The director’s sharp mind can only be envied.
Leonid Gaidai was extremely reluctant to allow censors to “shred” his films. As with any director, interfering in the plot of a picture unnecessarily was painful for him and very upsetting. However, the master easily agreed to cut out one of the brightest episodes of the “Diamond Arm”. And here’s the reason.
When watching the legendary comedy, censorship found as many as 40 episodes that they demanded to be removed immediately. And then Gaidai went for a bold and unprecedented trick. He added an atomic explosion scene as the ending to “The Diamond Arm”.
After watching the tape, the censors were so impressed by the strange and wild explosion that in the end they asked only to remove it. Of course, the director needed it. Therefore, he happily agreed to cut the scene almost with his own hands in the editing.
