For the first time the 'Sun Valley Serenade' was shown in the USSR at the time of WW2. It was never forbidden by the Soviet censorship, so it could be watched in the following years as well.
The film made formidable impression on Soviet citizens. It conjured up 'the American dream' in which the USA appeared as a country where everything is excellent, all women are beautiful, life is extremely easy and cheerful, where money lies on the streets - bend down and take!
Opposite to that paradise picture they saw around them a surly Soviet reality, lack of liberty, empty shops, shabby life in overcrowded communal apartments where people had to stand in turns to get to WC, etc.
Surely, Stalin made a great mistake permitting his subjects to see this film.
A friend of mine watched this film 46 times. Glen Miller became the greatest composer to him. I saw it twice, and at the second time left the cinema long before the end.
That dream about America continued to live in hearts and minds of many people in the Soviet Union. It had been one of the factors which gave birth to the dissident movement, and at the end, made a contribution to the fall of Communism in Russia.
I'm sure that there are some people who participated in creation of the movie who are living now: do they know about their part in the History?
From the point of view of pure art, the rating, I think, is 6 out of 10.
The film made formidable impression on Soviet citizens. It conjured up 'the American dream' in which the USA appeared as a country where everything is excellent, all women are beautiful, life is extremely easy and cheerful, where money lies on the streets - bend down and take!
Opposite to that paradise picture they saw around them a surly Soviet reality, lack of liberty, empty shops, shabby life in overcrowded communal apartments where people had to stand in turns to get to WC, etc.
Surely, Stalin made a great mistake permitting his subjects to see this film.
A friend of mine watched this film 46 times. Glen Miller became the greatest composer to him. I saw it twice, and at the second time left the cinema long before the end.
That dream about America continued to live in hearts and minds of many people in the Soviet Union. It had been one of the factors which gave birth to the dissident movement, and at the end, made a contribution to the fall of Communism in Russia.
I'm sure that there are some people who participated in creation of the movie who are living now: do they know about their part in the History?
From the point of view of pure art, the rating, I think, is 6 out of 10.