The most controversial presidential nominee of the 21 century, Donald Trump, is not only known for his billions and unorthodox election campaign. The name of the American businessman, politician, and now the likeliest GOP’s candidate to the post of the President of United States is mentioned in the closing credits of a movie about Odessa, Ukraine. The film was directed 24 years ago by Leonid Gaidai, one of prolific Soviet filmmakers.
So, how the American billionaire managed to end up in a Soviet comedy?
Donald Trump in a Soviet comedy about Odessa
It is a noteworthy fact that the Republican frontrunner appeared in more than 100 movies. The most popular films among them are Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (the protagonist Kevin asks “The Donald” how to get to the reception desk of Plaza Hotel), Sex and the City and Zoolander. In the majority of films, Trump appeared in the background and in some movies he played himself, KP.ua reports.
But did he play any role in the old Soviet spy comedy promoted as a film about a “Russian James Bond”? No, he didn’t. His name is mentioned at the end credits of the film because the production team thanked Mr. Donald Trump and personnel of the Taj Mahal Casino for their help in organizing the film shooting. As the owner of the casino at the time, Trump allowed Soviet filmmakers to shoot some scenes in his resort. Gaidai and his crew spent there around 4 hours filming scenes with the Russian mafia. The movie crew asked for 4 days to shoot but were only granted 4 hours. It had to be done with a great speed and without too many takes. The Trump resort opened in 1990, just a year before the filming.
In total, the Soviet crew spent 3 weeks in the USA shooting various scenes, and the stop in the Atlantic city was the last on the calendar. Little known American actress Kelly McGrill played the female lead Mary Star in the movie.
Screenshot from the final credits: “The production team thanks Mr. DONALD TRUMP, personnel of the casino TAJ MAHAL and the government of the state of NEW JERSEY for help in organizing the shooting” (click to enlarge).
Donald Trump in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Mr. Trump in Sex and the City.
Returning to Home Alone 2, it could be added that Mr. Trump was the owner of the Plaza Hotel when the popular comedy was made.
The Soviet comedy with Donald Trump’s name in credits
The 1992 movie Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach is a spy comedy thriller about Soviet and American secret agents trying to liquidate the head of the Russian Mafia, Mr. Rabinovich, who wants to ruin the diplomatic negotiations between the leaders of the USA and the Soviet Union. The film had great success at the time and is still loved, especially by older people in Russia. The timing of the release coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union, when 15 former USSR republics became independent states.
The film featured several prominent Russian movie stars. Dmitry Kharatyan, Andrey Myagkov, Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, Emmanuil Vitorgan, Yevgeni Vesnik, Spartak Mishulin — the “who is who” of the Russian movie business. Leonid Kuravlyov played the role of the USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev.
The titles state that the movie is “Historical-revolutionary film for children of primary, older, mature, and aged ages about those remote, unforgettable times, when there were USSR, KPSS [Communist party of the Soviet Union], KGB, and ham costed 2.20 rubles.” The title is self-explanatory: During the filming the old country of the Soviet Union has been officially dissolved, and Gorbachev was left in the cold as an elected President of a non-existing country. It was during the same years that there the giant 10,000% inflation in Ukraine and Russia wiped people’s savings.
The film starts with Russian and American presidents talking on a secret hotline about their meeting that is scheduled in 2 weeks. But their conversation is interrupted by Rabinovich, the head of the Russian mafia in the USA, who explains to the presidents that he is going to switch them off to make his own call to Odessa. A meeting of the CIA and KGB in a Russian “banya” (sauna) follows, with large beers shared by “the most friendly” intelligence officers. The sharing of intelligence information is interrupted by Russian female dancers dressed in army uniform, who quickly strip to bikinis with Soviet symbols of red stars. The reason why Americans are unable to liquidate Russian mafia is because they don’t understand the “mysterious Russian soul”. This is why CIA requires help from KGB.
In the movie, the KGB operative wins every game in the casino, effectively becoming its owner.
You can see the movie on YouTube.
Spy comedy “Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach” is still loved in Russia and Ukraine.
Female dancers from the movie.
Casino scenes were shot in the resort owned by Trump.
Scene from the movie shot in New Jersey: “How much do I owe you?” The KGB agent asks the ex-Russian café owner. “No, it’s me who owes you!” the café owner responds. “I owe you everything! I owe KGB everything! If it wasn’t for KGB, I would still be suffering the life of a university professor in Odessa…”
The female lead of the movie, American actress Kelly McGrill as Mary Star, the CIA operative assisting “the Russian James Bond” Fyodor Sokolov.
Photos: PRphotos, Screenshots
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Thank you for details. I heard that Trump was thanked for their helpness in the shooting of the film, but did not know film’s name. He may be an interesting US president. Once Roosevelt said that if he will be a bad president, then will be the last. It seems to me the situation is repeated.