The Musical Comedy Films of Grigorii Aleksandrov : Laughing Matters

Grigorii Aleksandrov’s musical comedy films, created with composer Isaak Dunaevskii, were the most popular Russian cinema of the 1930s and ’40s. Drawing on studio documents, press materials, and interviews with surviving film crew members, __The Musical Comedy Films of Grigorii Aleksandrov__ presents the untold production history of the films. Salys explores how Aleksandrov’s cinema preserved the paradigms of the American musical, including its comedic tradition, using both to inscribe the foundation myths of the Stalin era in the national consciousness. As the first major study to situate these films in the cultural context of the era, this book will be essential to courses on Russian cinema and Soviet culture. "Grigorii Aleksandrov's musical comedy films, created with composer Isaak Dunaevskii, were among the most popular of Russian cinema in the 1930s and '40s. Drawing on studio documents, press materials, and interviews with surviving film crew members, The Musical Comedy Films of Grigorii Aleksandrov presents the untold production history of the films. Salys argues that Aleksandrov's cinema draws upon the paradigms of the American musical, including its distinctive comedic tradition, using both to inscribe the foundation myths of the Stalin era in the national consciousness. As the first major study to situate these films in the cultural context of the era, this book is essential to courses on Russian cinema and Soviet culture."--Page 4 of cover Grigorii Aleksandrov's musical comedy films, created with composer Isaak Dunaevskii, were the most popular Russian cinema of the 1930s-1940s. This study presents the history of the films, situating them in the Stalin era, and suggesting fresh interpretations of individual films.