Coward, Fool, and Pro (, Trus, Balbes, i Byvaly) are a trio of comical characters, petty criminals from

Soviet cinema The cinema of the Soviet Union includes films produced by the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history, albeit they were all regulated by the central government in Moscow. ...

, first appeared in the films of

Leonid Gaidai Leonid Iovich Gaidai (30 January 192319 November 1993) was a Soviet comedy film director, screenwriter and actor who enjoyed immense popularity and broad public recognition in the former Soviet Union. His films broke theatre attendance records a ...

. They were played accordingly, "Coward":

Georgy Vitsin Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin (; 18 April 1917 – 22 October 2001) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1990). Biography Vitsin was born in Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg in 1917 (Soviet documents list h ...

, "Fool":

Yuri Nikulin Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (; 18 December 1921 – 21 August 1997) was a Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films. He is best known for his roles in Leonid Gaidai's comedies, such as ''The Diamond Arm'' and ''Kid ...

, "Pro":

Yevgeny Morgunov Yevgeny Alexandrovich Morgunov (; April 27, 1927 – June 25, 1999) was a Soviet and Russian actor, film director, and script writer, Merited Artist of Russian SFSR (1978). Early life He started out as a worker in a Moscow factory, but - "a l ...

. Initially appearing in Gayday's satirical shorts, they gained all-Union popularity after the films ''

Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures ''Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures'' () is a 1965 Soviet slapstick comedy film directed by Leonid Gaidai, starring Aleksandr Demyanenko, Natalya Seleznyova, Yuri Nikulin, Georgy Vitsin and Yevgeny Morgunov. The film consists of three inde ...

'' and ''

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style ''Prisoner of the Caucasus or Shurik's New Adventures'' () is a 1967 Soviet romantic musical comedy film dealing with a plot revolving around bride kidnapping, an old tradition that used to exist in certain regions of the Northern Caucasus. T ...

'', (further Shurik's New Adventures).Rollberg, Peter (2010) ''The A to Z of Russian and Soviet Cinema'', The Scarecrow Press, Inc., , pp. 235–8 The exact moment of the creation of the trio is documented in the

Mosfilm Mosfilm (, ''Mosfil’m'' , initialism and portmanteau of Moscow Films) is a film studio in Moscow which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's fi ...

minutes Minutes, also known as minutes of meeting, protocols or, informally, notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting and may include a list of attendees, a statement of the activit ...

: December 27, 1960, 17:30. At this moment the Mosfilm management approved the actors for their first common film, ''

Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross ''Dog Barbos and Unusual Cross'' () is a 1961 Soviet short crime comedy film directed by Leonid Gaidai. Plot A trio of petty criminals, known as Coward, Fool, and Pro, go "fishing". Not wanting to sit on the beach with a fishing rod and wait pa ...

''. In

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

there is the dedicated to them.ТРУС, БАЛБЕС, БЫВАЛЫЙ: Кто развалил великолепную троицу
kp.ru, April 4, 2007

Filmography

*1961:

*1961: Moonshiners *1965:

Give Me a Book of Complaints ''Give Me a Book of Complaints'' ( is a 1965 Soviet comedy film directed by Eldar Ryazanov. Plot A group of young journalists accidentally walks into the restaurant ''Dandelion''. The atmosphere in the restaurant is extremely unhealthy: rude waitr ...

(episodic) *1965:

, segment "Operation Y" *1966: :ru:Сказки русского леса *1967:

- the last film in which the trio were the main characters *1968:

Seven Old Men and a Girl ''Seven Old Men and a Girl'' () is a 1968 Soviet musical comedy film directed by Yevgeny Karelov. Plot Elena Velichko — a young graduate of the sports institute, is sent to work as a coach in a sports club. She is full of bright hopes. However, ...

(episodic) *1969:

The Bremen Town Musicians The "Town Musicians of Bremen" () is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' in 1819 (KHM 27). It tells the story of four ageing domestic animals, who after a lifetime of hard work are negle ...

(animated musical) and the sequels: ** On the Trail of the Bremen Town Musicians ** The New Bremen Town Musicians *1980: :ru:Комедия давно минувших дней ( crossover comedy) *1982: :ru:Происшествие в стране Мульти-Пульти (crosover animated musical) *1991: ; in this Ukrainian children's film the trio is played by Ukrainian actors, however it contains a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

of Yuri Nikulin, his last cinema role.Никулин Юрий Владимирович
''

Arguments and Facts (, commonly abbreviated "АиФ" and translated as ''Arguments and Facts'') is a weekly newspaper based in Moscow and a publishing house in Russia and worldwide. Since 2014, it has been owned by the Government of Moscow. History and profile It ...

Ukraine'' *2014:

Kidnapping, Caucasian Style! Kidnapping, Caucasian Style! (; informally referred to as the ''Kidnapping, Caucasian Style 2'' version) is a Russian comedy film by director Maxim Voronkov. A remake of the 1967 film of the same name, the plot revolves around bride kidnapping, an ...

, a remake

References

{{reflist Comedy film characters Short film characters Male film villains Cinema of the Soviet Union Comedy trios

Filmography

See also

References