History Film / TheDiamondArm

[[quoteright:245:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/diamond_arm.jpg]]

TheEveryman named Semyon Gorbunkov goes on a cruise to Istanbul. On the way, he meets a younger gentleman named Gennadiy. Unbeknownst to Semyon, Gennadiy is actually working for TheMafiya, being sent by the Chief (the only name given to the mob boss) to Turkey to smuggle jewelry into the USSR. The Turkish contacts don't know what the courier looks like, only the secret phrase he is supposed to use (they don't even speak Russian). Semyon ends up accidentally speaking the phrase and receives an orthopedic cast full of jewelry on his arm. After returning home, Semyon immediately goes to the [[UsefulNotes/SpellOurNameWithAPo cops]] (or, more precisely, cops find him after he attacks an undercover police agent, thinking he was a criminal), and they decide to use him as bait for the smugglers. HilarityEnsues as the two inept henchmen (Gennadiy and Lyolik) hatch various schemes to retrieve the contraband without killing Semyon or attracting unwanted attention.

* CatapultNightmare: Gennadiy wakes up roughly from a nightmare in which he retrieves the cast by detaching Semyon's arm, only for the arm to attack him.

* ChurchgoingVillain: Gennadiy keeps a crucifix and an icon of the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus in his bedroom. While stranded on an islet in the middle of the sea, he assumes he's going through a religious experience when he sees a boy who seems to have a HolyHalo walk on water. He prostrates himself at the sight, respectfully tucked his cross pendant into his shirt, and followed the boy with a visibly ecstatic expression on his face while holding up a stick with his comrade Lyolik's shorts (ItMakesSenseInContext) like a banner... until it turns out he's walking on a sandbar and he slips.

* EvenTheSubtitlerIsStumped: Two foreign smugglers speak nonsensical gibberish with voiceover Russian translation. Eventually they get into a heated debate, obviously starting to call each other names, and the translator says in a deadpan voice, "What follows is untranslatable wordplay using local idiomatic expressions."

** The Chief's official persona is a simple pensioner, as we learn in the finale. He uses "finding" a treasure to justify his expensive habits.

* WalkOnWater: A smuggler who ended up resorting to robbery is stranded on an islet about a kilometer from the shore. Some boy asks him what's wrong and walks away after being told to get lost. Then the criminal notices the boy walks on water, becomes a born-again Christian and follows him to the shore. But his faith doesn't live long after he discovers it was just a strip of shallow water.

* TheFaceless: The only thing we see of the Chief for most of the film is his hand opening the peephole on his door and then the door itself to let his henchmen in. He never speaks in those shots. His hand is shown to have expensive-looking rings with large rocks. Obviously, the smuggling business is going well.

* CharacterTics: Gennadiy is known to occasionally jerk his head back slightly. This turns funny when he's standing with his back to a wall of phone booth.

* ThatRemindsMeOfASong: Like many others Soviet films of that period, this one features several characters randomly bursting into song. It only really makes sense once, when the (very drunk) Semyon gets on the stage at a restaurant and starts singing about rabbits, with the music making sense, since there's a live band playing. However, when Gennadiy is singing on the cruise ship, the music is coming from nowhere. For reference, Andrei Mironov, the actor playing him, was an accomplished singer.

'''The Diamond Arm''' (''Бриллиантовая рука'', Brilliantovaya ruka) is a 1968 Soviet comedy film by Leonid Gaidai, starring several famous Soviet actors. Like many movies of the time, several of the characters end up performing impromptu songs. Both the film and the songs have attained cult status in the former Soviet republics.

* UsefulNotes/GosKino: The superintendent's warning to Semyon's wife that she wouldn't be surprised if Semyon is secretly visiting a mistress is the result of the Soviet censors redubbing her line. If you look at her lips carefully, she is most likely saying "synagogue" instead of "mistress". Ultimately, "mistress" makes more sense, since his wife [[MistakenForCheating catches him with another woman]] shortly after. WordOfGod is that this, as well as other things Gaidai removed from the final product, were put in by him intentionally in order to divert attention from the more subtle jabs and references. It's also not the first time Gaidai does this in his films.

* ChurchgoingVillain: Gennadiy keeps a crucifix and an icon of the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus in his bedroom. While stranded in an islet in the middle of the sea, he assumes he's going through a religious experience when he sees a boy who seems to have a HolyHalo walk on water. He prostrates himself at the sight, respectfully tucked his cross pendant into his shirt, and followed the boy with a visibly ecstatic expression on his face while holding up a stick with his comrade Lyolik's shorts (ItMakesSenseInContext) like a banner... until it turns out he's walking on a sandbar and he slips.

* ChurchgoingVillain: Gennadiy keeps a crucifix and an icon of the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus in his bedroom. While stranded in an islet in the middle of the sea, he assumes he's going through a religious experience when he sees a boy who seems to have a HolyHalo walk over water. He prostrates himself at the sight, respectfully tucked his cross pendant into his shirt, and followed the boy with a visibly ecstatic expression on his face while holding up a stick with his comrade Lyolik's shorts (ItMakesSenseInContext) like a banner... until it turns out he's walking on a sandbar and he slips.

Unfortunately, the "undercover" operation ends up taking a toll on Semyon's personal life. After catching him with with a woman who appears to be his mistress (she is actually working for the Chief as well), his wife leaves with their children. Trying to get to her, Semyon ends up being taken by Lyolik (who is disguised as a cop) to an abandoned car wash to retrieve the jewelry no matter what. Semyon gets away from them and happens upon a man who is driving through the woods, for some reason. Both get captured and tied to a tree. Gennadiy and Lyolik cut open the cast and take it. Semyon realizes that the man he has just met is the Chief and explains that the cops have had the contraband all this time. The criminals stuff Semyon into the trunk and drive off, intending to kill him later. However, a police helicopter finds them and picks up the car. Not realizing it, Semyon manages to open the trunk and falls out. The criminals are caught, and Semyon is reunited with his family, who now know the truth. Unfortunately, Semyon's leg is now broken for real.

* SurroundedByIdiots: The Chief can't seem to get Gennadiy and Lyolik to do anything right, even when he sends the TheVamp Anna as help. Semyon is only captured when the Chief himself intervenes.

TheEveryman named Semyon Gorbunkov goes on a cruise to Istanbul. On the way, he meets a younger gentleman named Gennadiy. Unbeknownst to Semyon, Gennadiy is actually working for TheMafiya, being sent by the Chief (the only name given to the mob boss) to Turkey to smuggle jewelry into the USSR. The Turkish contacts don't know what the courier looks like, only the secret phrase he is supposed to use (they don't even speak Russian). Semyon ends up accidentally speaking the phrase and receives an orthopedic cast full of jewelry on his arm. After returning home, Semyon immediately goes to the [[SpellOurNameWithAPo cops]] (or, more precisely, cops find him after he attacks an undercover police agent, thinking he was a criminal), and they decide to use him as bait for the smugglers. HilarityEnsues as the two inept henchmen (Gennadiy and Lyolik) hatch various schemes to retrieve the contraband without killing Semyon or attracting unwanted attention.

** Though that was pretty dumb on their part too. Considering he had already told everything to the police, trying to silence him was pointless. And if he'd suddenly dissappeared or turned up dead the police would know who's responsible.

** Though that was pretty dumb on their part too. Considering he had already told everything to the police, trying to silence him was pointless. And if he'd suddenly dissappeared or turned up dead the police would know who is responsible.

** Though that was pretty dumb on their part too. Considering he had already told everything to the policem, trying to silence him was pointless. And if he'd suddenly dissappeared or turned up dead the police would know who is responsible.

* VoiceoverLetter: Semyon's wife leaves him one after the MistakenForCheating event above, letting him know that she is taking their kids and moving in with her mother.

* CatapultNightmare: Gennadiy washes up roughly from a nightmare in which he retrieves the cast by detaching Semyon's arm, only for the arm to attack him.