Queen of gas stations

The film was started by a young director Nikolai Litus . Without a screen test, Andrei Sova , Nonna Koperzhinskaya and Alexander Khvyla were approved, the artistic council and the majority of the members of the film crew suggested Rumyantsev for the role of Lyudmila, but the director sought to avoid cliches, and insisted on the candidacy of the little-known Estonian actress . Enough material was filmed with her, but at a working viewing, the management of the film studio decided to remove Luik from the role, since she is “too intelligent, cold and introvert” and the comedy does not work. Autumn began, full-scale shooting became impossible and the film was mothballed. The next year, filming resumed again with the previously approved Rumyantseva. At the time of filming, Nadezhda Rumyantseva, acting as a 17-year-old girl, was 32 years old. Directing this time was entrusted to the experienced Alexei Mishurin, who insisted that Litus be left in the picture as the second director.

The film was shot on the territory of an operating gas station , but due to fire unsafe lighting equipment at the gas station, the group was forbidden to shoot. And I had to build a “filming” gas station nearby, a fake one. This gas station is located behind a fake desk. Nikolai Litus said that the model refueling was so similar to the real one that one day a truck drove into the set, the driver of which demanded to refuel it. The acting trinity of Rumyantsev - Owl - Vinnik played a man: they refused to refuel him and also wanted to be fined for being rude, but then they apologized and explained that the movie was being shot here. As a result, the driver was not offended by the actors, and the episode was subsequently included in the film ^[3] .

The surname of the main character, Dobryecher ( Ukrainian: Dobrivechir ), may have been taken from the Ukrainian boxer of the 1920s - actor Boris Sichkin recalled him in the book “I am from Odessa! Hello! ":" I did not miss the boxing competition. There was a boxer named Good Evening. When his last name was announced, the audience answered with a laugh: “Hello.” Good Evening had an extraordinary stance, hands below, no protection, everything was open, danced in the ring, maneuvered and it was hard to get into it. He defended himself well and counterattacked well. Worked well. Everyone knew and loved him as a boxer ” ^[4] .

The episode with wasps ^[5] was filmed in the central square of the city of Bila Tserkva . In September 2010, in honor of this event, a memorial plaque ^[6] was installed on the building opposite which the photo was taken, with the image of the leading woman - Nadezhda Rumyantseva .

Since the main scene takes place near the gas station, the film involved many cars of the 1950s - early 1960s. The characters of the movie Slavka and Medved drive experimental vehicles: the LAZ-Ukraine -1 bus (1961) and the BelAZ-540 truck (1962), and the episode with foreigners even contains the real Cadillac Series 62 ^[7] . At the same time, the inscription on board the LAZ is changing - the car is either "Tourist" or "Ukraine".

The film begins with a short tour of Kiev from the window of the Kiev-Yalta bus. The route passes along Khreshchatyk , the camera lingers on Sverdlov Street , the Moscow Hotel on Kalinin Square , along the streets with flowering chestnuts , Dnieper Embankment , past the construction of new housing estates, Park them. Pushkin (in the frame walking mothers with strollers on the background of the monument to Alexander Sergeyevich ).

Poltava Lyudmila Dobryechever auditioned for television announcer - did not go through the competition due to terrible diction. She dreamed of becoming a flight attendant on a Tu-104 airplane - it did not work out. Now Lyudmila is once again preparing to enter the ballet on ice ensemble. She compensates for the lack of ice by training on roller skates and temporarily arranges to work as a tanker at a gas station. Not all the new-born worker succeeds, but her cheerful disposition and resourcefulness help her not only learn a new specialty, but also radically restructure the work of the entire gas station.

• Nadezhda Rumyantseva - Lyudmila Good evening
• Andrey Sova - Panas Petrovich, Head of the gas station
• Alexey Kozhevnikov - Taras Shpichka, driver of the UAZ with movie shifting
• Nonna Koperzhinskaya - Rogneda Karpovna, barmaid at a gas station
• Yuri Belov - Slavka Kosheva, driver of the intercity passenger bus
• Vladimir Belokurov - Alexander Efimovich Medved, driver of the first class
• Sergey Blinnikov - Comrade Babiy, Head of Department
• Victor Myagky - Comrade Borsch, Road Chief
• Nikolay Yakovchenko - Comrade Lopata, Road Chief
• Evgenia Opalova - teacher
• Victor Khalatov - a seller in a department store
• Pavel Vinnik - Podorozhny, senior lieutenant, traffic inspector
• Alexander Khvylya - the lagged passenger of the Donetsk-Kiev flight bus, pop
• Sergey Shemetilo - forwarder
• Mikhail Kramar - driver
• Nikolay Panasev - Valery Grach, partner of Koshevoy
• Alexander Tolstykh - Sashko, tractor driver
• Valentin Zinoviev - a young driver
• Semyon Likhogodenko - driver
• Grigory Teslya - gray - haired driver
• Valentin Grudinin - driver with a beard
• Valery Panarin - a young driver
• Zinovy ​​Zolotarev - driver
• Boris Boldyrevsky - driver
• Valentin Chernyak - driver
• Adolf Ilyin - a mustachioed mechanic

With a budget of 400 thousand rubles, 53 million viewers saw the picture in the first year of rental, bringing in revenue of 15 million rubles, not including fees from more than 40 countries where it was sold.

The film was released on videotapes by the Enio-Film distributor.

In 2008, the STB television channel released the documentary Queen of the Gas Station. Unknown version ”(screenwriter - Irina Feofanova, director - Elena Zakharchuk), in which the film participants recall its creation. The film included an interview with the mayor of Piryatin , who, as a boy, also starred in the “Queen of the gas station”.

• The “gas station queen” in the Internet Movie Cars Database (movie car database)
• Queen Gas Station in HD quality shown on Channel One http://vobzor.com/page.php?id=631#c23208