An unusual move by a respected director.
The film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession” was directed by Leonid Gaidai based on the play of the same name by Mikhail Bulgakov. Director Karp Yakin is one of the most unpleasant characters in the comedy.
But he is quite remarkable: both for his position and for his manner of communication. And, of course, a cane on which he leans, although he does not limp. This detail appeared in the picture for a reason.
The original author was very fond of mentioning his contemporaries in his works, albeit under pseudonyms. In The Master and Margarita, Demyan Bedny is believed to be the prototype of Ivan Bezdomny. Latunsky and Berlioz also had real prototypes.
In “Ivan Vasilyevich” Bulgakov did not betray himself. In the image of the sensualist Yakin, he encrypted the cinematographer Ivan Pyryev, who was supposed to direct “Dead Souls” according to the writer’s script, but abandoned the idea due to criticism and fear of public censure.
Leonid Gaidai knew about this case very well. And he meticulously reproduced the image from the play. You could say I “walked through” my colleague, who had been dead for five years at the time of the film’s release. The ex-head of Mosfilm is hinted at not only by the cane, but also by the excessive attention that Karp Savelyevich pays to young and beautiful artists.