Surgery
About Surgery
The zemstvo doctor is away, and tipsy feldsher Gleb Glebich sees the patients. He argues with a hoarse church-choir bass about drink, hands him a powder, and pours castor oil for a stomach complaint. An old woman with a headache is told she is anemic and is given soda because the hospital has no iron. The cook of the woman Gleb loves asks for mint cakes, takes the whole jar, and reports that her mistress tore up his letter. Yan Frid directed the Lenfilm short from Chekhov's "Surgery" and "Rural Aesculapius."
Cast & crew
More about Surgery
The Russian Wikipedia dates the premiere April 30, 1939. Wikidata lists 36 minutes and names Igor Ilyinsky, Ivan Moskvin, Vasili Merkuryev, and Valentina Telegina, without roles. A second Chekhov source on Wikidata is stored only as an identifier.
Themes
Notes
- The Russian page, not a mail-order plot summary, is the source of the Gleb Glebich scenes.
- Castor oil and bicarbonate stand in for the missing medicines.
- Ilyinsky is billed. The Russian plot does not say he plays the feldsher.
- The 1909 Chardynin Surgery is a different, lost film.
Scenes
- Gleb pours castor oil for the choir bass and soda for the old woman.
- The cook says the mistress tore up his letter and is done with love.
Influenced by
- Anton Chekhov's story Surgery
- Anton Chekhov's story Rural Aesculapius
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (1939. Хирургия.webm)