Video: Behind the scenes of "Hussar Ballad": Why Furtseva forbade the film to be shown, and how Khrushchev's son-in-law decided his fate
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
On November 18, one of the most beloved directors among the people, who created the legendary Soviet cinema hits, Eldar Ryazanov, would have turned 91, but, unfortunately, 3 years ago he passed away. One of the first works that brought him all-Union popularity was the musical comedy "Hussar Ballad". To modern viewers, this film seems light, lyrical and very light, but in those days officials saw sedition in it, Ryazanov was accused of libel and banned from showing the comedy.
The film was based on the play "A long time ago" by Alexander Gladkov, the genre of which Eldar Ryazanov defined as a heroic comedy and vaudeville. However, this work seemed to him an atypical vaudeville: "". The director adopted the same principle in his film, which he imagined as a heroic musical comedy.
However, the director's intention was not clear to film officials. This film was filmed for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, and Ryazanov had no doubt that his idea would be appreciated and supported. But it was not there! The director recalled: "".
The bureaucrats were outraged not only by the fact that a "lightweight" comedy was being filmed for the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, but also by the fact that Ryazanov intended to shoot the comedian Igor Ilyinsky, with whom he had previously worked in "Carnival Night", as commander Mikhail Kutuzov. According to the management of "Mosfilm", such a hero will make the audience laugh and thereby compromise the figure of Kutuzov. And the actor himself refused an episodic role, moreover, at that time he was much younger than his hero.
And then the director went for a trick. He invited other actors to audition, at the same time convincing Ilyinsky that only he was seen in this role at Mosfilm. And when the shooting was in jeopardy due to the outgoing winter nature, he filmed the episode with Ilyinsky, after which the snow melted, spring came, and it was impossible to repeat the same episode with another actor. Ryazanov simply presented the leadership with a fact, and they had to come to terms with his choice. And then the actor himself got carried away with filming and no longer wanted to give up the role. And in the end, Kutuzov turned out the way the director imagined him - not a monumental historical figure, but a living and real, crafty and wise, kind and charming person.
The search for actors for the main roles was also painful. Initially, Ryazanov saw Alisa Freundlich in the image of Shurochka Azarova, but when it was necessary to start filming and no one from the film crew imagined another actress in this role, the director nevertheless decided that she looked very unconvincing in the image of a young man - according to him, something "treacherously feminine" constantly emerged in her appearance. Lyudmila Gurchenko and Svetlana Nemolyaeva also auditioned for this role, but Larisa Golubkina turned out to be the most dashing hussar.
Sergei Yursky, Alexander Lazarev, Vyacheslav Tikhonov passed the role of Lieutenant Rzhevsky, but Yuri Yakovlev was preferred. True, when the shooting began, it turned out that he did not know how to stay in the saddle at all, 7 people perched him on a horse, she immediately carried him into the quarry, and the actor could hardly stay in the saddle. It was not easy on the set for Larisa Golubkina, the actress recalled: "".
However, the difficulties did not end there. When the picture was already ready and it was sent to Mosfilm, Ekaterina Furtseva came to the studio and told the director that he had slandered the great commander and that all the scenes with Ilyinsky needed to be re-shot urgently, otherwise the film would be closed. And there can be no question of releasing a comedy in this form. At the same time, there were only 10 days left until the anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, and Ryazanov understood that the audience would not see the "Hussar Ballad" on schedule, and maybe never at all.
Everything was decided by chance. They wanted to see the new film in the editorial office of the Izvestia newspaper, which was directed by Khrushchev's son-in-law Aleksey Adzhubey. After watching, he left the hall without saying a word to Ryazanov. But after that, Nedelya, the Saturday supplement of Izvestia, published a mini-review in which the journalist spoke favorably about the film in general and about Ilyinsky's performance in particular. And just a day later, posters about the release of a new film were hanging at the Rossiya cinema, and on the day of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino, the premiere took place, which Ryazanov did not count on! So the son-in-law of Khrushchev decided the fate of the film, which became a classic of Soviet cinema and one of the most beloved film hits by Eldar Ryazanov.
They say this story was not entirely fictional by the author: What was the real woman officer who became the prototype of the heroine of the "Hussar Ballad".
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