The movie plot evolves around Yuriy Detochkin, a humble Soviet insurance agent suffering from a minormental disorder. Detochkin applies great resourcefullness and exceptional driving skill to stealing cars from corrupt Soviet officials in a Robin Hood way, disappointed by the Militsiya being unable to fight them efficiently. One of the Detochkin's un-innocent victims is Dima Semitsvetov, a retail embezzler hilariously trolled, but still tolerated by his colourful father-in-law Sokol-Kruzhkin, a retired Soviet Army officer. Detochkin sells the stolen cars and anonymously transfers the money to the accounts of various orphanages. Detective Maxim Podberyozovikov investigates his crimes and tries to prosecute him, but faces a serious moral problem in doing that, partly because the suspect appears to be his amateur theater mate and friend.
Cast
Innokenty Smoktunovsky as Yuriy Detochkin, former taxi driver, now an insurance agent and a fighter for justice
Oleg Yefremov as Maxim Podberezovikov, detective, working on Detochkin's Cause
In the film, Detochkin and Podberezovikov act together in an amateur theater which rehearses Hamlet. This is a play from Innokenty Smoktunovsky's real-life acting career: he was reputed as the "best Hamlet on the Soviet stage" and starred in a Hamlet film adaptation.
The waltz performed in the film is a distinguished melody composed by Andrei Petrov. Sergey Nikitin's repertoire includes a song named Glassy Gentleman, which used a waltz from the film.
All cars stolen by Detochkin are "Volga"s - the most prestigious Soviet car model of the time. The fact that "Volga" was the standard personal car for Soviet elite is the intentional satire element of the film which Eldar Ryazanov found very hard to get approved.
American cars can be spotted in the petrol station scene: a 1955 Buick and a 1955 Oldsmobile. This would have been an extremely rare sighting since the United States had sanctions with the USSR and did not sell cars within the Eastern Bloc.
Famous quotes
Many quotes from the film became catch phrases and are still used today: "Isn't it time to blow at William, at our Shakespeare?", "Here is Grundig tape recorder. Four tracks, stereophonic, elegant design...", "Free Yuriy Detochkin!" and many other.
Awards
The film was the leader of Soviet film distribution for 1966 watched by 29 million people. Innokenty Smoktunovsky was recognized as the Best Actor of 1966. Awards: Edinburgh-66, Sydney-66, Melbourne-67, Cartagena-69.
