Directing
Leonid Gaidai
Born January 30, 1923 · Svobodny, Amurskaya guberniya, RSFSR, USSR
Died November 19, 1993 · aged 70
Leonid Iovich Gaidai (Russian: Леони́д Ио́вич Гайда́й; 30 January 1923 – 19 November 1993; Svobodny) was a Soviet comedy film director, screenwriter and actor who enjoyed immense popularity and broad public recognition in the former Soviet Union. His films broke theatre attendance records and were some of the top-selling DVDs in Russia. He has been described as "the king of Soviet comedy".
Known For
Gift for a Single Woman · 1973Gift for a Single Woman
★ 3.81973
MovieComedy
To catch a couple of car thieves, a policewoman goes undercover as an old woman that recently has gotten a luxury car "Volga" - a plan that is bound to attract the criminals. For how hard can it be to steal a car from an old woman?
Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures · 1965Operation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures
★ 7.51965
MovieComedy
The film consists of three independent parts: "Workmate", "Déjà vu" and "Operation Y". The plot follows the adventures of Shurik, the naive and nerdy Soviet student who often gets into ludicrous situations but always finds a way out very neatly.
Strictly Business · 1963Strictly Business
★ 7.31963
MovieComedy
Three stories based on O. Henry novels. (1) Bob Tidball recovers $30,000 in pristine credit cards from a bandit’s sack and races across the plains until his horse breaks its leg. Forced to mount Dodson’s stallion, he’s ambushed and killed by “Shark” Dodson, who seizes the entire loot. (2) A thief slips through a third-floor window to steal a stack of bills from a sleeping gentleman’s dressing table. When the homeowner awakens and raises only one hand against the revolver—his other immobilized by a sudden rheumatic attack—the would-be robber reconsiders his plan. (3) Sam and Bill, two small-time grifters short $2,000 for their swindle, decide to kidnap Ebeneger Dorset’s young son. They demand exactly that sum as ransom, setting in motion a desperate bargain.
Kidnapping, Caucasian Style · 1967Kidnapping, Caucasian Style
★ 7.61967
MovieComedy
Shurik, a kind but naïve ethnography student, falls in love with the intelligent, athletic and beautiful All-Union Leninist Young Communist League member Nina. He has a rival in the wealthy comrade Saakhov, who concocts a kidnapping scheme to force Nina to marry him.
Incognito from St.Petersburg · 1978Incognito from St.Petersburg
★ 6.01978
MovieComedy
A comedy based on a classic play 'Revizor' by Nikolai Gogol.
The Wind · 1959The Wind
★ 7.51959
MovieWarDrama
Filmed in the context of the fortieth anniversary of the creation of the Komsomols, the League of Young Communists, tells the story of three youth delegates from the League in 1918, who must make the dangerous journey to Moscow during the civil war to participate in League’s congress.
Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession · 1973Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession
★ 7.91973
MovieComedyScience Fiction
A scientist builds a time machine and accidentally sends his apartment complex manager and a petty burglar to 16th century Moscow, while Tsar Ivan the Terrible travels to 1973.
The Diamond Arm · 1969The Diamond Arm
★ 7.71969
MovieAdventureComedy
A diamond smuggling operation goes wrong when an ordinary Soviet citizen becomes unwittingly involved, and the criminals are forced to court him to retrieve their diamonds.
Filmography
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