A lot of ideological pictures were shot in the USSR; Vitaly Melnikov's film “The Head of Chukotka” can also be attributed to their category. Actor Mikhail Kononov plays in the comedy of the main protagonist of the Red Army Alexei Bychkov, who arrived in Chukotka as a commissar. The imperialist official Timofei Khramov acts as an antagonist. What conflict will arise between the characters? And what adventures await Bychkov before he establishes legitimate Soviet power in Chukotka?
The creators of the picture
Films glorifying the Communist Party and ideologically savvy Red Army soldiers were not uncommon in the USSR. The adherents of imperialism and the white movement mercilessly ridiculed or exhibited low people, and the adherents of the party, on the contrary - highly moral heroes. A similar situation in the film "The Head of Chukotka."
Actor Mikhail Kononov played the "right" in every sense Commissioner Alexei Bychkov, who came to Chukotka to fight the remnants of imperialism. And his opponent was the tsarist official of the Temples, mercilessly robbing the local population.
The film was directed by Vitaly Melnikov in 1966. Melnikov is also the director of the popular Soviet comedy "The Seven Brides of Corporal Zbruev" and the film adaptation of N. Gogol's "Marriage".
The script for the film "The Head of Chukotka" was written by Vladimir Valutsky. Subsequently, he also became the author of the screenplay for the Soviet hit "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson." Behind the camera stood Eduard Rozovsky, who shot The Amphibian Man and The White Sun of the Desert.
"The Head of Chukotka": actors and roles. Short story
The protagonist of the film is the clerk of the revolutionary committee Aleksey Bychkov. He goes to Chukotka on his own business, and the company is made up of Commissioner Alexey Glazkov, who is ordered to establish Soviet power in the region. However, on the road Glazkov dies of typhoid fever. Then Alexey Bychkov, considering it his duty to continue the work of a like-minded person, takes his mandate and appoints himself the manager of Chukotka.
In a new place, Bychkov begins to establish his own order: he distributes food to the Chukchi for free, and takes a large fee from foreign merchants. Foreign entrepreneurs do not want to give 40% of sales to the treasury of the local "governor". Therefore, they persuade the counter-revolutionary Cossacks to rebel and expel the Soviet government from Chukchi lands.
The uprising is successful. Bychkov has to flee from Chukotka. But he also has to take with him the entire treasury of the region, so that it does not go in vain. Thus, the main character is in Alaska with a million in his hands.
While Bychkov is looking for a way to return from the United States to the USSR, he is found in the States by the former tsarist customs officer Khramov, who previously managed affairs in Chukotka. Timofei Khramov is trying to take money from Bychkov, but nothing comes of it. In the finale, the former leader of Chukotka and a faithful servant of the revolution returns to his native Soviet Union, and the cherished million enters the treasury of the state.
The film "The Head of Chukotka": actors and roles. Mikhail Kononov as Alexey Bychkov
Mikhail Kononov began acting in films in 1963. At first he was trusted only with supporting roles, but the picture “The Head of Chukotka” changed everything. The actor first got the main role. And she succeeded so much to him that subsequently Kononov became a sought-after and recognizable artist.
Mikhail played Alyosha Semenov in the film "There is no ford in the fire." This film won the grand prize at the Swiss International Film Festival. In 1968, Kononov embodied on the screens the image of the commander of the self-propelled guns Alexander Maleshkin in the military drama "In War as in War". And in 1972 he played a history teacher in the melodramatic comedy “The Big Change”.
Since the 80s Kononov appeared in films less and less. The last role of the artist was associated with the television series Gleb Panfilov's "In the First Circle" (film adaptation of the work of the same name by A. Solzhenitsyn).
Alexey Gribov as a college registrar Khramov
Alexey Gribov played the role of a negative character in the film "The Head of Chukotka." The actor appeared in the image of the college registrar Khramov, who was in charge of customs in Chukotka during the tsarist regime.
When Aleksey Bychkov arrived in the region as manager, Khramov in every possible way impeded the establishment of new orders. Bychkov even had to arrest the tsarist official, but then he released him and took him as a consultant on economic affairs.
When Bychkov was forced to flee, Khramov went after him to pick up part of the Chukchi treasury. But Bychkov circled Khramov’s finger and returned to the USSR with the full amount of money.
Aleksey Gribov can also be seen in the films “The Collapse of the Empire”, “Love Spring” and “Zigzag of Fortune”.
Other role performers
The famous Soviet actor Nikolai Volkov (“Scarlet Sails”) also honored the film “The Head of Chukotka” with his presence. Actors N. Volkov and M. Ivanov played the Americans - the characters of the opposing side. In addition, in the frame you can see Joseph Konopatsky, Oscar Lind and Arkady Trusov.