"Only old men go to battle": Real stories and mystical coincidences associated with the film by Leonid Bykov

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

In 1974, the film “Only Old Men Go to Battle” was released. He became one of the highest grossing in those years and one of the most beloved. It is still watched and revised, observing the fate of the brave pilots. And today, few people know that the film might not have been on the screens, and the love story of an Uzbek pilot and a Russian girl is not fiction. And these are far from all the real facts and mystical coincidences associated with this film.

From the history of the film

The name of Leonid Bykov is primarily associated with this film, despite the fact that the actor has many other wonderful roles. But this film was special for Bykov. Here he acted as a director, actor and screenwriter. The dream of the young Bykov was to become a pilot, but he was not taken to the flight school. But his love for the sky remained with him for the rest of his life. And he managed to realize this dream later, having made a film about pilots.

- Tomorrow, by force the day after tomorrow, the war will end. As soon as they find out about our replenishment, the Luftwaffe will scatter in all directions. Eagles! - Wolves!

Why are the "old men" going into battle? Yes, because seasoned warriors tried to protect newcomers as much as possible, while they had not yet gained the necessary combat experience. Cultural officials considered the scenario unheroic, unpromising and generally uninteresting. But Bykov began to fight for his film. The front-line soldiers supported him. And the film still came out!

Hero prototypes

Few people know that almost all the heroes of the film have their real prototypes, and almost all the episodes are real. Bykov - the director is surprisingly accurate in details, however, as befits a true master of his craft. If you noticed, in the scene where the female pilots are sitting at the pilots' house, one of them is holding a doll dressed in military uniform.

“Comrade Captain, while some were trying to la-la-la here, the first squadron provided repairs for your cruiser. We got everything you need. - Thank you. - Please. - First, we have great fellows. If "Fokker" or "Messer" to fill up - this is the second. And if you get something - this is the first.

Gali Dokutovich, navigator of the female battalion of night bombers, whom the Nazis called "Night Witches", had such a mascot doll. The girls themselves sewed a uniform for the doll, and the hostess always took her with her on combat missions. 73 sorties were on account of the mascot doll. And once Galya forgot the talisman in the room. She did not return from this battle …

The love of an Uzbek pilot and a Russian girl is also not invented and is also tragic. Only unlike the film, in reality the girl was not a pilot, she worked in the kitchen and died in the bombing. The scene where the male pilots were surprised to find that their guests had more awards than they themselves were also taken from real life at the front.

- Where to fly in such weather? - Forward! To the west! Listen, Makarych, there are persistent rumors at Hitler's headquarters that some irresponsible mechanics are baptizing some Soviet falcons before flying out.

Only the prototype of Zoya Nadezhda Popova, Hero of the Soviet Union, survived and after the war she married a pilot. The episode where the Maestro was captured by his own is also absolutely real. By the way, there are a lot of such episodes when they were mistaken for enemy spies.

Film mystery

Few know about the strange fact associated with the film - all those who died in it survived (information at the time of the 30th anniversary of the film's release, later one of the main characters died), and all those who survived died soon after. Moreover, they passed away in the same sequence as they went in the last frames of the film to tell the female pilots about Romeo's death. Remember?

- Remove from flights. Do not give a hundred grams. Assign on duty. The eternal duty officer at the airfield … Kuz-no-chik!..

Ahead is the Maestro, followed by the mechanic Makarych and the Grasshopper. The first to leave was the maestro - Leonid Bykov. In 1979, at the age of only 51, he had an accident. According to one version of further events at this time, Makarych was in the hospital, according to another, he was already discharged. He was not told right away, they were afraid to harm the convalescent. One way or another, after learning about the death of a friend, Makarych began to drink, and he was absolutely forbidden to drink.

- Commander. There are no miracles. Already thirty minutes have passed since he ran out of fuel … Maybe we can start replenishing? The guys need to be assigned to squadrons … - Live to live … we will always have time to distribute …

The tragic death of Bykov so shocked the front-line soldier that it provoked a deterioration in his condition, a heart attack and death. And he was not so much at that time - 59 years old. By the way, the scene where Maestro and Makarych are sitting on the pilots' grave has no takes. The whole scene is a pure improvisation by Makarych.

He could not repeat it for reshooting - the actor had a heart attack right on the set of this scene. Returning from the hospital, the actor said that he would not be able to play again - it was too hard. The scene was included in the final version without takes. The next of the untimely departed heroes was Grasshopper - Sergei Ivanov. In 2000, he died of a heart attack. The actor was only 48 years old …

The life of the heroes of the film after filming

Not everyone is lucky in their careers. The actors continued to act, but, for example, Sergei Podgorny, the famous Smuglyanka, did not have such stellar roles in his career anymore. The actor felt unclaimed and started drinking. In 2011 he was gone.

Evgenia Simonova became a famous and popular actress, successfully debuting with Bykov. And Romeo from Tashkent, the favorite of the public, Rustam Sagdullaev, also had a career and personal life. The actor is happily married, has two children, and now also grandchildren. He created his own film studio and dreams of making Russian-Uzbek films.

Surely no one realizes that the future idol of the audience was terribly shy of himself after seeing the auditions with Simonova. This charismatic actor considered himself almost a monster next to a beauty! But later this role became his hallmark. He was super popular both throughout the Union and in his native Uzbekistan.

Not everyone knew his real name, so the image of Romeo overshadowed everything else. Once a director from Moscow wanted to invite him to film, asking Romeo Sagdullaev to send his photographs. Only once Sagdullaev starred in the role of a villain, but the audience was so outraged that he swore to ever play such a thing.

- War is all transitory. And music is eternal!