How and where did they shoot “Office Romance”? History of filming, interesting facts and description

1977 became a whole event for Soviet film enthusiasts, because it was precisely this year, on October 26, that the premiere of the beloved film “Office Romance” took place on the screens of the country. The creation of the inimitable Eldar Ryazanov was so loved by the audience that even now, after so many years, it is being revised with great pleasure. Just how filmed "Office Romance", and will be discussed.

The Tale of the Leading Cinderella

Among the numerous, of which there are thousands in Moscow, offices (more about where the film "Office Romance" was filmed can be found a little later), there was one that was no different from the others. She bore the proud name of the Statistical Office. A huge number of completely ordinary people work here with their household chores and problems. During the lunch break, employees rush to the nearest store for scarce goods, and after work they hurry to pick up the child from the kindergarten as soon as possible ...

As a single father, Anatoly Efremovich Novoseltsev brings up two children and every morning at the entrance to his house (where the Office Romance was filmed, which buildings served as silent "participants" in the process, will be told separately), sending his eldest son to school, he takes the youngest to kindergarten, located literally a hundred meters from the house, and after that he goes to work. Once he divorced his wife (because her husband was not able to break through the ranks, she left Novoseltsev with her children). Due to its internal complexes and mild nature (and according to some, completely spineless), Anatoly Efremovich in his forty years could not find a companion. However, he didn’t really try to search, devoting himself entirely to children and moving from paycheck to paycheck. And, having come to work, he will once again ask a friend and colleague “to borrow twenty to pay”.

A friend of Novoseltsev, Olga Ryzhova, with whom they have been friends for many years, is also full of worries: she is raising children and waiting for her husband on a business trip. Sometimes Novoseltsev comes to visit them with his revolutions, as he himself calls them with love.

And so, on the most ordinary working day, having come to the office and met Olya in the lobby, Novoseltsev from her learns that the head of the department has vacated. It was Ryzhova who began to persuade him to go to Mymra and talk with her about his appointment to this post.

Lyudmila Prokofievna Kalugina (or, as her subordinates call her by the eyes, “our Mymra” and “Old Woman”) is a leader to the core. And nobody knows her real age. Constantly dressed in some brown-gray-austere tones and with a face that does not reflect any emotions, during her whole career she never came to work at the wrong time and never left before the last employee left the workplace. Many, jokingly, doubted that she was generally a woman or even a man ...

However, on the same day, another old friend of Novoseltsev, Yuri Samokhvalov, was always appointed to the position of deputy, always distinguished by its punchy character and a bit adventurous mentality. It was he who suggested a little “strike” for Kalugina in the home, so to speak, atmosphere. Just a reason was found. Samokhvalov, in honor of his new appointment, arranged a festive dinner at his home, where friends, acquaintances and his new boss were invited.

Needless to say, nothing came of the venture? Instead of courting Lyudmila Prokofievna a little, Novoseltsev, unexpectedly for everyone and himself, publicly expressed to his boss everything he thought about her.

Arriving at work the next day, he was lowered into the water and did not know how to approach the boss and apologize. However, his “frankness” had its consequences - Kalugina herself called Novoseltsev to talk. Our quiet man managed to distinguish himself: all his attempts to apologize led to the fact that he, without expecting it, brought his boss to tears. Noticing, finally, what his apologies led to, Novoseltsev, with sincere surprise (“Are you crying?”) And a weighty argument (“You are not supposed to do this from office”) began to reassure her.

As it turned out, Lyudmila Prokofievna is only 36 years old. Her isolation and severity of character, her gait and style of clothing are all a consequence of the fact that her best friend once betrayed her. After that, she broke all her ties with friends and went headlong into work.

The conversation led to the fact that a tender feeling began to arise between the heroes, which they would have to maintain, not paying attention to rumors and gossip. And Lyudmila Pokofievna will again see a beautiful woman in herself.

In parallel, another line develops in the plot. Even in his student years, an affair happened between Olga Ryzhova and Yuri Samokhvalov. As it turned out, Olga still loves him and begins to write love letters, passing them through secretary Verochka. She served as a “springboard” for gossip, but she herself, however, was not expecting it.

Samokhvalov decides to devote an employee of the local committee, Shura, to the situation, and asks to somehow influence Ryzhova and stop the persecution on her part. Having learned about this act, Novoseltsev, not being ashamed of Lyudmila Prokofievna, gave Samokhvalov a slap in the face right at the head.

After some time, learning from Verochka about the novel of Novoseltsev and Kalugina, Samokhvalov decided to take revenge on his former friend. He told Lyudmila Prokofievna that Novoseltsev arranged his courtship in order to advance to the position of head of department.

Everyone knows the finale of the beloved movie by heart: after the relationship has been clarified, during which Novoseltsev wrote a letter of resignation several times and even called his beloved boss wet, everything ends with a happy happy ending.

The film "Office Romance" - the history of filming. How it all started

Eldar Ryazanov and Emil Braginsky (permanent co-director) directed the play Co-Workers in 1971 with the goal of earning money. She was conceived as the first part of the dilogy, the second was called "Relatives." It took only 22 days to write the original text. And in the same 1971, Novoseltsev and Kalugina “came to life” on the theatrical stage (Moscow Mayakovsky Theater and the Leningrad Comedy Theater named after A.P. Akimov). The play was very successful throughout the Soviet Union, and she was destined to survive more than 130 productions. It is noteworthy that Peter Velyaminov and Olga Volkova took part in the production of the Leningrad Theater in the lead roles (later, thanks to the role in this play, the actress received the specially created role of the waitress Violetta for her).

Once, Eldar Ryazanov wrote in his book (“Unsummed Results”) that, being present at the Pskov Drama Theater, they together with Emil Braginsky could not understand what was the matter: the characters seemed to be the same as in the play. And even the replicas seemed to be similar, but still something was wrong ... It turns out that all the replicas that they worked on, so that they were spoken, as in life, were pronounced in verse.

However, the starting point for the filming of the film was the television show of the Moscow tetra, which was often shown by Soviet television. But Ryazanov did not like this work very much. The atmosphere of the play disappeared somewhere. There was no magic of turning “myrrh” into a tender and beautiful, loving, and most importantly, beloved woman. It was then that Eldar Alexandrovich decided to take up the film production himself. And the main motive was his long-standing desire to work with Alice Freindlich, and in the role of Kalugina he saw only her. If she suddenly refused, Ryazanov would not have taken up the remake of the play in the movie script.

Scene

Another "participant" can be called a place, or rather, a city where they shot "Office Romance." This is Moscow, with all its autumn, winter and architectural locations, with its boiling and bustling (and not so) life. Despite the fact that the shooting took place in the still warm time of the year, unexpectedly heavy snow fell in September, and, having gone with the cameraman to take beautiful snow-covered views, Ryazanov decided to leave these shots in the film.

One of the filming locations, which later became a local attraction, where “Office Romance” was filmed, is the street on which the house where Novoseltsev lived with his children was located. This house on Chernyshevsky Lane has become so popular that local residents are already accustomed to frequent (almost every six months) filming. It was after Ryazanov that filmmakers chose this place. At the time of the creation of our film, there, just a hundred meters from the house where the “Office Romance” was filmed, there was a kindergarten, in which Novoseltsev would take his younger dunce every day before work. This building is currently abandoned.

Architectural places

And here is another building where they filmed "Office Romance", or rather, its front part - the Federal Agency for Maritime and Personal Transport, which is located on the Kuznetsk Bridge. It was through these doors that all the employees of the Statistical Office entered. And directly their offices and the reception were filmed in the pavilion of the Mosfilm film studio, where Eldar Ryazanov was allowed to build gigantic scenery.

Also at the film studio, the scenery of the apartment of Samokhvalov was created. But Lyudmila Prokofievna’s apartment has her own, and the real address is Bolshaya Nikitskaya street , house 45. At the time of filming, this house was elite.

Another important building for the plot, located in Bolshoi Gnezdikovsky Lane, is the very roof where Comrade Kalugin was watering flowers, and Novoseltsev was reassuring her. By the way, Lyudmila Prokofievna’s office was also built in the Mosfilm pavilion.

Lyudmila Prokofievna Freindlich

As previously agreed, the film "Office Romance" was shot only due to the fact that the main role was played by Alice Freindlich. Eldar Ryazanov had long been convinced that Alisa Brunovna was a talented theater actress, and he really wanted to shoot her in his films. The first such “breakdown” was the “Hussar ballad”, however, unfortunately, it did not fit the image of a teenage girl. Nothing happened with the Zigzag of Fortune, but only because Freindlich was expecting a baby, and therefore had to refuse.

And finally, in the “Office Romance” their creative “romance” took place. Interestingly, this was perhaps the first film in Soviet cinema, when Ryazanov was allowed to shoot exactly those artists whom he wanted. As the director later said, he was amazed at how she was not afraid to “spoil” herself with these faceless costumes, a terrible hairstyle, horn-rimmed glasses (by the way, the operator borrowed these glasses from his grandfather). And after all, she was able to flawlessly play the “transformation” from mumra into a feminine, beautiful, woman in love ...

All these "ordeals" were not in vain. Alisa Freindlich bought the first car in her life for her fee from filming, and Eldar Ryazanov became a big pass for the actress into the world of cinema. And a good friend in life.

Anatoly Efremovich Myagkov

Discovering the actor’s talent on the set of The Irony of Fate, Ryazanov initially knew who would play Novoseltsev. The creators, like Myagkov himself, realized how dangerous it was right after Lukashin’s success to the actor to play a man who, in essence, was very similar to the hero of the film “Irony of Fate”. But in the end, the risk turned out to be justified - Myagkov brilliantly coped with his role, and the audience had no doubt that these were two completely different people. Moreover, the director’s confidence in the artist was also expressed in the fact that Eldar Aleksandrovich completely refused to duplicate Myagkov in the performance of songs, which did not work out in The Irony of Fate.

Samokhvalov-Basilashvili

Oleg Bsilashvili and Eldar Ryazanov are connected by a long-standing friendship, which began with a joke. Once, having come to the BDT to see Sergey Jurassic, Ryazanov saw Basilashvili on stage. When the performance ended, Eldar Aleksandrovich backstage told Basilashvili: “I don’t understand why you aren’t acting in my films?” To which he received the answer: "I don’t understand this either." Ryazanov even wrote a receipt in which he promised to shoot Oleg in each of his films. After this meeting, the case presented itself right away - Oleg Basilashvili was supposed to star in The Irony of Fate. He was already approved for the role of Hippolytus, but shortly before the start of filming, his father died, and in the end, the role went to Yuri Yakovlev.

As Ryazanov himself later admitted in his book, he gave the role of Samokhvalov to the intelligent Basilashvili, guided by the director's calculation. After all, it was important to show the scoundrel pretending to be an honest, intelligent and charming, "to the core" man. The role should be exactly disgusting (in terms of character), and not funny.

Olya Ryzhova

Ryazanov also became a kind of patron for Svetlana Nemolyaeva, who had already managed to “light up” in the crowd on the set of Carnival Night. After many years, she played in the play Ryazanov and Braginsky "Relatives." Seeing her on stage, Ryazanov after the performance invited her to star in his films. But the first tests for Nemolyaeva turned out to be a failure. She auditioned for the role of Nadia in the same “Irony of Fate”. But in his next film Ryazanov invited her not to audition, but immediately to the role. This was Olga in love with Samokhvalova.

The Inimitable Leah

And, of course, where without Verochka’s secretary! This role was a real discovery of the film. Specially for Liya Akhedzhakova, the character was radically redesigned. And thanks to her, the image became a little tragicomic. Always up to date with office events and the latest fashionable novelties, she sometimes could forget about subordination (which is what the course of the young "fashionable" fighter, which she arranged for Kalugina, is worth). Akhedzhakova mercilessly fell in love with the audience, which, however, happens with every film in which she participates.

Interesting facts about the movie "Office Romance"

You probably did not know that:

• The working title of the picture is “The Tale of the Leading Cinderella.”
• The entire creative team was awarded a state prize (1978), except for Alice Freindlich, because the actress was already awarded for the theatrical role, and at that time it was impossible to receive the award twice.
• In the building where the film “Office Romance” was shot, there were organizations with such names as “Glavkost”, “Directorate of External Relations”, “Glavspetstsherst”, “NII What” and so on.
• The poems "Nature has no bad weather" were written by Ryazanov, but he hid it. And he sent it to Andrei Petrov, saying that the author is William Blake. And so that he did not suddenly begin to check, Eldar Alexandrovich said that this was a new translation.
• Before sending his poems to the composer, Ryazanov showed them to Myagkov, but when that poem was not appreciated, Ryazanov gave him the role of the dumb in his next film “The Garage”.
• The scenes of Olga Ryzhova’s trip in transport were filmed “in kind”, without involving extras.
• The house where the Office Romance was filmed, or rather, the roof where Kalugina watered flowers, is the roof of the Nirnsee house.
• The bronze horse worn by Novoseltsev is also the “star” of the films “Diamond Hand”, “Formula of Love”, “Old New Year”, “Seventeen Moments of Spring” and “Shirley-myrli”.

• All the participants were so carried away by the filming process that they shot in three series, and the director then had to cut whole storylines. Most of all, the character of Lyudmila Ivanova (a social activist of Shura) suffered.
• In the first version of the script, husband of the secretary Verochka was played by Alexander Fatyushin, but in the final version of the film, only an episode remained with him.
• The voice with which Verochka finds out the relationship is the voice of Oleg Basilashvli.
• The scene of the romantic dinner of Novoseltsev and Kalugina is a completely improvisation of the actors.
• Office Romance is included in the curriculum in China for students studying Russian.
• All dialogue scenes were shot using three cameras, and the actors did not know which camera was shooting them at the moment.
• Svetlana Khodchenkova, Vladimir Zelensky, Marat Basharov and Anastasia Zavorotnyuk played the main roles in the modern adaptation of the play “Co-Workers”.
• The room where they filmed "Office Romance. Our time ”is the Turkish hotel“ Adam and Eve ”.
• The "modernization" of his favorite film was coldly received not only by the audience, but also by Ryazanov himself, who said that he "was not going to look at the parody of himself." Later, he himself regretted that he had sold the rights to the adaptation of his films (the same goes for Irony of Fate 2).

Well, how successful or unsuccessful film adaptations - time will tell. And we, the audience, can only not miss the next broadcast of our favorite film, because it will be shown on television more than once. And then take a walk around Moscow, remembering the places where they shot the “Office Romance” - a beloved film by more than one generation.