The Adventures of the Electronic

Name: The Adventures of the Electronic
Genre: Family, Science Fiction, Adventure
Released: 1980-03-23
Duration: 3 h 35 min
Rating: 8
Cast: Yuri Torsuyev, Vladimir Torsuyev, Oksana Alekseyeva, Vasiliy Skromnyy, Vladimir Basov

Приключения Электроника (1980)

Timing: 3:35 (215 min)

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no scores

7/10
80

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Everything about the movie

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Photo 1

Actors and characters

Movie poster "The Adventures of the Electronic"

Release date

1980-03-23

Country

Soviet Union

Production

Gosteleradio USSR, Odessa Film Studio

Genre

Family, Science Fiction, Adventure

Budget

Box office

Website

Director

Konstantin Bromberg

Actors

Yuri Torsuyev, Vladimir Torsuyev, Oksana Alekseyeva, Vasiliy Skromnyy, Vladimir Basov, Nikolai Karachentsov, Nikolay Grinko, Yelizaveta Nikishchikhina, Yevgeni Vesnik, Nikolai Boyarsky
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Camera operator

Composer

Artist

Audition

Editing

Whole Team (2)

Short description

Professor Gromov constructs a robot called Electronic, which looks exactly like Sergey Syroezhkibn, a 6-grader from one of Odessa (USSR) schools. The robot also acts a lot like a human, and its dream is to become a real man. Electronic escapes from the professor's lab and accidentally meets Sergey, his prototype. Meanwhile, a gang lead by Stump is trying to kidnap Electronic to make him steal pictures from museums. For this purpose they send their hitman Urrie.

What's left behind the scenes

The actors playing Syroezhkin and Elektronik were required to know how to play the guitar, dance to music, ride a moped, and sing at least a little. Brothers Yuri and Vladimir Torsuev could do all of this and, on top of everything else, attended music school. That is why they were chosen, although the producers had initially looked for slightly younger boys for the lead roles.
In the scene where a barbell (a prop) falls on Urri's (Nikolai Karachentsov) head, the actor collapsed to the ground, landing on a branch. Karachentsov told the director nothing and only went to the hospital after filming, where he received stitches.
Oksana Alekseeva later graduated from the Odessa Polytechnic Institute. Notably, Syroezhkin and Gusev zoom past this very institute at the very beginning of the film.
Several actors failed the audition for the role of Professor Gromov, the creator of Elektronik: Rostislav Plyatt, whose portrayal of the professor seemed too nonchalant; Bruno Freindlich, who fell ill immediately after the screen tests; and Leonid Bronevoy and Alexei Safonov.
The film is based on the science fiction novellas by Evgeny Veltistov, 'Elektronik: The Boy from the Suitcase' (1964) and 'Ressie: The Elusive Friend' (1971).
According to an interview with Maxim Kalinin (Korolkov), Konstantin Bromberg later wanted to invite the entire child cast to another of his high-profile projects, "Charodei" (1982), where they would have played brownies. However, the parents did not like the idea of their children playing supernatural creatures.
The plot in the second episode involving the hockey match is very similar to the ending of the film "Tigers on Ice" (1971). In the finale of that movie, a final hockey match is also played between two children's teams; at the start of the match, a forced and secret substitution occurs in one of the teams—Zina Klimova, the twin sister of Ignat Klimov, takes the ice disguised as her brother because Ignat is late. This is a violation of the rules, and at the end of the match, a spiteful classmate runs straight onto the ice to inform everyone about the switch (much like Kukushkina), but she does so too late—by that time, Ignat had managed to arrive, swap uniforms with his sister Zina during the break, and return to the game (and, like Syroezhkin, score a goal).
The director forced composer Evgeny Krylatov to rewrite compositions several times; once, while arguing with the director, Krylatov walked all the way to the Belorussky railway station in slippers on bare feet and without a coat, despite it being a cold autumn day.
When the director was asked who he envisioned as the bandit chief Stamp, he replied, "Louis de Funès," after which the assistant called Anatoly Papanov, but he was busy.
Sergei Filippov had already been cast as the PE teacher, but he fell ill. There were rumors that Filippov was generally "unreliable" and could go on a drinking binge at any moment. In the end, the role of the PE teacher went to Nikolai Boyarsky, the uncle of Mikhail Boyarsky.
The director offered the role of the girl, Maya, to Yana Poplavskaya, who was already famous for her role as Little Red Riding Hood, but the young star became temperamental and refused.
Oksana Fandera, who was unknown at the time, auditioned for the role of Maya, but she was given a small role as a schoolgirl in the film.
Oksana Alekseeva came to the set on her own and, approaching the film's cinematographer Konstantin Apryatin, naively asked, 'When do I get to be in the movie?' Apryatin did a screen test, and that is how Oksana got into the picture.
Irina Muravyova was offered the role of the professor's assistant, but her schedule was too tight; Liya Akhedzhakova didn't make it into the film due to her difficult personality. Evgeniya Khanayeva failed to create a convincing duo with Professor Grinko. However, when Elizaveta Nikishikhina auditioned, she played so well alongside Grinko that the director cast her immediately.
During filming, Vesnik copied Marshak for the role of the teacher Taratar—from his pronunciation to his gait, his swinging arms, and his astonished, eternally childlike gaze.