How was the shooting of the movie "Hello, I'm your aunt!"
They say that the story of the film "Hello, I'm your aunt!" begins with one dinner party in Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU. There they talked about the captured post-war film "Aunt Charley", and the wife of a foreign ministry employee complained that the youth were not familiar with such a funny plot. And it was after this that director Viktor Titov received an offer to shoot a comedy based on the play by Brandon Thomas.
The play was written by Thomas specifically for the comedian William Sidney Penley, who staged the English premiere and played the role of "aunt" in it. The premiere of the play based on the play "Aunt Charlie" took place on February 9, 1892 in London, on the stage of the Royal Theater, and was a resounding success.
The production was so successful that 10 months after the premiere, the play was moved from From the Royal Theater to the larger Royalty Theater, and a month later to the Globe Theater. Penley made a fortune on the play, which he invested in his own theater on Queen Street.
In Russia, the comedy was first staged by the Korsh Theater in 1894. The role of the "aunt" in the premiere was played by P. N. Orlenev, then S. L. Kuznetsov.
And then it was time for film adaptations. The first known film versions are silent films of the same name, shot in Italy in 1911 and in USA in 1915. After that, the play was repeatedly filmed, including in the UK, USA, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy and even in Egypt.
Well, in 1975, our brilliant version was released.
The picture had several working titles, one of which was "Who's Who", while there was no unambiguous solution. Mikhail Kozakov shared about the painful choice of the name in a conversation with the poet Naum Olev. According to Kozakov, Naum immediately gave out the option "Hello, I'm your aunt!", which he passed to Titov. I liked the name and it was immediately accepted. It is believed that this is a borrowing from Faina Ranevskaya, who pronounced this phrase in the film "Easy Life".
After deciding on the title, the director faced the question of the style of the film. He chose silent films, which will allow actors to improvise and thus avoid possible production cliches. The acting ensemble of the film — people with a great sense of humor — caught the parody-grotesque manner of the game and literally bathed in what was happening.
Several deliberately looking elements of costumes and make-up, such as Nosova's eyelashes painted with a brush, Vasilyeva's excessively large freckles painted, Dzhigarkhanyan's mustache glued upside down or Kalyagin's dress trimmed with fringe from ordinary curtains, also fit the chosen style organically.
Despite the fact that the budget of the film "Hello, I'm your Aunt!" was very small, and due to the employment of actors in theaters, it was necessary to shoot in the pavilions of the Ostankino TV studio at night, in the third shift, all the members of the film group worked on the tape with great pleasure. High spirits and enthusiasm made it possible to shoot the picture in record time — in just three months.
Armen Dzhigarkhanyan, who has the warmest memories of working on the film "Hello, I'm your Aunt!", told about the atmosphere on the set in an interview: "A good film. There the stars came together — not acting stars, but stars of a favorable situation. It often determines a lot in art. Excuse my naive recollection of "Aunt", but people involved in acting will understand me: we loved each other. We looked at each other, rejoiced, it was funny to us. For example, I still love Kalyagin. I meet him somewhere, I feel a native feeling. And with Gaft, and with There was no estrangement by Misha Kozakov."
Initially, Armen Borisovich claimed the role of Colonel Chesney, because he had already played this old soldier, who does not know the words of love, in the theater. Zinovy Gerdt was also in line for the role of the lame colonel. But then the actor served in the Sergei Obraztsov Theater, and the whole troupe had to go on tour to Europe. Gerdt literally dreamed of Chesney's uniform, he prayed that the authorities would refuse them to leave. But, as luck would have it, the officials released everyone abroad.
There are two candidates left — Dzhigarkhanyan and Kozakov. Director Viktor Titov, for the sake of experiment, decided to test Armen Borisovich's charisma in a different image and invited him to do a double as judge Kriegs. Needless to say, after this first take, the famous striped suit of the greedy official literally stuck to Dzhigarkhanyan.
But the main success was waiting for Alexander Kalyagin. The role of Babs — Donna Rosa brought him huge popularity and made him a real star of the screen. For Kalyagin, the film was a success and salvation. He, then an unknown actor, "won" the casting from Oleg Tabakov, Evgeny Leonov, Vladimir Etush and Evgeny Matveev, which he was incredibly glad about.
At that time, the actor's wife died, and he was left alone with a little daughter in his arms. He was helped through this difficult time by filming. He came to the playground from his house, where mourning reigned, and from a sad, bereaved person literally transformed into a quirky and ironic Babs. Then Kalyagin was still considered a novice actor, but after the release of the comedy about Aunt Charley, he became a star — offers with new roles fell like a cornucopia.
Here's how Kalyagin himself recalled the filming in his book "Alexander Kalyagin": "My aunt Charley was born from the memories of the women who raised me — mothers, aunts. It included the features of girls and women with whom I was in love, whom I just glimpsed on the street or in transport. We have never discussed with director Viktor Titov: what type of woman should I play? God forbid. Never had a thought. Memory gave out "on the mountain" then a pose, then a gesture, then a manner of holding a fan, shooting eyes, flirting, lifting a leg, flapping eyelashes ... we only discarded what was not necessary.
Another important thing in the work was the memory of the experience of Charlie Chaplin, who once shot a short film "Woman". I also wanted to experience: what does it feel like? What do these creatures feel and experience in skirts, stockings and other toilet details? I lived in a women's suit diligently, practically without taking it off even at lunchtime. The fact is that these breaks were short, and there were queues at the buffet. If you completely change clothes: take off stockings, cape, skirt and so on — you can stay hungry. I have never allowed myself to do this! So I took off... just the wig. They looked at the aunt with a bald head, to put it mildly, surprised..."
All the costumes for the film were sewn in a single copy. But not because they are so unique. It's just that the crew had such a limited budget that the picture had to be shot not at Mosfilm, but in a small Ostankino pavilion. And for tricks in order to save money, they called not professional stuntmen, but circus performers. Fabrics for costumes were also purchased at a minimum. The costume designer on the set was Nonna Mordyukova's younger sister Natalia Kataeva. She literally sobbed when the scene with the battle of cakes was filmed.
The actors were then asked to do one take, because there was no money for additional cakes and washing powder for their outfits. Kalyagin, Dzhigarkhanyan and Kozakov was promised. But they didn't keep their promises. "And so I throw the cake at Dzhigarkhanyan, — says Alexander Kalyagin, — I see his face in cream ... and I can't help crying with laughter. I understand that it is impossible, but there is no way to resist..."
The comedy about the Brazilian aunt was loved by all the people, but the cinema authorities disliked her. The officials especially disliked Tatiana Vedeneeva. They considered the beautiful "Aunt Tanya" completely unconvincing and strongly advised to reshoot the dubs with another actress. And Armen Dzhigarkhanyan was reproachfully asked then: "How did you, such a famous artist, act in such vulgarity?"