to laugh, you need to know Yakovlev’s preferences

September 17, 1973 is a historic day for Soviet cinema. It was then that the premiere of the legendary Soviet comedy called “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession” took place. This film was shot by the outstanding director Leonid Gaidai based on Mikhail Bulgakov’s play “Ivan Vasilyevich”.

The film told the story of engineer-inventor Timofeev, who created a time machine and thereby opened the door to the 16th century, when Ivan the Terrible reigned. As a result, the king miraculously moved to Soviet Moscow, and the main character ended up in the 16th century. This film became one of the leaders in Soviet film distribution – it was watched by about 60 million viewers.

“Ivan Vasilyevich” retains its popularity to this day. Nowadays it is customary to review it during the New Year holidays, but the cult film is often remembered without any extra reason.

It is noteworthy that even many years later, when numerous viewers have learned Gaidai’s painting almost by heart, there are still moments in “Ivan Vasilyevich” that are not fully understood by the majority. We have already talked about some of them: for example, about the joke hidden in Miloslavsky’s remark about the price of vodka:

A similar story happened with the phrase uttered by Ivan the Terrible, performed by actor Yakovlev, when he has to change into a Soviet tracksuit:

“Oh, demonic clothes… Ugh!” – says the character.

What is remarkable in this case? The fact is that this replica has a double bottom. On the one hand, Grozny doesn’t really want to fit into clothes that look completely unfamiliar to him.

On the other hand, the emblem of Dynamo Moscow is placed on the tracksuit offered to him. But the actor Yakovlev was a fan of Spartak Moscow. That is, his character had to dress up in the attributes of one of the main rivals of his favorite team.

It turned out to be a double punch, which only adds value to this scene. And not only for her, but for the entire film: after all, even after more than half a century, we still have reasons to review and discuss the great comedy.