The Night Before Christmas (1961 film)

The Night Before Christmas, also known as Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka (Russian: Вечера на хуторе близ Диканьки, romanized: Vechera na khutore bliz Dikanki), is a 1961 Soviet fantasy film directed by Aleksandr Rou, based on a Christmas Eve, first story in the second volume of the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol.

The Night Before Christmas
Directed by	Aleksandr Rou
Written by	Aleksandr Rou
Based on	Christmas Eve by Nikolai Gogol
Starring	Alexander Khvylya Lyudmila Myznikova Yuri Tavrov Lyudmila Khityaeva Sergey Martinson Anatoly Kubatsky Georgy Millyar
Music by	Arkadi Filippenko
Cinematography	Dmitri Surensky
Edited by	Kseniya Blinova
Production company	Gorky Film Studio
Release date	December 1961
Running time	69 minutes
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Plot

This eccentric and fantastical fairy tale takes place near the village of Dikanka on the night before Christmas. Amid carol singing, drunken revelry, and amorous hijinks, the blacksmith Vakula persuades the Devil to fly him to Sankt-Petersburg, where he hopes to obtain a pair of the Empress's heels which might win him Oksana's love.

Cast

• Aleksandr Khvylya as Chub
• Lyudmyla Myznikova as Oksana
• Yuri Tavrov as Vakula
• Lyudmila Khityaeva as Solokha
• Sergei Martinson as Osip, the Sacristan
• Anatoly Kubatsky as Panas
• Vera Altayskaya as Wife of Panas
• Dmitri Kapka as Shanuvalenko
• Mykola Yakovchenko as Patsyuk
• Maryna Sidorchuk as Odarka
• Aleksandr Radunsky as The Head
• Georgi Millyar as The Devil
• Aleksei Smirnov
• Mikhail Troyanovsky
• Aleksandr Demyanenko

External links

• The Night Before Christmas at IMDb
• The Night Before Christmas on YouTube (English voice over) (English subtitles)
• The Night Before Christmas is available for free download at the Internet Archive