Leonid Gaidai

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

Operation Y and Other Shurik's AdventuresOperation Y and Other Shurik's Adventures · 1965
Operation 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.
Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His ProfessionIvan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession · 1973
Ivan 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.
Kidnapping, Caucasian StyleKidnapping, Caucasian Style · 1967
Kidnapping, 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.
The Diamond ArmThe Diamond Arm · 1969
The 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.
Dog Barbos and Unusual CrossDog Barbos and Unusual Cross · 1961
Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross
★ 7.61961
MovieComedy
This is the very first silent slapstick comedy short about adventures of Worldly, Coward, and Fool. What's more fun: fishing with worms, or dynamite? Three friends decided to have a blast! Unfortunately their dog Barbos just loves playing fetch. And this time that stick was used for blast fishing. Barbos saw people throwing a smoking stick in a water, and fetched it right back to his owners. The "unusual cross" part begins when owners try to outrun the dog with dynamite.
For the MatchesFor the Matches · 1980
For the Matches
★ 6.31980
MovieComedyAdventure
In Eastern Finland, in Liperi to be exact, Anna-Liisa Ihalainen asks her husband Antti to get some matches from the Ihalainen household. Unfortunately that trip takes a little longer than expected...
BootleggersBootleggers · 1961
Bootleggers
★ 7.31961
MovieComedy
This is the second silent (save for a song) slapstick comedy short about adventures of Worldly, Coward, and Fool. In a small hunting lodge three friends are making illegal moonshine. Bottled "product" fills shelves quickly. Life is good. But their dog Barbos doesn't understand that bringing a moonshine condenser coil to a police station is a bad idea...
12 Chairs12 Chairs · 1971
12 Chairs
★ 7.61971
MovieComedyAdventure
A former aristocrat Ippolit Vorobyaninov leads a miserable life in Soviet Russia. His mother-in-law reveals a secret to him - she hid family diamonds in one of the twelve chairs they once had. Vorobyaninov in cooperation with a young con artist Ostap Bender start a long search for the diamonds.

Filmography

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Strictly BusinessStrictly Business · 1963
Strictly 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.

Director