Headless Horseman (film, 1973)

Events take place in 1850 in the United States in Texas . Louise, the daughter of wealthy planter Poindexter, the owner of the Asienda Casa del Corvo, fell in love with poor Mustanger Maurice Gerald. On the night when their secret date took place, her brother Henry disappeared. Suspicion of murder falls on Gerald, who was found in the blood, with signs of a struggle on his body and in Henry's cloak. Another minute, and an angry mob would lynch Gerald, but then a mysterious headless horseman appears.

• Oleg Vidov - Maurice Gerald (voiced by Eduard Izotov )
• Lyudmila Savelieva - Louise Poindexter
• Eslinda Nunez - Isidora Cavarubio de Los Llanos
• Enrique Santiesteban - El Coyote
• Alejandro Lugo - Poindexter (voiced by Felix Jaworski )
• Aarne Juksküla - Cassius Kolhaun (voiced by Alexey Konsovsky )
• Ivan Petrov - Zeb Stump
• Alfonso Godines - judge
• Rolando Diaz Reyes - Major (voiced by Alexander Belyavsky )
• Alexander Milokosty - Henry Poyndekster (voiced by Alexey Zolotnitsky )
• Plato Leslie - Pluto (voiced by Daniel Netrebin )
• Victor Belovolsky - episode
• Maria Fara - singer

• Script writer: Vladimir Vainshtok , Pavel Finn
• Director: Vladimir Weinstock
• Operator: Konstantin Ryzhov
• Artist: Hrachya Mekinyan, Jacob Rivos
• Duplication: Alexey Konsovsky , Sergey Martinson , Eduard Izotov , Alexander Belyavsky , Artyom Karapetyan , Felix Yavorsky , Daniil Netrebin , Alexey Zolotnitsky .
• Music: Nikita Theological

The film was shot in the Crimea. The scenery of Texas was made in the Belogorsky district. Initially, they planned to shoot on White Rock, but she was busy with the Cipollino crew. Therefore, the scenery was transferred to the Red Beam. The white rock (Ak-Kaya) with a peak height of 325 m above sea level became the main natural decoration in the film. The game of rings, a frank conversation between Henry and Louise Poyndekster filmed in the meadow of Vorontsov Park in Alupka. And part of the hacienda - the estates of the Louisiana planter - directed by Weinstock, looked at the Livadia Palace. The main decoration of Hacienda Casa del Corvo (House on the Bend) - along the line of Crimean poplars - with elements of the Moorish-Mexican style, as well as a 400-meter street with a crossroads, a court and the saloon of Miguel Diaz were built under the White Rock. On the rock, decorators still lined the walls with the watchtower of the American fort, but it is always shown in the distance, in the background without details. The Poindexter caravan and the prairie fire were filmed in Azerbaijan. Instead of live cacti, the desired territory was "planted" with plastic spines, and decorators made cotton fields by scattering ordinary cotton wool on the grass.

Headless rider was played in turn by local eight-year-old students. They did not have to retract their head - at its level they simply imposed fake shoulders.

Dark-skinned slaves were played by Cuban students - they were brought from Simferopol every day by bus, and a military band was recruited from local Belogorsk residents. They starred in episodes of the ball.

To collect a decent herd of mustangs for spectacular shots, horses were driven from all over Crimea. The manes and tails of the horses were painted silver (in nature this color does not happen).

• Headless Horseman on the Encyclopedia of Russian Cinema website