Russian souvenir

An airplane flying to Moscow from Vladivostok makes an emergency landing on the shore of Lake Baikal. Here is Master of Theology John Peebles ( Erast Garin ), who is interested in the question “what did they replace with God”, American millionaire Edlay Scott ( Andrei Popov ), who is concerned about the problem “can Russia be returned to capitalism ”, with his secretary Homer Jones ( Pavel Kadochnikov ) , and the Italian “Countess” Pandora Montesi ( Elina Bystritskaya ), and, finally, the mysterious Dr. Adams. The only Soviet passenger, the engineer Varvara Komarova ( Lyubov Orlova ), is forced to be a guide, a diplomat, a supply man, and a mass entertainer.

The heroes of the film fall into a new city in Siberia , see the construction of the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station , the launch of a rocket to the moon ... Their idea of ​​the Soviet Union becomes completely different.

In the final of the film, the re-educated American millionaire gives a sensational interview. The main character calls for world peace against the backdrop of frescoes depicting George the Victorious, striking a serpent with a spear.

• Lyubov Orlova - Varvara Komarova
• Andrei Popov - Edlay Huntor Scott, American Millionaire, Writer
• Pavel Kadochnikov - Homer Jones, Secretary of Mr. Scott, American writer of Canadian origin
• Erast Garin - Jones Peebles, Master of Theology, staunch misogynist and bachelor of principle
• Elina Bystritskaya - Maria Pandora (Barbara) Montesi, Italian Countess
• Alexander Barushnoy - Dr. Adams
• Valentine Gaft - Claude Gerard, French composer
• Liu Ji-Chan - Wang Li Fu, Chinese pilot
• Anastasia Zueva - Egorkina, wife of a Siberian hunter
• George Budarov - Egorkin
• Alla Budnitskaya - Larisa Kurlychkina, translator
• Victor Avdyushko - Spikhnulin
• Anatoly Vedenkin - Sergey Komarov, brother of Barbara
• Ivan Kashirin - Watchman
• Boris Novikov - Safonov, newcomer
• Elena Ponsova - Barbara's grandmother
• Viktor Yakovlev - father
• Lev Zolotukhin - Ivan Bobrov, academician
• Peter Savin - foreman of the hunters
• Anatoly Solovyov - hunter in the bath
• Emanuel Geller - Ginseng seller (rogue)
• Svetlana Kharitonova - Olimpiada Vasilievna Safonova, wife of a newcomer
• Cola Beldy is a “shaman” student
• Vyacheslav Berezko - episode
• Mikhail Orlov - Minister
• Leonid Chubarov - Ivanov, driver
• Klara Rumyanova - girl
• Rolan Bykov - episode
• Lydia Koroleva - watchman
• Natalya Krachkovskaya - Natasha
• Inga Budkevich - stewardess
• Nikolay Kuznetsov - journalist
• Jemma Firsova - journalist
• Arkady Tsinman - Arkady Tsinman, journalist
• Grigory Alexandrov - pilot
• Tatyana Zabrodina - Sibiryakova, mayor
• Larisa Kronberg - accompanist
• Yuri Zaev - American journalist

• Stage Director: Grigory Alexandrov
• Script writer: Grigory Alexandrov
• Director of photography: Grigory Eisenberg
• Artists: Mikhail Bogdanov,
  Gennady Myasnikov
• composer: Kirill Molchanov
• lyrics: Evgeny Dolmatovsky
• sound engineer: Evgeny Kashkevich
• directors: Fedor Soluyanov , Ivan Petrov
• makeup: Elena Lomova
• Costumes: Olga Kruchinina , Lydia Rakhlina
• choreographer: Galina Shakhovskaya
• installation: Zoya Verevkina
• combined shooting:
  • Operators: Boris Gorbachev (uncredited) ,
    German Shimkovich
  • artist: Vasily Golikov
    • artist's assistant: Eduard Malikov (not in the credits)
• animation: Yuri Merkulov , Igor Znamensky , Ivan Davydov , Boris Chani
• Editor: N. ^{[ specify ]} Rudakova
• Director of the picture: Vladimir Maslov, Arkady Alekseev.
• music performance:
  • Musical Film Production Orchestra - Conductor Grigory Hamburg
  • Pop Orchestra - Conductor Nikolai Minkh

Soviet criticism called “Russian Souvenir” plotless, ideologically weak, superficial, propagandizing “ architectural excesses in construction during the Stalin personality cult” ^[5] . A review of Russian Souvenir was published by the satirical magazine Crocodile , where the director and actors were ridiculed ^[6] .

Lyubov Orlova herself called her work in this film unsuccessful: “Whatever the frame, it’s empty ... And I have re-singing and re-singing myself ... It’s as if I’m only doing that I’m trying to repeat the tricks I once found, but I don’t have anything it turns out ” ^[7] .

Elina Bystritskaya in 2003 noted: “I will never forget how Lyubov Orlova, who was then under 60, starred in the film“ Russian Souvenir “, where she played a girl of about twenty-five. It was a heavy sight, and the film justly failed. ” ^[8]

Peter Rollberg in the “Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema” writes that the film “no doubt proved that the official image of the actress became an anachronism, despite the constant admiration of millions of viewers” ^[9] .

Alexander Malakhov ( Kommersant ), evaluating this work by Alexandrov and Orlova, wrote: “They could not get rid of ideological cliches, and in the 60s the stories about re-educated American millionaires did not cause laughter, but irritation. “Russian souvenir“ failed ” ^[10] .

A. V. Fedorov, describing the plot and other stereotypes of the picture, writes:

methods of depicting reality: frankly conditional (within the framework of the genre), but the entire Soviet situation and all Soviet characters are shown with sympathy. Foreign characters are shown caricatured, but this is not evil, but rather a good-natured caricature.

<...> All Soviet characters are patriotic, sincerely believe in the advantages of the Soviet system over the bourgeois, charming, polite, helpful, ready to help pampered foreigners who are not used to Siberian life, well-dressed (according to the Soviet concepts), they have the right speech, facial expressions and gestures correspond the canons of the poster image of the ideal Soviet worker. Foreigners look exaggerated, dressed brightly, often ridiculously, gesticulate a lot and actively, emotionally unstable ^[11] .

• Alexandrov G. Sketches for the future film // The Art of Cinema. 1957. No. 8. C. 54-65.
• Russian souvenir on the Afisha website
• Russian souvenir on the site of the first channel
• "Russian souvenir" on the site "Encyclopedia of Russian cinema"
• Russian souvenir on the site “MEGAENCYCLOPAEDIA Cyril and Methodius”
• The film "Russian Souvenir" in the online movie theater Mosfilm Concern