''Beware of the Car'' (russian: Береги́сь автомоби́ля,

translit. Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

''Beregis Avtomobilya'', English titles ''Uncommon Thief'', or ''Watch out for the Automobile'') is a 1966 Soviet crime

comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

directed by Eldar Ryazanov,Как Гамлет стал Деточкиным (интервью с Эльдаром Рязановым)
/ref> based on a screenplay by Emil Braginsky and produced by Mosfilm. It stars Innokenty Smoktunovsky,

Oleg Yefremov Oleg Nikolayevich Yefremov (russian: Оле́г Никола́евич Ефре́мов, 1 October 1927, Moscow, Soviet Union – 24 May 2000, Moscow, Russia) was a Soviet and Russian actor and Moscow Art Theatre producer. He was a People's Artist ...

, Andrei Mironov and Anatoli Papanov, among others. ''Beware of the Car'' is recognized as a satire of the

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

genre, highly unusual in Brezhnev- -era society. It is credited for launching Soviet political satire as a film genre, typified by Ryazanov's work.

Plot

Yuri Detochkin (Smoktunovsky) is a humble Soviet

insurance agent Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

who steals fancy cars from corrupt Soviet officials and scammers, disappointed by the

militsiya ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, , mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə) was the name of the police forces in the Soviet Union (until 1991) and in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), as well as in the non-aligned SFR Yugoslavia (1945–1992). The ...

being unable to fight the crooks. One of Detochkin's victims is Dima Semitsvetov (Mironov), a retail embezzler mocked but tolerated by his colorful father-in-law Semyon Vasilyevich (Papanov), a retired Soviet Army officer. Dima has a dacha (registered to his father-in-law) and a Volga car (registered in his wife's name). Meanwhile, Yuri is a commitmentphobe who has been courting his bus-driver girlfriend for years without settling down with her. In his spare time, Yuri is an amateur actor, and in his latest play, a production of Hamlet, he is playing alongside his friend, Detective Maksim Podberyozovikov (Yefremov). Not knowing who the car thief is, Detective Podberyozovikov investigates the missing cars. When he realises who is stealing them and why, the detective faces a serious moral problem, as he discovers that Detochkin has sold the cars and anonymously transferred the proceeds to the accounts of various orphanages.

Cast

* Innokenty Smoktunovsky as Yuri Detochkin *

as Maksim Podberyozovikov *

Lyubov Dobrzhanskaya Lyubov Ivanovna Dobrzhanskaya (russian: Любо́вь Ива́новна Добржа́нская; 24 December 1905 — 3 November 1980) was a Soviet singer and actress of theater and cinema. She won the Stalin Prize II degree in 1951 and the P ...

as Detochkin's mother * Olga Aroseva as Lyuba * Andrei Mironov as Dima Semitsvetov * Anatoli Papanov as Semyon Vasilyevich * Tatyana Gavrilova as Inna * Georgiy Zhzhonov as a Militsiya officer * Yevgeny Yevstigneyev as an acting coach *

Donatas Banionis Donatas Banionis (28 April 1924 – 4 September 2014) was a Soviet and Lithuanian stage and film actor and theatre director. He has more than 80 credited roles in cinema and is best known for his performance in the lead role of Tarkovsky's ''Sola ...

as a priest * Lyubov Sokolova as a judge * Vyacheslav Nevinny as a car mechanic *

Gotlib Roninson Gotlib Mikhailovich Roninson (russian: Готлиб Михайлович Ронинсон; 12 February 1916 — 25 December 1991) was a Soviet actor. He appeared in more than thirty films from 1953 to 1991. Filmography References External ...

as Yakov Mikhailovich * Galina Volchek as a customer * Sergey Kulagin as Philippe Cartuzov * Yakov Lents as a tobacconist salesman * Nikolay Parfyonov as a prosecutor * Viktoria Radunskaya as Tanya * Boris Runge as a man with suitcases The author's narration was read by

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 ...

Production

The film's name is derived from traffic signs warning of locations where cars could potentially hit pedestrians or motorists, such as

parking garages A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...

In the film, Detochkin and Podberezovikov act together in an amateur theatre which rehearses '' Hamlet'' – a play from Smoktunovsky's real-life acting career: he was reputed as the "best Hamlet on the Soviet stage" and starred in a celebrated

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

. The waltzWaltz - instrumental - MP3 - 3,7 MB - 128 Kbps
a

website performed in the film is a distinguished melody composed by Andrey Petrov. Sergey Nikitin's repertoire includes a song named ''Glass Gentleman'' (lyrics by Yevgeny Yevtushenko), which used a waltz from the film. All of the cars stolen by Detochkin are the GAZ-21 Volga model, the most prestigious Soviet car of the time. The GAZ-21 was the standard personal car for the Soviet elite, a satire element of the film which Ryazanov found very hard to get approved. One scene featuring a petrol station includes American vehicles such as a 1955

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

and a 1955 Oldsmobile. These were an extremely rare sighting for the location, since the United States had sanctions on the USSR and did not sell these cars within the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

Awards

The film was the leader of Soviet film distribution for 1966, viewed by 29 million people. Берегись автомобиля
on KinoPoisk Innokenty Smoktunovsky was recognized as the Best Actor of 1966. The film won awards at the 1966 Edinburgh International Film Festival, 1966 Sydney Film Festival, 1967

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fest ...

, and 1969

Cartagena Film Festival The Cartagena Film Festival ( es, Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena de Indias), or FICCI, is a film festival held in Cartagena, Colombia, which focuses mainly on the promotion of Colombian television series, Latin American films and short ...

References

External links