Man in a Shell
About Man in a Shell
Belikov, the Greek teacher at a provincial gymnasium, lives by the rule "so that nothing happens." He keeps his things in cases, fears everything, and presses that fear on the school and the town. A new history and geography teacher, Mikhail Kovalenko, arrives with his sister Varenka. Belikov starts to think of marriage. Her free way of talking, and her brother's, unsettles him. Colleagues who laugh at him in private still take the informer's side, afraid of trouble with the authorities. An anonymous cartoon shows him arm in arm with Varenka, captioned "Anthropos in love."
Cast & crew
More about Man in a Shell
Isidor Annensky wrote and directed this adaptation of Anton Chekhov's 1898 story. It opened on 25 May 1939. Yevgeni Shapiro photographed it. Nikolay Khmelyov plays Belikov. Mikhail Zharov plays Kovalenko. Olga Androvskaya plays Varenka.
Themes
Look
Yevgeni Shapiro was the cinematographer.
Notes
- Faina Ranevskaya is in the cast. Vladimir Gardin plays the school principal. Aleksei Gribov plays the servant Afanasy.
- Osip Abdulov plays Tarantulov. Aleksandr Larikov plays Nevyrazimov.
- The Russian title is Chelovek v futlyare.
- The story is set in the Russian Empire. The film was made in 1939.
Scenes
- Belikov finds the anonymous cartoon of himself walking with Varenka, signed "Anthropos in love.
Influenced by
- Anton Chekhov's 1898 story The Man in the Case
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Man in a Shell 1939.webm)
Quotes
So that nothing happens.
