Interesting facts about Soviet comedies. Interesting facts about comedies

Who knew for sure that jokes are a serious matter.

The author of famous comedies, the man thanks to whom Shurik, Comrade Saakhov, Coward, Dunce and Experienced appeared on the screens, and at the same time Ivan Vasilyevich, who changes his profession (a unique case when 11 monuments are erected to the heroes of the films of one director throughout the country!) - birthday. Even if it’s not an anniversary, it’s not a milestone date. Even though Leonid Gaidai himself has not been with us for a long time. But his films, which are watched by both old people and schoolchildren, are still interesting and loved. And that means it’s worth remembering him - with a smile.

Fact one. Leonid Gaidai and the “test of writing”

Few people know about the first, very comic, “test of writing” of the legendary director. And it’s impossible to talk about this incident without laughing. 1937, Irkutsk. As a child, Lenya Gaidai, like his brother, tried the pen. But here's the problem. Ninth-grader Sasha Gaidai, older brother and future famous journalist, publishes in “ Pioneer Truth" poem. Lenya Gaidai, younger brother, also counts on future fame (and not without reason). Therefore, he rewrites the verses by hand and takes them to the local newspaper. There they find the lines are not mediocre and publish them. Proud Lenya Gaidai brags to his brother. A curtain...

Fact two. The first role in the Theater of Satire is to open the curtain and run for vodka

Irony of fate or not, Leonid Gaidai’s first role in the theater, although fleetingly, was connected with satire, which would become his vocation. Gaidai is 17 years old, 1941, he is a school graduate. The war has just begun. And before being drafted, he gets a job as a stagehand at the Irkutsk Regional Drama Theatre. Soon the Moscow Satire Theater will be evacuated to the city. Leonid sets up the scenery, opens and closes the curtain, meets celebrities, runs for them to buy vodka at the monopole. Soon he knows all the roles by heart. No, after all, it was fate.

Fact three. They went with him on reconnaissance

In 1942, Leonid Gaidai went to the front. First to Mongolia, and soon he was transferred to the Kalinin Front on foot reconnaissance. As it turned out quite recently, during the war he accomplished a feat. There is documentary evidence of this. Order No. 069 for the 1263rd Infantry Regiment of the 381st Infantry Division says this: “Red Army foot reconnaissance soldier Gaidai Leonid Ivanovich (the patronymic Iovich was unusual, but the rest of the data is the same. - Author’s note) for fighting for the village of Yenkino On December 14, 1942, he threw grenades at an enemy firing point, personally destroyed three Germans, and together with other comrades participated in the capture of a prisoner of war, he was awarded the medal “For Military Merit.” In one of the battles, Gaidai was blown up by an anti-personnel mine. The doctors wanted to amputate the leg, but Leonid “won it back.” In 1944 he was discharged for disability. The wound tormented until last days life.

Fact four. “Barbos the Dog and the Extraordinary Cross” appeared on the basis of a newspaper feuilleton.

Talent - who is he? Talent - he sees in the ordinary - unusual, seen a hundred times - new. So is Gaidai. Irkutsk It was here, in the attic of his father’s house, that he came across an old file of “Pravda” with a feuilleton by Stepan Oleinik and, under his impression, wrote the script for the short film “Barbos the Dog and the Extraordinary Cross.” The household members took the sheets of “Barbos” tapped out with one finger on an old typewriter critically: so what’s funny about three men running through the forest from a dog? They could not even imagine what eccentricities, what scenes were already being born in the imagination of Gaidai Jr. In fact, the dunce, the coward and the experienced were born in the attic - the legendary trio of Russian cinema.

Fact five. Funny stories- it's a serious matter

Requires preparation. It is true what they say that comedy writers are not frivolous people! Here's the proof. A fencing teacher was invited to work on the episode of Shurik’s fight with the Goonie using foils. He taught them to fight professionally. But Gaidai looked with a bored look:

“You fight well, of course, but it’s all sad.” This is a comedy, we have to look for the twist.

Found. Gaidai suggested that Shurik pierce Goonie with a sword, and when he reaches into his bosom, his hand will be covered in blood. Funeral music is playing. The dunce is sad. It turns out that Shurik hit a bottle with his sword, which he hid in his bosom. The bottle broke, red wine spilled...

During a chase through a warehouse, Goonie stumbles upon a skeleton. Eight options were played. One won. Nikulin made a gesture unforeseen by the script: he put his finger between the jaws of the skeleton, they clicked... The first spectators are usually studio projectionists, people experienced in cinema - they laughed.

And the third story. In the short story “Obsession,” in the scene when Shurik and Lida, stunned by exams, walk together reading a textbook, the director added new footage. Remember, the boxer dog the couple is moving past looks after her in surprise. Funny. But Gaidai is not enough. He lies down under the dog and commands the operator: “Shoot!” - and he lifts her front paws, causing her shoulders to move. It turned out that she seemed to shrug her shoulders in surprise, saying, well, well!

Fact six. Money is rubbish, the thrill is in work

When “Prisoner of the Caucasus” was released in 1966, he received a fee of 600 rubles for it. And he came to Irkutsk.

It was a lot of money, and we simply squandered it,” artist Viktor Egunov recalled with a smile. - I received a salary of 69 rubles. He spent the night with me, we drank endlessly. They chatted about everything. Gaidai studied with Egunov at theater studio, then met more than once in Moscow. As the drama theater actor recalled, Leonid Ivovich “was witty, funny, and told a lot of jokes. But outwardly he gave the impression of being gloomy. No one would say he is an artist."

Leonid Gaidai did not know how to save. In “Ivan Vasilyevich” - in the “banquet” scene - he resolutely went on strike against papier-mâché sturgeons and, having spent 200 rubles, which was crazy at that time, got hold of everything natural. Without any problems, only overseas caviar was purchased - eggplant. When the scene was filmed, they discovered that a bottle of Borjomi had been mistakenly filmed along with the caviar and sturgeon. We need to re-shoot and buy everything again.

Fact seven.8451 Gaidai

These are not password numbers. But something else. There is absolutely no information on how director Leonid Gaidai felt about the fact that an entire planet bears his name. True, a small planet. And only astronomers saw it. Probably with humor. And then - if he knew about its existence at all. Nevertheless, planet 8451 Gaidai was discovered on September 11, 1977 by astronomer N. S. Chernykh and named after his favorite film director.

Fact eight. The fight against censorship and the intelligence principle

Remember Stirlitz? The chief intelligence officer of Soviet cinema rightly believed that the latter is remembered. The same maneuver was used in real life director Leonid Gaidai, bypassing censorship.

After his first film, “The Groom from the Other World,” he earned the stigma of being an anti-Soviet. And Gaidai, with Pyryev’s advice, learned to maneuver and bargain: when they “rolled out” forty amendments to “The Diamond Arm”, he added them at the end of the film nuclear explosion, and in the end only that was cut out.

“I demand that the banquet be continued!”, “Our people don’t take taxis to the bakery,” “I feel sorry for the bird!”... Almost all the famous phrases that later became catchphrases were overheard by Gaidai on the street or with friends. There is not a single random word in his comedies. Even the foreign gibberish in The Diamond Arm is not just a collection of sounds. The night before filming, Gaidai and Nikulin, over a bottle of wine, racked their brains over the “translation” of the dialogue with the Turkish prostitute: “What have you done, you stupid stink!” - “I hear it from the stupid stink!” Nikulin had an epiphany: the stinky one is a skunk, and all together - a krukle skunk tabl gentry! Gaidai says: “Great, we need to strengthen it! Krukle skunk table szlacht mordyuk! “Why,” asks Nikulin, “mordyuk?” - “And yesterday I had a fight with Mordyukova.”

Fact nine. 22 Ostapa

For the role of Ostap-Suleiman-Bert-Maria Bender Bey, Gaidai looked for actors all over the country. Before his eyes, as many as 22 years passed similar friends on Ostap's friend: Vladimir Basov, Vladimir Vysotsky, Alexey Batalov, Oleg Borisov, Valentin Gaft, Evgeny Evstigneev, Andrey Mironov, Spartak Mishulin, Mikhail Shirvindt, Mikhail Kozakov, Nikolay Rybnikov, Nikolay Gubenko and others. Even the singer Muslim Magomayev, Gaidai offered to “try on” Bender. And then someone told him that in the provinces the little-known actor Archil Gomiashvili had been successfully playing Bender in the play “The Golden Calf” for several years. Gaidai urgently invited him to audition and immediately accepted. Goskino was indignant:

Why will Bender be Georgian?

Well, Ostap’s dad is a Turkish citizen. Why shouldn’t mom be Georgian? - Gaidai reacted.

Gomiashvili played Bender, but did not come to the dubbing due to illness. His character speaks in the film in the voice of actor Yuri Sarantsev, which Archil Mikhailovich terribly disliked.

Fact ten. And you will answer for the mice!

Creative people are touchy. This is what Muscovite Vladimir Tsukerman, who knows literally everything about the Coward, the Dunce and the Experienced, told KP.

IN " Captive of the Caucasus“The chase scenes were difficult. Gaidai was nervous: “It’s not funny!” The situation is tense. At one o'clock in the morning there was always a viewing of the material filmed during the day, to which no one was allowed, not even the wives - the wives of Vitsin and Nikulin were relaxing there. And Morgunov came there with a girl.

And in this nervous atmosphere he said: “Guydai, you don’t catch mice!” He swallowed it. The director of the film stood up for him: “Outsiders must leave the premises!” Morgunov to the girl: “Sit, sit, this doesn’t apply to you.” “Please clear the room!” - repeated the director. Morgunov holds the girl. Then the director said: “The viewing is cancelled, but with you this is our last film" Gaidai was offended for the mice. Many later tried to reconcile them, the same Bondarchuk, whom Experienced brought into art. But Gaidai was adamant. And only 27 years later, when at the opening of the Museum of Three Actors I deliberately sat them next to each other, they made peace.

Leonid Gaidai has only 20 films in his creative collection, but almost every one of them is now included in the golden fund of Soviet cinema. “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession”, “The Diamond Arm”, “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, “Operation Y”, “12 Chairs”, “Barbos the Dog and the Unusual Cross” - all these films are considered masterpieces of Soviet comedy and are loved by several generations of viewers. However, each of them had his own long haul to the big screens, and sometimes fateful accidents helped Gaidai’s comedies bypass the censorship ban and reach the audience.

“Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession”

If it weren’t for censorship, Ivan Vasilyevich would have changed his profession 10 minutes longer - Gaidai was forced to cut out 177 meters of footage.
The editor-in-chief of Goskino was most offended by the Tsar: “I will not allow Ivan the Terrible to be mocked! Why are you making him look like a fool?!” Gaidai replied that this was not the tsar, but a house manager in disguise, but he was adamant: “This casts a shadow on the tsar!” Because of this, “Ivan Vasilyevich” ended up on the shelf twice.
In the director's version of the film there was an episode where Ivan the Terrible stands in Shurik's kitchen at the stove and fries cutlets. The same one Chief Editor Goskino spent a long time convincing the artistic council that because of this scene they should at least refuse to release the film. But Gaidai persuaded the board to simply cut out this episode, leaving Ivan Vasilyevich without cutlets.
Initially, to the question of the house manager-king Bunshi, “At whose expense is this banquet? Who pays for this abundance? was the answer: “People, father, people!” But for the artistic council this was too obvious teasing Soviet power. As a result, the tape came out with the phrase: “At least, not us!”
Ivan the Terrible also had problems with his place of residence. The scene of the interrogation of Ivan Vasilyevich by the policeman was supposed to be like this: “Where do you live? Address, I ask! - "Moscow. Kremlin". But censorship called the Kremlin a “holy place” that cannot be laughed at, and therefore, in the final version, Yakovlev’s hero lives in the “royal chambers.”
Bunshi's remark about the repertoire was also criticized. In the quote “What kind of repertoire do you have? Gather the creative intelligentsia tomorrow. I’ll take care of you!” The creative intelligentsia was censored.
However, not all edits spoiled the picture. For example, in the scene where the house manager, Tsar Bunsha, receives the Swedish ambassador, the phrase “For peace and friendship!” replaced with “Hitler kaput!”

"Prisoner of the Caucasus, or New Adventures of Shurik"

How should a film about a Caucasian captive begin? Plank fence. A Coward walks by. He writes the letter X on the left. Then the Goofy approaches. To the right he attributes the letter U. Experienced, appearing in the frame, completes: “ Feature Film" The censorship did not appreciate the humor and decided to cut the scene.

It would seem, what is immoral in a song about the Sultan? However, Goskino called it propaganda of an immoral lifestyle. Here is what Yakov Aronovich Kostyukovsky, screenwriter and co-author of the lyrics to the songs from “Caucasian Captive”, said about her:

“Long-suffering song! My co-author Slobodsky and I were so happy when Yuri Nikulin sang it brilliantly. But Pyryev - at that time the artistic director of the Luch association at Mosfilm - said that it should be thrown out. Gaidai defended the song, agreeing to cut out only some words.”

And here’s what the full lyrics of the song “If I were a Sultan” look like:

If I were a sultan, I would have three wives,
And he would be surrounded by triple beauty.
But, on the other hand, in such cases
So many troubles and worries, oh, God save!

But it's very bad on the other hand.

(Verse not included in the film)
Zulfiya irons my robe at the board,
Gyuli sews, and Fatma darns socks.
Three wives are a beauty, no matter what you say,
But, on the other hand, there are also three mothers-in-law.

It's not very bad to have three wives,

(Verse not included in the film)
If each wife gives me a hundred,
A total of three hundred grams is something!
But when I come home “on eyebrows” -
I'm going to have a scandal with every wife!

It's not very bad to have three wives,
But very bad, on the other hand.

What should we, the sultans, do? We need clarity here:
How many wives are just right - three or one?
There is a simple answer to this question:
If I were a sultan, I would be single!

It's not very bad to have three wives,
But very bad, on the other hand.

The song about bears, however, also turned out to be “wrong” in the opinion of Goskino. In the original text, the bears scratched their backs on the earth's axis. But the editorial board found fault: “Why are the bears itching in the song? Do they have fleas? Not aesthetically pleasing!” So the bears stopped scratching and followed the party’s recommendation.
Famous phrase“And in the neighboring area, the groom stole a party member!” The dunce was supposed to be spoken by the hero Frunzik Mkrtchyan, but when reading the script, officials demanded that these words be removed: “This insults and defames party members!” However, Nikulin, having decided that the whole point was in Mkrtchyan’s accent, advised Gaidai to convey these words to his hero - Dunce. And it turned out that the point is not at all in the accent, but in the character who pronounces these words: in the mouth of the Goonie, spitting watermelon seeds, the phrase about a party member sounded so stupid that it seemed like another of his inventions and did not denigrate a single communist in the USSR . Like all the other phrases uttered by the unforgettable trinity (“Long live our court, the most humane court in the world!”).

Initially, “Prisoner of the Caucasus” was banned from showing. But the film quite by accident came to Leonid Brezhnev, and he, for the most part, was satisfied with the comedy, allowed it to be released. As a result, “Prisoner of the Caucasus” ranks fourth in the USSR in terms of box office receipts.

"Operation Y and other adventures of Shurik"

At first, the script for the film went under the trivial title “Frivolous Stories” (or “ Funny stories"), but the artistic director and censor Ivan Aleksandrovich Pyryev, who later either demolished or saved Gaidai's films more than once, suggested calling it "Operation "Y"". Everyone, including Gaidai, liked it.
Shurik's original name was Vladik - Vladlen Arkov. But how about comic character maybe the name of the leader of the world proletariat? Naturally, the censorship decided to rename the main character.
The song “Wait, Locomotive” seemed too criminal to the censorship committee, and Gaidai agreed to cut out one verse so that the rest of the song would still remain in the film. According to screenwriter Yakov Kostyukovsky, the cut verse sounded like this:

Let me be a bastard -
I'll get the saw
I'll cut through the grate with it.
Let the moon shine with its insidious light,
But I will escape from prison...

At the final screening, the censorship commission refused the film wide release. The reason was Gaidai’s refusal to cut out the scenes where students are taking an exam (because, according to the commission, it looked more like some kind of skit) and where the “negro” Big Man is chasing Shurik around a construction site (“a completely unnecessary scene that doesn’t carry any meaning” - the censors talked about it). Gaidai categorically refused to make changes, and the film was assigned category 2. Only after the intervention of artistic director Pyryev and Mosfilm director Surin was the film saved and released as a 1st category film.

"The Diamond Arm"

After completely editing the script (40 comments!) Goskino sent it to Gaidai for film set The “Diamond Hand” of a KGB controller: the person was supposed to observe the filming, stop the director in time and report everything “to the top.”
In order for filming to begin without additional checks, the director still had to work with the script: make the role of the police more noticeable (they are supposedly too passive), shorten the episode in the restaurant honoring the Chief, remove scenes with the pioneers congratulating him, remove lines " As the boss says, the main thing in our business is socialist realism" and "The party and government were left for the second year."
The episode of Svetlana Svetlichnaya’s striptease was one of the first to be deleted - the censors recognized it as too seductive, noting that the wording “He came himself!” does not relieve the actress of guilt.
From the very beginning of watching the film, the censors noted that Lyolik should not be in the film - he was too reminiscent of Brezhnev. Especially when he had a strong “kiss” with Gesha.
If you look carefully at the scene where the house manager, Comrade. Ivy (Nonna Mordyukova) says to Nadya, the wife of Semyon Semenovich, “And I won’t be surprised if tomorrow you find out that your husband is secretly visiting his mistress!”, then you can notice that her lips pronounce a completely different word - “synagogue.” The fact is that this is exactly how Gaidai originally wanted to see the replica. But the censors objected: it would be better to go to his mistress!

The author of famous comedies, the man thanks to whom Shurik, Comrade Saakhov, Coward, Dunce and Experienced appeared on the screens, and at the same time Ivan Vasilyevich, who changes his profession, has a birthday. Even if it’s not an anniversary, it’s not a round date - 93 years. And Leonid Gaidai himself has not been with us for a long time. But his films, which are watched by both old people and schoolchildren, are still interesting and loved. We have collected little-known, but very interesting facts from the biography of the great director.

Fact one. Leonid Gaidai and the “test of writing”

And it’s impossible to talk about this incident without laughing. 1937, Irkutsk. As a child, Lenya Gaidai, like his brother, tried the pen. But here's the problem. Ninth-grader Sasha Gaidai, older brother and future famous journalist, publishes a poem in Pionerskaya Pravda. Lenya Gaidai, the younger brother, also hopes for future fame (and with good reason). Therefore, he rewrites the verses by hand and takes them to the local newspaper. There they find the lines are not mediocre and publish them. Proud Lenya Gaidai brags to his brother. A curtain...

Fact two. The first role in the Theater of Satire is to open the curtain and run for vodka

Fact three. They went with him on reconnaissance

In 1942, Leonid Gaidai went to the front. First to Mongolia, and soon he was transferred to the Kalinin Front on foot reconnaissance. As it turned out quite recently, during the war he accomplished a feat. There is documentary evidence of this. Order No. 069 for the 1263rd Infantry Regiment of the 381st Infantry Division says this: “Red Army foot reconnaissance soldier Gaidai Leonid Ivanovich (the patronymic Iovich was unusual, but the rest of the data is the same. - Author's note) for fighting for the village of Yenkino On December 14, 1942, he threw grenades at an enemy firing point, personally destroyed three Germans, and together with other comrades participated in the capture of a prisoner of war, he was awarded the medal “For Military Merit.” In one of the battles, Gaidai was blown up by an anti-personnel mine. The doctors wanted to amputate the leg, but Leonid “won it back.” In 1944 he was discharged for disability. The wound tormented me until the last days of my life.

Fact four. “Barbos the Dog and the Extraordinary Cross” appeared on the basis of a newspaper feuilleton.

Fact five. Funny stories are serious business

You fight well, of course, but it’s all sad. This is a comedy, we have to look for the twist.

And the third story. In the short story "Obsession" in the scene when Shurik and Lida, stunned by exams, walk together reading a textbook, the director added new footage. Remember, the boxer dog the couple is moving past looks after her in surprise. Funny. But Gaidai is not enough. He lies down under the dog and commands the operator: “Shoot!” - and he lifts her front paws, causing her shoulders to move. It turned out that she seemed to shrug her shoulders in surprise, saying, well, well!

In Irkutsk, Gaidai and Egunov squandered the fee for "Prisoner of the Caucasus."

Fact six. Money is rubbish, the thrill is in work

When “Prisoner of the Caucasus” was released in 1966, he received a fee of 600 rubles for it. And he came to Irkutsk.

“It was a lot of money, and we simply squandered it,” artist Viktor Egunov recalled with a smile. – I received a salary of 69 rubles. He spent the night with me, we drank endlessly. They chatted about everything. Gaidai studied with Yegunov at a theater studio, then they met more than once in Moscow. As the drama theater actor recalled, Leonid Ivovich “was witty, funny, and told a lot of jokes. But outwardly he gave the impression of being gloomy. No one would say he is an artist."

Fact seven. 8451 Gaidai

Fact eight. The fight against censorship and the intelligence principle

Remember Stirlitz? The chief intelligence officer of Soviet cinema rightly believed that the latter is remembered. The same maneuver was used in real life by director Leonid Gaidai, bypassing censorship.

After his first film, “The Groom from the Other World,” he earned the stigma of being an anti-Soviet. And Gaidai, with Pyryev’s advice, learned to maneuver and bargain: when they “rolled out” forty amendments to “The Diamond Arm,” he added a nuclear explosion at the end of the film, and in the end only that was cut out.

Fact nine. 22 Ostapa

For the role of Ostap-Suleiman-Bert-Maria Bender Bey, Gaidai looked for actors all over the country. Before his eyes, as many as 22 different Ostaps passed by: Vladimir Basov, Vladimir Vysotsky, Alexey Batalov, Oleg Borisov, Valentin Gaft, Evgeny Evstigneev, Andrei Mironov, Spartak Mishulin, Mikhail Shirvindt, Mikhail Kozakov, Nikolai Rybnikov, Nikolai Gubenko and others . Even the singer Muslim Magomayev, Gaidai offered to “try on” Bender. And then someone told him that in the provinces the little-known actor Archil Gomiashvili had been successfully playing Bender in the play “The Golden Calf” for several years. Gaidai urgently invited him to audition and immediately accepted. Goskino was indignant:

Fact ten. And you will answer for the mice!

Creative people are touchy. This is what Muscovite Vladimir Tsukerman, who knows literally everything about the Coward, the Dunce and the Experienced, told KP.

In "Prisoner of the Caucasus" the chase scenes were difficult. Gaidai was nervous: “It’s not funny!” The situation is tense. At one o'clock in the morning there was always a viewing of the material filmed during the day, to which no one was allowed, not even the wives - the wives of Vitsin and Nikulin were relaxing there. And Morgunov came there with a girl.

And in this nervous atmosphere he said: “Guydai, you don’t catch mice!” He swallowed it. The director of the film stood up for him: “Outsiders must leave the premises!” Morgunov to the girl: “Sit, sit, this doesn’t apply to you.” “Please clear the room!” - repeated the director. Morgunov holds the girl. Then the director said: “The screening is cancelled, and this is our last film with you.” Gaidai was offended for the mice. Many later tried to reconcile them, the same Bondarchuk, whom Experienced brought into art. But Gaidai was adamant. And only 27 years later, when at the opening of the Museum of Three Actors I deliberately sat them next to each other, they made peace.

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The funniest fragments from Leonid Gaidai's films. January 30 famous director turns 90

Leonid Gaidai made history national cinema as the creator of sparkling comedies, many of which have become classics of the genre. Let's remember interesting facts about our favorite films!

"Operation Y and other adventures of Shurik"

In 1965, the comedy “Operation Y and Shurik’s Other Adventures” was released. This film was filmed in four cities: Moscow, Leningrad, Baku and Odessa. Before the start of the filming process, the script, according to tradition, was approved “at the top.” Ideological censors did not give permission to start the process until main character bears the name Vladika. As a result, Leonid Gaidai agreed to rename the student, calling him Shurik. It is known that many artists auditioned for this role. Among them were Vitaly Solomin, Evgeny Petrosyan, Sergey Nikonenko, Evgeny Zharikov, Alexander Zbruev and Andrey Mironov. At first, Leonid Gaidai approved Valery Nosik for the role, but when he saw a photograph of Alexander Demyanenko, he realized that he had found the ideal candidate. And Nosik played cameo role student gambler. At Mosfilm they like to remember the story of how Gaidai criticized the figure of Natalya Selezneva. The young actress was angry at his remark, and took off her sundress as proof of her slimness. Interestingly, the operators were given the command “Motor!” in advance, so the undressing scene happened very naturally.

"Prisoner of the Caucasus"

This film might not have come to light if Leonid Gaidai had not read an article about a bride kidnapped in Transcaucasia. It’s hard to imagine today, but at first the comedy was sent to the archives to gather dust for censorship reasons. And only thanks to a happy coincidence of circumstances, “Prisoner of the Caucasus” “went among the people.” One of the first viewers of the film was Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev. He was shown the comedy, hinting that it contained seditious moments that discredited the honor of party leaders. In particular, the censors were unhappy with the provocative phrase “And in the neighboring area, the groom stole a party member!” But the first person of the state appreciated Gaidai’s humor, and this became his ticket to the big screen.

"The Diamond Arm"

Leonid Gaidai also came up with the idea for the script for this comedy while reading a newspaper. In Pravda, the director found an article about the fight against smugglers who took valuables abroad in plaster. As in “Prisoner of the Caucasus,” Gaidai came up with a role for Yuri Nikulin in the film. The artist even had to take a six-month leave from the circus in order to realize the director’s plans. And what a panic began when the rumor spread that Nikulin had died. The culprit of the “duck” was a hotel maid who discovered a dummy of the actor’s body covered with a sheet. It was prepared for the scene in which Semyon Gorbunkov falls from the trunk of a Moskvich flying in a helicopter. It was necessary to urgently reassure the public and demonstrate a living actor.

"12 chairs"

In 1971, viewers saw a new creation by Leonid Gaidai - the comedy “12 Chairs”. The director really loved this work by I. Ilf and E. Petrov, and when he received permission to shoot, the script was ready in just one week. About the film “12 Chairs” it is known that the director dreamed of using real chairs made by master Gumbs as props. It was possible to find only one of them, but the owner of the rarity did not agree to sell it. As a result, it was necessary to create exact copy. The chairs were ordered abroad - there were no craftsmen in the USSR who could recreate the furniture masterpiece.

“Ivan Vasilyevich is changing his profession”

1973 And again, fans of Leonid Gaidai’s work are flocking to cinemas to watch his new comedy “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession”. It is interesting that the censors also had complaints about it, as well as the director’s earlier films. Gaidai had to change the king’s phrase about his place of residence. At first it sounded like “Moscow, Kremlin.” As a result, after criticism, Ioann Vasilyevich answered the policeman’s question that he lived in the wards.

[ Skillful hands ]

According to his wife, when a light bulb on Gaidai’s table burned out, he could say:
- Listen, Ninok, do something, your light bulb has burned out!
When something happened to the car, he said:
- Ninok, I think you have something dripping there.
- Where. What's dripping?
“Well, I don’t know,” he answered. - I looked, and there was something wet down there.

[Smart Dog]

Gaidai had a dog, Richa, a very understanding and intelligent creature. The owner taught her many tricks.
She could, for example, bring slippers and a newspaper on command. Moreover, she took only the top one from the stack of newspapers. If he sent her for the newspaper again, Richa would again take the top one from the pile.
Gaidai often played pranks on guests, demonstrating the phenomenal abilities of his dog. For example, he stated that his dog could read, at least capable of distinguishing the newspaper “Soviet Russia” from “Soviet Culture”, and “Soviet Sport” from “Komsomolskaya Pravda”...
Sitting with a guest in the room, he said, for example, like this:
- You know, in today's Soviet culture"If I'm not mistaken, the article is about me. Hey, Richa, bring me “Soviet Culture.”
The dog went into the bedroom, took the top newspaper from the stack and brought it back.
“No,” said Gaidai, quickly looking through the newspaper. - It's not here. Bring it to me, Richa, " Soviet Russia“, he asked, knowing that now this particular newspaper was lying on top.
The dog went into the bedroom and, to the amazement of the guest, brought the publication named by the owner. But here, too, the required article did not appear. And then Gaidai sent the dog for Komsomolskaya Pravda. In the end, the dog brought all eight newspapers that Gaidai ordered in a row, and by this time the guest was completely speechless.

[ Blink more often. ]

Sergei Filippov was cast for the role of Goonie in the film Barbos the Dog and the Extraordinary Cross, but at the start of filming he was on tour, and so the assistants began to look for other candidates. They were also looking for two other actors. When Yuri Nikulin came to the studio, Gaidai said: “That’s it, we have Dunce. No tests needed."
As for makeup, Gaidai said:
- You don't need to put on makeup. Your face is already stupid, just blink more often.

[For onions]

Gaidai’s wife Nina Grebeshkova tells one incident that very accurately characterizes the popular director. One day in Moscow, onions disappeared from stores. And then she sees that on the street they are selling onions from a car, but there is a huge line. And Gaidai had a book of a disabled war veteran. The wife runs home:
- Lenya, there’s a giant queue there! Please go and buy at least a kilogram.
Gaidai went to get a bow and disappeared for several hours. He returned with a kilogram of onions. It turns out that he stood in line all this time because he was embarrassed to use his ID.
- Why only one kilogram, because they gave you three? - asked Grebeshkova.
- But you said one kilogram! - Gaidai answered...

[Imaginations]

Many of Gaidai’s ideas were thrown into the trash, firstly, for censorship reasons, and secondly, for the sake of rhythm, for the sake of the integrity of the work.
For example, “The Dog Barbos and the Extraordinary Cross” should have started like this: Goonie runs up to a high solid fence, writes a huge letter “X” with chalk, then Experienced joins him, snatches the chalk from Goonie’s hands and writes the next letter “U” and hands it over chalk to Coward. At this moment the trill of a police whistle is heard. The coward quickly writes in small letters “pre-production film,” and the trio takes off.
But, after consulting, they decided that such a beginning would be considered vulgar, and wisely abandoned it.
An episode was also thrown out when, running away from a dog with dynamite, the troika rushes past a grandmother who is sitting on the edge of the forest and holding a basket of eggs. All three jump over this basket, and then Nikulin, as if having come to his senses, returns and, jumping, falls exactly into the basket. The scene generally corresponded to the style of the film, but it was not clear what the old woman was doing with a basket of eggs at the edge of the forest.
In the film “The Diamond Arm,” Nonna Mordyukova, addressing the wife of Semyon Semenovich Gorbunkov, uttered the following phrase: “I would not be surprised if I found out that your husband goes to the synagogue,” but Gaidai removed this phrase, fearing accusations of anti-Semitism.