"Girls" is a 1961 film that was shot at the Mosfilm film studio by director Yuri Chulyukin. Today, after more than fifty years, this film still occupies one of the first lines in the rating of audience sympathy. The older generation of moviegoers in the post-Soviet space considers the movie "Girls" one of the best in the history of Soviet cinema, although other old Soviet films deserve good reviews. "Girls" was shot in black and white due to lack of funding. The film used the usual, 35 mm, Shostkinsky chemical plant. The Mosfilm Pavilion, where the film "Girls" was shot, It was urgently converted into a winter setting, since almost all the events in the scenario took place in the winter.
What is the secret to the popularity of the film?
How can you explain the popularity of the movie "Girls"? The actors of the film played with full dedication - this is the first. Also, success was ensured thanks to the sincereness that permeates every episode of this wonderful film. The viewer begins to empathize with the main character Tose Kislitsyna from the first minute, and since the events in the picture unfold rapidly, the entire audience follows what is happening with bated breath.
What is the success of the film?
The "Girls" picture did not leave the screens for weeks, people walked and walked, many watched the film several times. In the USSR at that time there was no such thing as box office. The commercial success of the film was not even discussed, nor was there a rating as such.
After the release of the film "Girls", the actors of the film gained unprecedented popularity. Alexandra Pakhmutova’s song “The Old Maple” sounded in all the houses, young girls tried to be like Tosya Kislitsyna, and the guys like Ilya Kovrigin. The plot of the film is unpretentious, the events that the author of the story described, and then the script, Boris Poor, could take place anywhere, in any forestry or artel for logging. However, in this story from the lives of young workers there was so much sincerity and truthfulness that millions of people loved the movie. The director of the film "Girls", Yuri Chulyukin, did a lot for this.
Life in the taiga
It all starts with the arrival of a young girl Tosi Kislitsina to practice in the taiga timber industry after graduating from a culinary school. She will have to work as a cook and prepare dinners for lumberjacks working on timber. The work at the felling is hard, you need to feed the guys tasty and high-calorie. Tosya understands this well; she has several books with her on the preparation of a wide variety of dishes, including exotic ones. The girl wants to show herself from the best side, but this desire is not dictated by vanity, but by a sincere desire to serve people.
And Tosya tells the guys to whom she brought lunch to the plot that several dozen different dishes can be prepared from simple potatoes. However, no one listens to her: her thermos soup is so delicious that it is impossible to come off and you want supplements. It is from such episodes that the image of Tosi Kislitsyna, a little naive, but very open and friendly girl, is formed throughout the film. The severe snow-covered forest, where the film "Girls" was shot, could scare the eighteen-year-old Tosya, but, as we see, this did not happen.
Social competition
Several teams work on timber harvesting, which compete among themselves for the best performance. The foreman of one of them, Ilya Kovrigin, a rather ambitious guy, is trying to bring his brigade forward, and he succeeds, albeit with difficulty. After all, the rest of the fellers of the forest, too, are not embroidered, and therefore, one or the other falls on the board of honor. Change of leading workers occurs quite often.
In the course of the plot, it is imperceptible that lumberjacks compete for high earnings, rather, they are motivated by sports interest - who will fulfill the planned task faster and better. And the main incentive for good work is the ability to show off on the board of honor. At that time, such rivalry was called socialist competition, and it was held as an official event in any production, making it possible for the best workers and specialists to excel. The author of the film "Girls", directed by Yuri Chulyukin, emphasized socialist competition. This was a peculiar technique of an experienced filmmaker who knew how to take uncompromising officials to the Goskino, on whom it depends whether the movie will be rented or put on a shelf. Lespromkhoz, where the film "Girls" was shot (separate episodes), was in the taiga wilderness, and this indicated the dedication of the entire crew, which was also taken into account by officials.
Cook with character
In their free time, lumberjacks have a rest in the club, where dances for the radio are organized, checkers and chess tournaments. Of course, every young worker tries to stand out, become famous, or at least draw attention to himself.
The lively Tosya Kislitsyna showed her character on the very first evening. Music began to play, dancing began, and at that time Ilya Kovrigin sat down to play checkers with the foreman of another brigade. We played on the "cockerel", that is, the loser had to stand in the middle of the hall and crow several times. Ilya was losing, music was stopping him, and he asked one of his friends to turn off the radio. There was silence, the dancing couples froze. Outraged by this behavior, the foreman Tosya silently approached the player and again put the record down. The dancing continued, but not for long - Ilya's friend came up again and interrupted the music. And then the cook expressed to the Honored Brigadier Kovrigin everything that she thinks of him.
Love to argue
And so the foreman Ilya Kovrigin, to whom the cook indicated his place when he began to skid, decided to teach a naughty girl a lesson. He argued with his friends that Tosya would fall in love with him no later than a week later. Nobody knew about this dispute, except for two or three guys close to the foreman. Therefore, when Ilya began to arrange his networks, no one suspected anything.
A prominent guy, team leader Ilya Kovrigin, nearly won the argument, but Tosya was a tough nut to crack. At the last moment, she again showed character, and the debater was left with nothing. However, while Ilya fell in love with a naive cook, he fell in love with her, so much so that he became ill when his plan was revealed, and he appeared before society as a deceiver and idle talk.
Now Kovrigin faced a completely different task: it was necessary to earn forgiveness from Tosya Kislitsyna, offended by arguing at her, like for some kind of prize. However, the brigadier had little chance, if you recall the character of the cook. Ilya has repeatedly regretted that he started this dispute, but what has been done is done, and we must get out of the situation.
Inverse effect
Friends-friends of the foreman sympathized with Kovrigin, but could not help. And then one day enlightenment came. Someone suggested Ilya give Tose a golden watch as a sign of reconciliation. The idea looked attractive enough, an expensive gift was supposed to soften the girl’s insult. However, she reasoned differently. The gift rejected and made it clear that material offerings in no way can make amends for the adventurer Kovrigin.
Ilya himself did not expect this; in his passion, he threw the golden watch on the floor and trampled them. After such a turn of events, he completely lost heart. However, the main thing has already happened, regardless of whether reconciliation is possible or not - Tosya already deep down loved the unlucky foreman, although she did not admit it to anyone, not even herself. But in the end, the feelings of Tosi and Ilya triumphed, the young people reconciled, and the wedding soon took place. The blank taiga, where the film "Girls" was shot, did not have a romantic mood, but since spring has already begun, the actors managed to play the love experiences quite reliably.
How to choose an actor
When the film "Girls" was shot , the author of the story, writer Boris Poor, was constantly present on the set. This made it possible for director Yuri Chulyukin to check the views of the author of the script for each episode.
As often happens, filming was preceded by internal conflicts and disputes. The wife of the director Natalya Kustinskaya really wanted to play the role of Tosi Kislitsyna. Chulyukin promised that the role would be hers. However, thinking, he changed his mind, and that was right. We know Natalya Kustinskaya primarily from the film "Three Plus Two." This is a super-beauty like Marilyn Monroe with a magnificent feminine figure. She would in no way fit into the Siberian timber industry. No matter how you make up, Kustinskaya remains a magnificent lady, and the image of Tosi is a small nimble egoza with her own character and her own opinion.
The choice of the lead actor in a film project is always a responsible task that must be solved and not to be mistaken, since the result depends on this in many respects. The filming of the film "Girls" began a little late, but the success of the picture was ensured from the very beginning.
Roles and Decisions
Before that, the director had already worked with actress Nadezhda Rumyantseva. She played the lead role, Nadia Berestova, in the film The Undefeated, filmed in 1959. Chulyukin understood that Rumyantsev is Tosya, this is getting into the top ten, an ideal candidate for the role of cook. So the filming began without Natalya Kustinskaya. And Nadezhda Rumyantseva immediately fit into the role, despite the fact that at that time she was already 30 years old, and her heroine was only eighteen.
The role of the main character, Ilya Kovrigin, was also claimed by several actors, including Yuri Belov and Vyacheslav Shalevich. But here the decision was already made not by the director, but by higher authorities. Apparently, Nikolai Rybnikov was in good standing with party functionaries. It was approved even without trial, and I must say that the actor brilliantly coped with his task by playing a simple working guy with a high degree of reliability.
Start shooting
On the part of Rybnikov, too, a statement followed. He wanted to play in tandem with his wife, actress Alla Larionova, whom he predicted for the role of Anfisa. However, for the embodiment of the image of this heroine, Svetlana Druzhinina was already approved. The remaining roles were distributed without problems. A strong team of talented actors and actresses was formed on the set, ready for work. Some of the episodes were filmed at the timber industry enterprise in the Northern Urals, some were shot in Perm forestry, and some scenes in the Kalinin region. In addition, the episodes in the club and in the living room of the hostel could well be shot in the Mosfilm pavilions, which Yuri Chulyukin did.
Music in the film
The film used songs by the composer Alexandra Pakhmutova to the words of the poet Mikhail Matusovsky: “Old Maple” and “Good Girls”. The film was very musical thanks to them. The actors themselves sang, Lucien Ovchinnikova and Nikolai Pogodin, accompanied by the USSR Cinema Management Orchestra under the direction of Yuri Silantyev.