On March 7, 1962, on the eve of International Women's Day, the premiere of the film "Girls" took place at the Central House of Artists.
The picture, which later became a classic of Soviet cinema, was directed by Yuri Chulyukin, who by that time had already released the full-length film “The Unyielding” and the short film “Smoke in the Forest” (together with Evgeny Karelov).
The "Girls" was based on the story of the same name by the writer and professional lumberjack Boris Bedny, who also acted as the only screenwriter of the picture.
The work was first published in 1961 in Roman-gazeta.
After the film adaptation, the story gained all-Union popularity, subsequently it was translated into 15 languages.
The first edition of "Girls" came out three years after the premiere of the film.
The writer Poor spent part of his life in the Komi Republic, whose landscapes and life inspired him when writing the work.
It is known that the director of "Girls" Chulyukin specifically for the film asked the author of the story to add vivid characters, emotions and humor to the script so that the story goes beyond the everyday.
As a result, the film turned out to be a comedy, while the social story of the Poor is distinguished by depth and drama.
According to the plot, an 18-year-old naive, daring and energetic cook Tosya Kislitsyna arrives in a Siberian village.
She moves into a hostel where she meets other girls.
In the club, the heroine refuses to dance with the first lumberjack of the village, Ilya Kovrigin, after which he argues for a hat that he will fall in love with Tosya.
Unexpectedly for himself, Kovrigin himself falls in love with Kislitsyna, but after a while she and the other girls find out about the dispute.
The film contains plot differences from the original.
For example, according to the book, Nadya (Inna Makarova) decides to end her romantic relationship with her unloved fiancé Ksan Ksanych (Viktor Baikov) after she overhears a conversation between lovers Ilya and Tosya.
This scene reveals the heroine, who, regardless of age, is going to look for true love.
Difficulties of choice
Several actresses were considered for the role of the young and energetic cook Tosya Kislitsyna, including Valentina Malyavina (The Deer King) and the director's wife Natalia Kustinskaya (Three Plus Two).
They say that Yuri Chulyukin understood that his wife was not suitable in character for the role of a naive and impudent orphan, but did not want to quarrel with her and at first hid the decision to give the role to another actress.
“He knew perfectly well that only Nadezhda Rumyantseva could play this role perfectly, since he watched her many times in exams while studying together at the film institute,” actress Svetlana Druzhinina said in an interview with RT.
Even at VGIK, Chulyukin remembered Rumyantseva as a talented comedian.
Then she played the main role in his film "The Invincibles".
The director was worried when he approved the actress for the role of Tosya - he was afraid that she would be repeated in the game, since her images in "Girls" and "Resistant" had some similarities.
However, after the auditions, the artistic council approved Rumyantseva for the main role of an 18-year-old girl, although the actress at that time was over 30.
© Shot from the film "Girls"
The authors of the film did not immediately find the performer of the main male role.
First, Vladimir Treshchalov was approved - rehearsals even began with him.
Later, an order came: Kovrigin should be played by Nikolai Rybnikov.
As Druzhinina recalls, this was the only edit on the film.
“A magnificent, young, aspiring non-professional artist Volodya Treshchalov was approved for the main role.
We all got used to him, we already rehearsed and worked with him, we even had screen tests with Vladimir Treshchalov, but there was an amendment.
This main role was to be played not much, not a little, like our hero, who descended from the “Height”, - notes Svetlana Druzhinina.
Interestingly, at the time of the trials, Rybnikov was too large for a cutting-edge lumberjack.
In a short time, the artist had to lose about 20 kg.
At the same time, Chulyukin initially knew that the role of the beautiful telephone operator Anfisa, whose image is opposed to Tosya Kislitsyna, should go to Svetlana Druzhinina.
By that time, the actress had already managed to establish herself - even in her second year at the film institute, she starred with Vyacheslav Tikhonov in the film “It was in Penkovo”, where she demonstrated her acting plasticity, attractiveness and musicality.
The actress was also familiar with the director from VGIK - Chulyukin graduated from the directing department at the time when Druzhinina studied there.
Nevertheless, according to Svetlana Druzhinina, some editors believed that the artist did not correspond to the Anfisa, from whom the main character could go to Tosya.
Due to the bright appearance of the actress, the audience could fall in love with her character, and not with Toska, which was contrary to the idea of filmmakers.
The authors of the film wanted to show that such a leader as Kovrigin can abandon the frivolous beauty Anfiska and fall in love with the small, unprepossessing, but possessing positive character traits, the Komsomol member Tosya, whom the team clings to.
As a result, it was decided to remove all Druzhinina's big plans.
“Yuli Yakovlevich Raizman, an absolutely magnificent director and artistic director of the project, recommended that Yuri Chulyukin cut out all the legs, arms and close-ups of the actress Druzhinina, who played the role of Anfiska.
That's why I always cry when I watch.
But now I’m used to it, ”said Svetlana Druzhinina.
Extreme filming and on-set relationships
Work on Chulyukin's film went quickly: the story of the Poor was published in 1961, at the same time filming began, and in March 1962 it was already shown on the big screen.
The Siberian village of lumberjacks was filmed in several places, including in the pavilions of Mosfilm and next to the film studio, where about three hundred trees were specially planted, and the village was erected with the sign "Lespromkhoz".
Also, for some time, the team worked in the Urals in the village of Bobrovka, Perm Territory, on the territory of a real timber industry enterprise.
According to the memoirs of the actors, it was not easy to shoot in the cold: the temperature dropped so low that neither high boots nor quilted jackets saved from the cold.
The scene in which the heroine Rumyantseva feeds lumberjacks in nature with lunch was not without incident - because of the frost, metal spoons stuck to the tongues of the actors.
Soon the filmmakers moved to the village of Olenino, Tver region.
Some scenes were filmed in the spring.
The decorators had to wrap the logs in snow from cotton wool, water it with mothballs and varnish it to make the props sparkle and look natural.
Another location was a film studio in Yalta.
It was already difficult to work there because of the hot weather.
During the filming of the final scene, where the heroes of Rybnikov and Rumyantseva, wrapped in winter clothes, are sitting happy under a spruce, make-up artists constantly wiped sweat from the faces of the artists.
According to the memoirs of Svetlana Druzhinina, an atmosphere of mutual assistance and mutual understanding prevailed on the site.
The actors were helped by the fact that they knew each other before filming - for example, Druzhinina, Rumyantseva and Rybnikov in different years were graduates of the same workshop of the acting department of VGIK.
“Yuri Chulyukin and Evgeny Karelov were among the best students of the directing department.
Their painting "Smoke in the Forest", their diploma work, was even shown on television, awarded some kind of Komsomol prize.
Then it was a very rare situation, ”recalls Druzhinina.
© Shot from the film "Girls"
However, Nadezhda Rumyantseva and Nikolai Rybnikov did not always manage to find a common language on the set.
Due to the actor's dislike for his partner, they did not succeed in some scenes, so Rybnikov asked the director to shoot them again.
It was especially difficult for the artists to play a romantic episode: Rybnikov was not eager to kiss his partner.
In addition, the actor wanted his wife, Alla Larionova, to be given one of the roles, but the director refused.
The composer of the film was Alexandra Pakhmutova ("Three Poplars on Plyushchikha").
Some of her compositions immediately fell in love with the Soviet public and became cult, in particular - "Good Girls" and "Old Maple".
Pakhmutova wrote both compositions together with the poet Mikhail Matusovsky specifically for Chulyukin's film.
The song "Old Maple" was performed by the actors Luciena Ovchinnikova and Nikolai Pogodin, who played in the tape the neighbor of the main character Katya and her fiancé, the harmonica player Sasha.
First reaction and subsequent recognition
The film was well received by the public, as evidenced by the rental figures - in the premiere year of 1962 in the USSR, almost 35 million viewers watched it.
It is believed that the Soviet leadership took the "Girls" less enthusiastically.
Allegedly, despite the efforts of the authors of the film to refresh the plot of the story with vivid episodes and humor, the picture was called too everyday and small for hire in the USSR.
At the same time, according to Svetlana Druzhinina, there were no complaints from the authorities against Chulyukin's comedy.
“The picture lived absolutely calmly, freely, like all comedies that went through a huge verification process.
Such a comedy for the masses, posing no danger.
In addition, with her help it was possible to convince everyone that our Komsomol member, athlete Toska, would be much more lucky in love and family than the frivolous Anfiska, ”the actress explained.
Some time after the premiere in the USSR, the film was presented in Argentina at the International Film Festival in Mar del Plata.
There, Nadezhda Rumyantseva received the award "For the best performance of a female role."
Foreign newspapers called the artist "Charlie Chaplin in a skirt" and "Russian Juliet Mazina."
Among other awards of the film are honorary diplomas of the Edinburgh International Film Festival, as well as the jury of parents and students of the International Film Festival for Youth in Cannes.
However, the tape did not immediately become a cult - because of its genre, according to Druzhinina.
The actress noted that today people love "Girls" because the 1960s in the USSR are plausibly conveyed there.
She stressed that the authors of the film sought to show that the friendship of the team is able to overcome all obstacles.
The cinematographers coped with this task.