The actors who starred in “Scarlet Sails” after the release of the tape found the love of millions of viewers throughout the Soviet Union and far beyond its borders. Filmmaker A. Ptushko since the pre-war time was considered the main storyteller of the country. He was able to easily transfer to the screens epics, folk tales, Pushkin's works, as well as world literary classics. The main actors of “Scarlet Sails”, A. Vertinskaya and V. Lanova, miraculously played their roles in the film adaptation of the novel by A. Green.
The plot of the picture
In a small seaside village lives the sailor Longren, who is engaged in the fact that he makes small toy boats. The man lives very poorly and, having lost his wife, remains alone with his little daughter named Assol.
When the girl grew up, she met an old man who predicted that someday the day would come and a fairy-tale prince would come for her on a ship with scarlet sails to take her with her. The girl begins to believe in the prediction of the old man and wait for the prince on the ship.
One wonderful day, a young girl's dream comes true and a ship sails under her red sails, at the helm of which is a young captain Arthur Gray.
About the film "Scarlet Sails" (1961)
The art tape was released in 1961 at the Mosfilm film studio. They took a very long time looking for a place to shoot films: they were in the Caucasus, in the Krasnodar Territory, and even in the Baltic states. However, as a result, they decided to opt for the Crimean resort of Koktebel, where the author of the story once lived. It was here that the scenery was set up and the fabulous village of Caperna was built, in the bay of which there was a ship with red sails.
Actress Anastasia Vertinskaya played her debut role in the film. At the time of filming, she was 15 years old, and she could not voice her heroine professionally, so Ptushko invited the Soviet actress N. Gulyaeva to dub.
Two sailing ships took part in the filming of the picture - the barqueent "Alpha", which is now located at the Naval College in Rostov-on-Don, and "Comrade", located in Kherson.
The picture was shot in two versions - ordinary and widescreen. The shooting took place simultaneously with two cameras, so the usual version has a slightly different perspective of all the shot scenes.
Anastasia Vertinskaya in Scarlet Sails
A. Green wrote his famous work in the difficult post-revolutionary years. The prototype of Assol was the author’s wife, who gulped grief during the First World War and the revolution that followed.
The pictures were prepared for the shooting for about a year. Along with making the scenery and choosing nature, they were looking for actors for Scarlet Sails. Samples were very long. Among the contenders for the main role was L. Gurchenko. However, the director approved a leading actress from Moldova named Markach.
The filming was already started when the production designer on the street accidentally met longtime friend L. Vertinsky with two daughters. The man looked at his younger sister and noted for himself that this was the spilled Assol. Levan Shengelia brought her to the test. Anastasia liked the director so much that he decided to replace the performer with the main role. Vertinsky really enjoyed acting. The only thing that frightened her was Ptushko: he always spoke very loudly.
Other actors
In addition to the main role, Assol, which was played by the young A. Vertinsky, is an equally significant character in the film Gray. He was played by the then-famous Soviet actor V. Lanovoi.
Before working in "Scarlet Sails", the man starred in the film "Certificate of Maturity", "Pavel Korchagin" and "Three hundred years ago." The actor was loved and respected. And when he went to Arthur Gray's tests, he was sure that this was exclusively his role. Indeed, Lanovoi coped with the task perfectly, wonderfully playing the main male role in the film about fidelity and dream by the director Ptushko.
Other actors in Scarlet Sails also starred: I. Pereverzev, who played Longren, S. Martinson, who played the role of a coal miner, and A. Khvyla, as Menners.