''The Hussar

Ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

'' (russian: Гусарская баллада, Gusarskaya ballada) is a 1962

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

musical film by

Eldar Ryazanov Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov (russian: Эльдар Александрович Рязанов; 18 November 1927 – 30 November 2015) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, poet, actor and pedagogue whose popular comedies, satiriz ...

, filmed on

Mosfilm Mosfilm (russian: Мосфильм, ''Mosfil’m'' ) is a film studio 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 film monopoly, its output inclu ...

. In effect, it is one of the best loved musical comedies in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. With most of its dialogue delivered in verse, Ryazanov's script romanticizes the adventures of

Nadezhda Durova Nadezhda Andreyevna Durova (russian: Наде́жда Андре́евна Ду́рова) (September 17, 1783 – March 21, 1866), also known as Alexander Durov, Alexander Sokolov and Alexander Andreevich Alexandrov, was a woman who, while disgu ...

during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. The swift paced, action packed, humor filled adventure is ingeniously mixed with light-hearted acting bravado and memorable operetta pieces. The film's musical score and songs were written by

Tikhon Khrennikov Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (russian: Тихон Николаевич Хренников; – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers (1948–1991), who was also kno ...

. The leading roles — those of the cavalry maiden Shurochka Azarova and the dashing hussar

Poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe ( hr, poručnik, cs, poručík, pl, porucznik, russian: script=latn, poruchik, sr, script=latn, poručnik, sk, poručík) is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either ...

Dmitry Rzhevsky — were played by Andrei Mironov's wife Larisa Golubkina and the

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significa ...

Yuri Yakovlev, respectively. Comedian

Igor Ilyinsky Igor Vladimirovich Ilyinsky (russian: И́горь Влади́мирович Ильи́нский; 24 July 1901 – 13 January 1987) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, director and comedian. Hero of Socialist Labour (1974) and People ...

appeared as one-eyed Field-Marshal Prince

Mikhail Kutuzov Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov ( rus, Князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов, Knyaz' Mikhaíl Illariónovich Goleníshchev-Kutúzov; german: Mikhail Illarion Golenishchev-Kut ...

. The film is based on the play ''A Long Time Ago'' by Alexander Gladkov.

Emil Draitser Emil Draitser (born 1937) is an author and professor of Russian at Hunter College in New York City. Besides twelve books of artistic and scholarly prose, his essays and short stories have been published in the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Partisan Revi ...

, ''Making War, Not Love: Gender and Sexuality in Russian Humor'' (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.)
p.120
&mdash

in ''

Journal of Folklore Research The ''Journal of Folklore Research: An International Journal of Folklore and Ethnomusicology'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering research on folklore, folklife, and ethnomusicology. It was established in 1942 and is published ...

'' The film proved so popular with Soviet audiences that

poruchik The rank of lieutenant in Eastern Europe ( hr, poručnik, cs, poručík, pl, porucznik, russian: script=latn, poruchik, sr, script=latn, poručnik, sk, poručík) is one used in Slavophone armed forces. Depending on the country, it is either ...

Rzhevsky became quite a folklore character, featured in numerous jokes. See Russian jokes#Poruchik Rzhevsky for samples.

Cast

* Larisa Golubkina as Shura Azarova *

Yury Yakovlev Yury Vasilyevich Yakovlev (russian: Ю́рий Васи́льевич Я́ковлев; 25 April 1928 – 30 November 2013) was a Soviet and Russian actor. He was awarded the honorary title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1976. Main works ...

Dmitry Rzhevsky *

as Field-Marshal Kutuzov * Nikolai Kryuchkov as Ivan * Viktor Koltsov as Major Azarov *

Antoni Khodursky Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the fe ...

as Count Nurin *

Tatyana Shmyga Tatyana Ivanovna Shmyga (russian: Татьяна Ивановна Шмыга; born 31 December 1928 – died 3 February 2011) was a Soviet and Russian operetta/musical theatre performer. She went on to act in films as well. She was a People's Ar ...

as Louise Germont *

Lev Polyakov Lev may refer to: Common uses *Bulgarian lev, the currency of Bulgaria *an abbreviation for Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible and the Torah People and fictional characters *Lev (given name) * Lev (surname) Places * Lev, Azerbaijan, ...

as Pelymov * Yuri Belov as hussar-partisan

Interesting facts

* The director was planning to take

Alisa Freindlich Alisa Brunovna Freindlich (russian: Алиса Бруновна Фрейндлих, born 8 December 1934 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) is a Soviet and Russian actress. People's Artist of the USSR (1981). Since 1983, Freindlich has been a leading ac ...

for the leading role. She was even auditioned several times for the role. No one doubted that she would get the role. However, at the last moment, Larisa Golubkina, who was not known to anyone yet, was confirmed for the role of Shurochka. It was her debut in the movie. * Before Freindlich,

Lyudmila Gurchenko Lyudmila Markovna Gurchenko (née Gurchenko; russian: link=no, Людмила Марковна Гурченко; 12 November 1935 – 30 March 2011) was a popular Soviet and Russian actress, singer and entertainer. She was given the honorary title ...

, Valentina Malyavina, Tatyana Nikulina and Svetlana Nemolyaeva were auditioned for the role of Shurochka. * The film was made especially for the 150th anniversary of the

Battle of Borodino The Battle of Borodino (). took place near the village of Borodino on during Napoleon's invasion of Russia. The ' won the battle against the Imperial Russian Army but failed to gain a decisive victory and suffered tremendous losses. Napole ...

. The premiere of the film was held September 7, 1962, the day of the battle, in the Moscow cinema "Russia". * A small part of the costumes, made for the film "

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

" was used during the filming. *

Sergei Yursky Sergei Yurievich Yursky (russian: Серге́й Ю́рьевич Ю́рский, 16 March 1935 – 8 February 2019) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, theatre director and screenwriter. His best known film role is Ostap Bender in ''Th ...

and

Vyacheslav Tikhonov Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Ти́хонов; 8 February 1928, in Pavlovsky Posad – 4 December 2009, in Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best known role was as Soviet spy ...

were first auditioned for the role of Lieutenant Rzhevsky.

References

External links

* * * {{Eldar Ryazanov 1962 films 1960s historical comedy films 1962 musical comedy films Soviet historical comedy films Russian historical comedy films Soviet musical comedy films Russian musical comedy films 1960s Russian-language films Films directed by Eldar Ryazanov Napoleonic Wars films Films about female wartime cross-dressers Mosfilm films 1960s historical musical films Soviet historical musical films Films scored by Tikhon Khrennikov