M.B. IN THE MOUNTAINS AND ON THE SEASIDE (1971) – comedy movie online

Directed by: Mircea Drăgan
Script: Mircea Drăgan, Nicolae Tic
Cast: Toma Caragiu, Dem Rădulescu, Ion Finteșteanu, Puiu Calinescu, Jean Constantin, Sebastian Papaiani, Ioana Dragan, Dumitru Furdui, Iurie Darie, George Oancea, Réka Nagy
Producers: Dumitru Solomon
Cinematography by: Nicolae Mărgineanu
Edited by: Dragos Witkowski
Sound: Bogdan Cavadia
Music: Ion Cristinoiu
Year: 1971
Category: Feature film
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 100 minutes

556,588 – Cinepub viewers

PLOT SUMMARY

Comrades from “Miscellaneous Brigade” thwart the plans of “international bandits” who operate on our homeland’s territory, attempting to introduce drugs (powders for grandma) through the coastal area, as well as in the mountains where they steal invaluable icons. Gogu, Patraulea, and Trandafir are lured into the trap by Mr. Vasilescò, who promises them contracts abroad (London, Paris, Tokyo…) and fall once again into the hands of the Militia, although they are just simple intermediaries or rather, mere traveling salesmen; the second half of the film contains, in fact, the best 20 minutes of Romanian cinematography, the authentic humor resulting from situational comedy, but especially through character comedy, achieved by the brilliant interpretation of the three actors being enjoyed by thousands of viewers even after more than 40 years.

CRITICAL OPINIONS

Critic Calin Căliman argues in his work “The History of Romanian Cinema (1897-2000)” (2000) that the B.D. series relied on the micro-performances of versatile comedy actors such as Dem Rădulescu, Jean Constantin, Puiu Calinescu, Toma Caragiu, Sebastian Papaiani, George Mihăiță, or Vasilica Tastaman, presenting the adventures of three endearing gangsters. However, critical reactions were divided on a fairly wide scale.

TRIVIA

• The film “B.D. la munte și la mare” enjoyed great success with the audience, being watched by 4,720,817 viewers in Romanian cinemas, as evidenced by a report on the number of viewers recorded by Romanian films from the premiere date until December 31, 2007, compiled by the National Centre for Cinematography. According to an analysis regarding the television broadcasts of Romanian films, conducted by paginademedia.ro in 2001, the film “B.D. la munte și la mare” ranks first in the list of Romanian films broadcasted by television channels in Romania, with a total of 37 broadcasts in the last 6 years.
• The song “La Marea Neagra” – music by Ion Cristinoiu, lyrics by Mihai Dumbrava, performed by Margareta Pâslaru. The lyrics were adapted for this film. With the original version “Mediterana“, also performed by Margareta Pâslaru, the composer participated in 1970 in the creation contest of the “Song Olympics” Festival in Athens.
• “In the December 1971 issue of the magazine ‘Săptămâna‘, an open letter was published by the screenwriters Vintilă Corbu and Eugen Burada, who pointed out ‘the staggering similarities of situations, characters, and lines between the B.D. series and their own screenplay/project ‘Caravana’, contracted and taken over by ‘Studioul București’ in 1965 and scrapped in 1968, after several working versions.” (Bujor T. Rîpeanu – “Filmed in Romania”)
• The Buick limo driven by Gogu (interpreted by Dem Radulescu) actually belongs to the studios. It’s the technical crew’s filming vehicle.
• The German Shepperd dog Costel was a real police dog and his real name was Rurich.After many hours of filming the dog was tired and was barking continuously, annoying the cast.Actor Sebastian Papaiani kept him quiet by feeding the dog bags of pork liver.
• Due to the fact that Director Mircea Dragan was not used to direct comedies he gave few indications to the cast and allowed the actors in this comedy to improvise.
• Actress Ioana Dragan who played the role of Lieutenant Paula Deleanu was the actual wife of Director Mircea Dragan.

ARTICLES

• “B.D. in the mountains and on the sea” – film chronicle – Călin Căliman – 1971 – aarc.ro
• “B.D. in the mountains and on the sea” – The 3rd series is superior. By what? – Alexandru Racoviceanu – 1972 – aarc.ro

This premiere is part of a national archive project supported by the Romanian National Film Centre.
Special thanks goes to the Romanian Filmmakers Union and to the Romanian Film Archive.

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