Behind the scenes of the film "Midshipmen, forward!": Why the cast had to be changed, and who called their role a failure

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The most famous film directed by Svetlana Druzhinina "Midshipmen, forward!" was filmed 30 years ago, but still remains popular with viewers. Today it is difficult to imagine other actors starring, but in fact, the original cast looked very different. The shooting was in jeopardy several times, and Druzhinina doubted the final result, but it exceeded all expectations. Despite the incredible success with the audience, some actors considered the film their failure.

The novel about midshipmen came to Svetlana Druzhinina back in 1983. It was written by Nina Sorotokina, an engineer by training, a teacher at a technical school. The novel was handwritten, since no publishing house accepted it for publication, and Sorotokina suggested that the director use it to write the script for the film. The manuscript lay at Druzhinina's house for a long time, until her husband and son paid attention to it.

Other actors were supposed to play the midshipmen: Yuri Moroz was approved for the role of Alyosha Korsak, Oleg Menshikov was offered to reincarnate as Sasha Belov, and the director planned to film her son Mikhail Mukasey in the role of Nikita Olenev. Druzhinina herself wanted to appear in the image of Anna Bestuzheva, and the audience could see Marina Zudina in the role of Sophia.

The first to turn down the role was Yuri Moroz - he was then completing his studies in directing courses and had to shoot his thesis. Oleg Menshikov also left, and the director had to look for other actors for these roles. Having starred in several episodes, Zudina left the picture, and Druzhinina herself refused the role of Bestuzheva, deciding that it would be too difficult to combine the professions of director and actress.

At the last moment, it turned out that Druzhinina's son would not be able to act in films due to illness. Kharatyan and Zhigunov offered to invite Vladimir Shevelkov to the role of Nikita Olenev. But his relationship with the director did not work out right away, they could not find a common language. Later, the actor complained:

For Sergei Zhigunov, the role of Sasha Belov was the first notable work and the finest hour. During filming, he was drafted into the army, but Druzhinina made sure that he could continue to work. However, after he was shaved bald, he had to wear a wig. The young actor really wanted to look decent in the frame and fight with swords no worse than Boyarsky. He took lessons from a professional swordsman, once an actor, against the rules, knocked out an opponent's blade, and he hit him with a sword under his eyebrow. This injury was not the only one on the set - Svetlana Druzhinina fell from her horse and broke her leg, which forced the work to be suspended for six months.

A bright debut was the role of Anastasia Yaguzhinskaya for Tatyana Lyutaeva - at that time she had just graduated from VGIK. The audience did not suspect that during the filming of the final episodes, the actress was in the last months of pregnancy - this fact was hidden thanks to the fluffy dresses. And her daughter, Agnia Ditkovskite, who got on the set before birth, also became an actress in the future.

But for Olga Mashnaya, the role of Sophia was not the first, but it became very successful - it was after this that they began to recognize her. She remembered filming with a laugh: The actress considers this work very important in her film career, although she admits: "However, both Sophia and the film itself could have been better."

The film owed its success to the actors already known at that time - Abdulov, Boyarsky, Farad, Evstigneev and others, as well as to the wonderful music, the author of which was the composer Viktor Lebedev. For many years, viewers argued about what the magic words "lanfren-lanfra" meant, until the poet Ryashentsev admitted that it was "meaningless abrakadarba."

The two parts of the continuation of the film did not repeat the success of the first picture, but Druzhinina decided to shoot the fourth part, on which she is now working. Sergei Zhigunov will not be in it, since their paths with Druzhinina have long parted. However, this did not prevent him from successfully fulfilling himself both professionally and in his personal life. The actor knows for sure: they return to the place where it is warm. After all Sergey Zhigunov and Vera Novikova together for more than one year, despite all the vicissitudes of life.