Ivanovskii, Aleksandr Viktorovich

Born Nov. 17 (29), 1881, in Kazan; died Jan. 11, 1968, in Leningrad. Soviet film director and screenwriter; Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1936).

Ivanovskii graduated from the law department at the University of Kazan in 1906. From 1904 until 1921 he worked as a director in music theaters; he began his film career in 1918. Screen versions of literary works were an important part of Ivanovskii’s oeuvre. His first films, Punin and Baburin and Three Portraits (1919), were adapted from works by I.S. Turgenev; The Comedienne (1923) was based on N.S. Leskov’s “The Toupee Artist.” During the 1920’s, Ivanovskii directed a series of films based on the revolution: Palace and Fortress (1924), Stepan Khalturin (1925), and The Decembrists (1927).

His most outstanding films of the 1930’s were Judas Golovlev (1934; adapted from M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin’s novel The Golo-vevs), Dubrovskii (1936; based on A.S. Pushkin’s novella) and Enemies (1938; from M. Gorky’s play). Ivanovskii later turned to musical comedies, directing Musical Story (1940; with G.M. Rappaport), Anton Ivanovich Is Angry (1941), Silva (1945), Ballet Star (1947), and The Lady Tiger Tamer (1955; with N.N. Kosheverova). Ivanovskii was awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1941 and two orders.