A talking poodle, a singing elephant, and a hat-eating bet—Czech comedy chaos ensues.
To Moscow have arrived the participants of the international conference of the zoophilologists and also the international jury which is to elect for the world festival the best performance of the program of Moscow circus. Mrs Whistler (Iva Janzurová), British associate professor, makes her understood with the animals in their language but the Czech professor Ruzicka (Jirí Sovák), though he is capable of using the animals language, prefers teaching the animals the human language. Ruzicka's friend, the poodle Archibald, speaks "in Human" very well. The scientific dispute ends with a bet - if Ruzicka teaches the circus elephant to sing, Mrs Whistler will eat up her hat.
Practical Effects
Real circus animals plus Soviet-era puppetry = unhinged practical effects.
Acting
Jiří Sovák commits completely to teaching an elephant to sing.
Costume
1976 international academia fashion is a character unto itself.
Director
Oldřich Lipský
Evgeni Leonov
Circus Principal
Jiří Sovák
Professor Růžička
Iva Janžurová
Elisabeth Whistle
Aleksandr Lenkov
Alyosha
Natalya Varley
Tanya
Leonid Kuravlyov
Grisha
Savely Kramarov
Lopukhov
Marie Drahokoupilová
French Juror
Zdeněk Dítě
Italian Juror
Lubomír Lipský
Czech Juror
Oldřich Velen
Norwegian Juror
Ján Mistrík
Indian Zoophilologist
Aleksei Smirnov
Hypnotist
Yuri Volyntsev
Aleksandr Borisovich
Yevgeni Morgunov
Jealous Husband
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Oldřich Lipský was a Czech comedy legend who specialized in visual gags that transcended language barriers, making his films surprisingly popular across the Eastern Bloc.
The real circus performers and animals were filmed at the actual Moscow State Circus, with some scenes shot during live performances—audiences had no idea they were in a movie.
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