''Give Me a Book of Complaints'' ( is a 1965

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Eldar Ryazanov Eldar Aleksandrovich Ryazanov (; 18 November 1927 – 30 November 2015) was a Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, poet, actor and pedagogue whose popular comedies, satirizing the daily life of the Soviet Union and Russia, are celebrat ...

Plot

A group of young journalists accidentally walks into the restaurant ''Dandelion''. The atmosphere in the restaurant is extremely unhealthy: rude waitresses, thieving barmaid, wretched interior, ridiculous restaurant singer and deputy director Kutaytsev, who is constantly drunk and encourages this mess. However, the young and energetic director of the restaurant Tatiana Shumova is trying, unsuccessfully, to deal with shortcomings of the restaurant that she was entrusted with. Journalist Yuri Nikitin writes a critical article about the restaurant, but hopelessly falls in love with Tatiana. Despite the opposition of bureaucrats, the young director Shumova manages to change the situation, making the restaurant an exemplary catering establishment, as well as finding love along the way.

Cast

Oleg Borisov Oleg Ivanovich Borisov (8 November 192928 April 1994, born Albert Ivanovich Borisov) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1978). Biography Childhood and youth Oleg Borisov was born Albert Ivanovich Boriso ...

as Yuri Nikitin, journalist of the newspaper ''Youth'' *

Larisa Golubkina Larisa Ivanovna Golubkina (; March 9, 1940 – March 22, 2025) was a Soviet and later Russian actress and singer. Life and career Golubkina was born on March 9, 1940. She entered the Moscow Musical School in 1955, graduating after four years, a ...

as Tatiana Shumova, director of the restaurant ''Dandelion'' *

Anatoly Kuznetsov Anatoly Vasilievich Kuznetsov (; 18 August 1929, Kiev, USSR – 13 June 1979, London) was a Russian-language Soviet writer who described his experiences in German-occupied Kiev during World War II in his internationally acclaimed novel '' Babi ...

as Ivan Kondakov, head of the regional department of trade, Tatiana's bridegroom *

Anatoli Papanov Anatoli Dmitriyevich Papanov (; 31 October 1922 – 5 August 1987) was a Soviet and Russian actor, drama teacher, and theatre director at the Moscow Satire Theatre where he served for almost 40 years. A prominent character actor, Papanov is mos ...

as Vasily Kutaytsev, deputy director of the restaurant *

Nikolai Kryuchkov Nikolai Afanasyevich Kryuchkov (13 April 1994) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1932 and 1993. Selected filmography * '' Outskirts'' (1933) * '' By the Bluest of Seas'' (1936) * ''The Re ...

as Nikolay Ivanovich, head of department of trade * Nikolay Parfyonov as Ivan Postnikov, deputy of head of department of trade *

Nina Agapova Nina Fyodorovna Agapova (; 30 May 1926 – 19 November 2021) was a Soviet and Russian actress.Ruskino.ru.Nina Agapova Life and career Agapova was born in Moscow in May 1926. She finished eight grades, but was not able to complete her education, ...

as barmaid Zinaida * Tatyana Gavrilova as waitress Claudia Raspopova *

Natalia Surovegina Natalia may refer to: People * Natalia (given name), list of people with this name * Natalia (Belgian singer) (born 1980) * Natalia (Greek singer) (born 1983) * Natalia (Spanish singer) (born 1982) Music and film * ''Natalia'' (film), a 198 ...

as young waitress Raya * Zoya Isaeva as waitress Vera *

Rina Zelyonaya Ekaterina Vasilyevna Zelyonaya (); ( — 1 April 1991, Moscow), better known by her stage name Rina Zelyonaya, was a Soviet actress, singer and comedian. She was named People's Artist of the RSFSR in 1970. Biography Ekaterina Zelyonaya was bor ...

as elderly singer at the restaurant *

Larisa Mondrus Larisa Izrailevna Mondrus (, , ; born 15 November 1943) is a Soviet singer (soprano), who was popular in the USSR in the 1960s. In 1973 she emigrated to West Germany. She sang in Latvian, Russian, English and German. Biography Mondrus was born i ...

as new and young singer at the restaurant * Georgi Tusuzov as Pavel Kuzmich, doorman of the restaurant * Jemal Sikharulidze as Tengiz, journalist, Yuri Nikitin's friend *

Michaela Drozdovskaya Michaela (Hebrew מיכאלה) is a female given name. It is a female form of the Hebrew name Michael (מִיכָאֵל), which means "Who is like God". As of 2008, it was 357th in rank for newborn girls in the United States, and 325th in Engla ...

as Masha, Tengiz's wife * Yuri Belov as German, journalist, Yuri Nikitin's friend *

Vladimir Balon Vladimir Yakovlevich Balon (; 23 February 1937,Фехтование: энциклопедия: А-Я / Федерация фехтования России; авт.-сост. М. Ракита, В. Штейнбах; под общ. ред. Д. А. � ...

as journalist, Yuri Nikitin's friend * Felix Jaworski as bespectacled journalist *

as chief editor of the newspaper ''Youth'' *

Zoya Fyodorova Zoya Alekseyevna Fyodorova (also Fedorova) (; 11 December 1981) was a Russian film star who had an affair with American Navy captain Jackson Tate in 1945 and bore a child, Victoria Fyodorova in January 1946. Having rejected the advances of N ...

as Yekaterina Ivanovna, janitor of Tatiana's house *

Mikhail Pugovkin Mikhail Ivanovich Pugovkin (; 13 July 1923 — 25 July 2008) was a Soviet and Russian comic actor named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1988. He studied in the Moscow Art Theatre school under Ivan Moskvin, took part in World War II and, follow ...

as Tatiana's neighbour *

Vladimir Shiryaev Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology T ...

as Sasha, student *

Lyudmila Gnilova Lyudmila Vladimirovna Gnilova (; born February 12, 1944) is a Russian and Soviet actress and voice actress. She was awarded as a Meritorious Artist (since 1982). Biography Starting from 1964, Gnilova debuted as the role of Lenka in "Dalnie stra ...

as Tamara, student * Vera Popova as old lady *

Leonid Chubarov Leonid ( ; ; ) is a Slavic version of the given name Leonidas. The French version is Leonide. People with the name include: * Leonid Agutin (born 1968), Russian pop musician and songwriter *Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919), Russian playwright and ...

as policeman *

Alexander Lenkov Alexander Sergeyevich Lenkov (; 17 May 1943 – 21 April 2014) was a Soviet-Russian film, stage and voice actor. He is probably best known for his voice acting in animated films and dubbing the foreign movies to Russian. He is the Russian voi ...

as leader of the youth ensemble *

Yuri Nikulin Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin (; 18 December 1921 – 21 August 1997) was a Soviet and Russian actor and clown who starred in many popular films. He is best known for his roles in Leonid Gaidai's comedies, such as ''The Diamond Arm'' and ''Kid ...

as salesman in a clothing store, drunken rowdy to the restaurant *

Georgy Vitsin Georgy Mikhailovich Vitsin (; 18 April 1917 – 22 October 2001) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor. People's Artist of the USSR (1990). Biography Vitsin was born in Zelenogorsk, Saint Petersburg in 1917 (Soviet documents list h ...

as chief of the branch in a clothing store, drunken rowdy to the restaurant *

Yevgeny Morgunov Yevgeny Alexandrovich Morgunov (; April 27, 1927 – June 25, 1999) was a Soviet and Russian actor, film director, and script writer, Merited Artist of Russian SFSR (1978). Early life He started out as a worker in a Moscow factory, but - "a l ...

as director of clothing store, drunken rowdy to the restaurant

Facts

The film sounds the Russian version of the Mexican folk song

Cielito Lindo "Cielito Lindo" is a Mexican folk song or '' copla'' popularized in 1882 by Mexican author Quirino Mendoza y Cortés ( – 1957). It is roughly translated as "Lovely Sweet One". Although the word ''cielo'' means "sky" or "heaven", it is also a ...

References

External links

* 1965 films Soviet black-and-white films 1965 comedy films Soviet comedy films Russian-language comedy films Films directed by Eldar Ryazanov Films set in Moscow Films set in restaurants 1960s Russian-language films 1960s Soviet films Mosfilm films {{1960s-USSR-film-stub