local cabaret star, the beautiful dancer Diana. Not everyone, however, likes the changes that are taking place. The barman Harry, for example, sees his income fall dramatically. Mr First’s place is then taken by another new arrival, Mr Second, whose films contain violence, cruelty and aggression. True art is eternal, however, overcoming the problems of daily life, lies and even death.