Behind the scenes of the film "Mary Poppins, goodbye": How Andreichenko replaced Vertinskaya, and why Tabakov got the female role

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

On August 17, the famous actor, director and teacher, People's Artist of the USSR Oleg Tabakov could have turned 85 years old, but 2 years ago he passed away. There are about 100 roles in his filmography, many of which have become real masterpieces. One of the many striking and memorable works of Oleg Tabakov was the role of Miss Andrew in the film "Mary Poppins, Goodbye". Why did the director decide to invite a man to the female role, which is why Natalia Andreichenko, who was approved for the main role, was eventually replaced by Natalya Andreichenko and what sacrifices she had to make for this role - further in the review.

In 1983, Mosfilm decided to make a family movie based on the works of the English writer Pamela Travers. The script was written by Vladimir Valutsky, and the director was Leonid Kvinikhidze. Initially, the film was not conceived as a musical one, but Kvinikhidze, who had previously directed Straw Hat, Heavenly Swallows and June 31st, decided to make a new film in the same genre, although the script did not envision this. As a result, instead of a children's film, it turned out to be a musical fairy tale for adults, which children also fell in love with.

The director turned to his friend, composer Maxim Dunaevsky for help, and he wrote songs that largely ensured the success of the film. Later, many said that music became the main character of this film. Dunaevsky, who at that time had already written music for films more than once, called "Mary Poppins …" a film in which he managed to fully reveal himself as a composer. He did not admit to the director of only one thing - Dunaevsky wrote the music for the film specifically for his wife, actress Natalia Andreichenko. He really wanted her to play the main role. True, the director had a different opinion on this matter.

In the role of the magic nanny Mary Poppins, Leonid Kvinikhidze saw only Anastasia Vertinskaya. The actress was approved for the main role, she started rehearsals, but in the process of work unexpected difficulties arose. Vertinskaya categorically did not like the heroine herself, who seemed to her a strange lady, or the songs that she had to perform. She had a different idea of both the music for the film and Mary Poppins. When Dunaevsky put her a cassette with already recorded songs, Vertinskaya said: "". As a result, the director decided to remove her from the role.

It was necessary to urgently look for the main character, and none of the actresses suited the director. And once Dunaevsky invited Kvinikhidze to his place. There they were met by Natalya Andreichenko, who sang along to her husband when he played songs from the film. Later, the director realized that the spouses had arranged all this on purpose in order to push him to the decision to give the role of Mary Poppins Andreichenko. Nevertheless, Dunaevsky did not ask him directly for anything. The composer stated: "".

Of all the candidates, Andreichenko then seemed the least suitable for the director. He represented Mary Poppins as an elegant lady, and he remembered Natalia Andreichenko as a lady with curvaceous forms, as she was in films of the late 1970s. Kvinikhidze told her: “” But when the director saw a completely different Andreichenko - after the birth of her son, she was able to lose 15 kg - the actress still got what she wanted! Later, she called this role her great luck: "".

But Natalia Andreichenko was not allowed to sing her husband's songs in the film. Her voice seemed to the director insufficiently sonorous and melodic for her heroine, so all the songs for her were sung by Tatyana Voronina, the wife of the musician of the "Resurrection" group. At the same time, their voices with Natalia Andreichenko absolutely did not coincide, and the actress promised to speak in a higher voice in the frame. Dunaevsky said: "". It is interesting that shortly after the release of the film on the screens, the husband of the singer Tatyana Voronina became a bell ringer, and then a priest, and she herself left the stage for the sake of the church choir.

Alexander Abdulov wanted to play the role of Mr. A, but it went to the Estonian actor Lembit Ulfsak, who looked very organically in the image of an eccentric Englishman. But Pavel Smeyan voiced his hero and sang songs for him. Natalia Vetlitskaya, who at that time was the wife of Pavel Smeyan, took part in the recording of the song "Bad weather" as a backing vocalist.

One of the director's findings was the approval of Oleg Tabakov for the role of Miss Andrew. Of course, in Soviet cinema there were many characteristic actresses who would have done an excellent job with this role, but Kvinikhidze abandoned this idea. The director explained his plan as follows: "".

Oleg Tabakov had a great sense of humor, and this proposal did not surprise him. He coped with the role just brilliantly, for a complete transformation he did not even need a complex make-up. According to the actor, to work on this image, he watched his own mother-in-law! This role became one of the best in the filmography of Oleg Tabakov and his next hit in the top ten.

The image of Mr. Ay was not the only creative pinnacle of this actor: What roles did Lembit Ulfsak consider to be his "actor's happiness"?.