The four-part film “Midshipmen, Forward!”, based on Nina Sorotokina’s book “Three from the Navigation School,” earned recognition from both critics and ordinary viewers already in the first year of release.
What made the film directed by Svetlana Druzhinina a cult film was the outstanding acting, the non-trivial plot and the songs performed in the film by the artists. After decades, the film has not lost its relevance and is still broadcast on TV today.
The editors of 24SMI tell fans of Soviet cinema about the life of the film’s artists then and now, compiling a list with photographs.
Sergei Zhigunov (1963)
The film “Midshipmen, forward!”: actor Sergei Zhigunov in the role of Alexander Belov - then and now
Actor Sergei Zhigunov was awarded the leading male role. In the film he portrayed the young midshipman Alexander Belov.
Filming in this film opened the door for the artist to the world of big cinema. After the release of the film, the charming actor added to his track record with dozens of roles, among which the most memorable were the characters in the films “My Fair Nanny,” “Sklifosovsky” and “The Jackal.”
Sergei Zhigunov - Sasha Belov
Sasha Belov was supposed to be played by Oleg Menshikov, but due to the departure of Yuri Moroz from the project, the acting tandem fell apart, and the director urgently had to look for a replacement. Nevertheless, Menshikov voiced the hero Zhigunov.
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Sergei, like Dmitry Kharatyan, received his share of fame; after filming with Druzhinina, he was overwhelmed with work. The second wave of popularity came to him while working on the series “My Fair Nanny,” where Zhigunov became close to Anastasia Zavorotnyuk. Because of his relationship with the actress, he left his wife, and after the end of his affair with Anastasia he returned to his wife again. Now Zhigunov is 56 years old, he is not only an actor, but also a screenwriter and producer.
Dmitry Kharatyan (1960)
The film “Midshipmen, forward!”: actor Dmitry Kharatyan in the role of Alexei Korsak - then and now
The role of midshipman Alexei Korsak went to actor Dmitry Kharatyan. Then the entire female population of the USSR was in love with the blond handsome man with an exciting mole above his lip.
The sudden fame that fell on Kharatyan’s head brought him into the ranks of binge alcoholics. Fortunately, the artist escaped the grip of the “green serpent” and is now also acting in films, appearing in full-length and serial projects.
Anastasia Yaguzhinskaya - Tatyana Lyutaeva
The role of the beautiful Anastasia is Tatyana’s film debut; after the film was released, she woke up famous. It is noteworthy that she starred in the film in the late stages of pregnancy, but her fluffy skirts helped hide this fact.
In the 90s, Tatyana lived in Latvia and worked in the theater. In the 2000s, she returned to Russia, where she now appears in films and TV series, and participates in theater productions. Tatyana is 54 years old; her daughter, actress Agniya Ditkovskite, has followed in her footsteps.
Vladimir Shevelkov (1961)
The film “Midshipmen, forward!”: actor Vladimir Shevelkov as Nikita Olenev - then and now
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The role of the third midshipman, Nikita Olenev, went to actor Vladimir Shevelkov. The artist’s hero sank into the audience’s soul, allowing the young actor to find his niche on the cinematic Olympus.
Unlike previous actors, Shevelkov did not star in the sequel to Midshipmen. In subsequent years, Vladimir shot several videos for Tatyana Bulanova, tried on the role of a director, and also became the host of the St. Petersburg Meetings program.
Sofia — Olga Mashnaya
Unlike the midshipmen heroes, participation in the film did not bring Olga enormous popularity. She acted more before participating in the film, and in the 90s she did not participate in particularly high-profile projects. In the 2000s, after the birth of her son, she gained a lot of weight, even went under the surgeon’s knife, but the effect of the procedure did not last long.
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Now the actress is 54 years old, she stars in domestic TV series.
Mikhail Boyarsky (1949)
The film “Midshipmen, forward!”: actor Mikhail Boyarsky in the role of De Brillie - then and now
Actor Mikhail Boyarsky in the film played Chevalier De Brillie. The viewer knew about the artist’s talent even before the release of Midshipmen.
The artist demonstrated the versatility of his roles in the films “Dog in the Manger” and “The Three Musketeers.”
In addition to filming films, Mikhail also often appears on TV. In 2017, Boyarsky became a jury member of two television projects: “Minute of Glory” and “My Soviet.”
Evgeny Evstigneev (1926-1992)
The film “Midshipmen, forward!”: actor Evgeny Evstigneev in the role of Alexey Bestuzhev - then and in recent years
The role of Vice-Chancellor Alexey Bestuzhev went to actor Evgeny Evstigneev, who had proven himself well with both directors and audiences even before “Midshipmen.”
After the premiere screening of the film, the artist starred in the films “Heart of a Dog”, “Christmas Trees”, “Time Has Gone” and “City of Zero”. The star’s last project was the film “Ermak,” which was released after Evstigneev’s death.
Olga Mashnaya (1964)
The film “Midshipmen, forward!”: actress Olga Mashnaya in the role of Sophia - then and now
Against the background of the strong male cast of the film, actress Olga Mashnaya was not at all lost. The actress’s heroine, Sophia, Alyosha Korsak’s lover, was remembered by the audience no less than the midshipmen.
After the premiere screening of the film, Olga appeared in a number of films, after which her career began to go downhill. In 2020, the actress starred in the program “The Invisible Man,” in which she admitted that she drowns out her emotional experiences with alcohol.
Vladimir Shevelkov: “I didn’t earn a penny from the glory of Midshipmen”
Vladimir Shevelkov: “I didn’t earn a penny from the fame of Midshipmen.”
In the late 1980s, the whole country watched Midshipmen. Kharatyan, Zhigunov, Shevelkov - each of this trinity of brave and brave people became a real sex symbol of Soviet cinema. The first two successfully reaped the benefits of wild fame. Shevelkov went into the shadows...
Vladimir Shevelkov spoke about his dislike for the film that made him famous, about his disappointment in the acting profession, about how at the peak of his popularity he stood behind the bar counter.
“I thought that cinema was the most important of the arts, but it turned out that it was pop music”
— Vladimir, what are your memories of the 1980s?
— Well, first of all, you need to understand that in 1980 I was 19 years old. What could be better?.. And in 1989 I was 28. What could be better?
“But for some, the 1980s was a romantic time of change, and for others, it was a break in an established, stable life.
- I didn’t have anything like that. In the early 1980s, I felt very comfortable in the acting profession, I understood that I could achieve a lot. And in 1987, “Midshipmen” came, along with them this global, stupid fame. And I realized that the acting profession was no longer interesting to me. I tried to write poetry, in 1988 I stood behind a bar for six months. And by the end of the 1980s, I realized that I wanted to direct, and opened the first advertising production company...
- So you told everything. But let's stick to Midshipmen for now. So I take it you don't like this movie?
— It’s not that I don’t like it, I just think that before that I was engaged in the acting profession, and “Midshipmen” is already the beginning of show business. To tell the truth, I initially understood that something was being done wrong. Plus, the relationship with the film crew did not work out, especially with Svetlana Druzhinina. But I won’t dwell on this in detail, this is an old matter...
— And Svetlana Sergeevna still says that she does not know such actors as Zhigunov and Shevelkov.
- Well, thank God. But I don’t know such a director - because she didn’t have a better film than with us... What’s also surprising to me about Druzhinina is how she didn’t realize that she had fallen into a diamond, that the acting team had completely formed by chance. There was no need to play love - the characters who were supposed to love each other according to the script, loved on their own. Everyone was positive, happy... Well, and the movie... If then someone had told me that a children's film was being made, and in the style of show business, I would, of course, understand everything and not worry too much. But I tried to do everything seriously, I wanted there to be serious wounds, serious experiences. And they weren't really there. I didn’t even think that this was possible, cinema is the most important of the arts. But it turned out – no, it’s pop. "White Roses" are like that. "White Roses" may be even cooler. And for me the success of this film was like a bolt from the blue. But if people liked it, well, well, well...
“I didn’t need people’s love”
- Yes, in 1987 it would have been so easy not to talk to you - they would have torn you for souvenirs. Was fame not to your liking?
- Yes, I was ashamed. Maybe because my work in this picture was not worthy of all this popular love. Which, by the way, turned out to be completely unnecessary for me. When she came, I suddenly realized that an actor’s desire to be famous and popular was a very wrong path. In order to be famous and popular, you don’t have to do anything. You have to smile, have good teeth, shave, go to the gym. You always have to play the same thing, be the way they want to see you, and be that way every day. That’s when I realized that acting was not my favorite bread. Yes, this is a profession that I have, but for me it has faded into the background, even into the background.
— “The Musketeers,” your predecessors, who have been friends for more than 30 years, love to talk about their adventures during filming: how they fooled around, drank, fell in love. Would you like something similar?
“It was all there: gatherings together, drinking, and visiting without asking. I won’t talk about my adventures simply because that’s how I’m structured. Someday we'll get drunk and I'll tell you.
- But, apparently, you have messed up a lot in life.
— I didn’t break any wood. I lit enough logs. Participated in a lot of funny stories. But not with the midshipmen. Here you need to understand that after the film I returned to St. Petersburg. He left the picture, crossed himself and happily forgot about it. And secondly, the most important thing is that when the film became popular and trips around the country with concerts began, I did not participate in any of them.
— Fundamentally?
- Yes. Not because I treated Dima and Seryoga badly - I treat them very well. I just couldn’t sing the song “Keep your nose up, midshipmen,” it irritated me. And the guys went without me. So I didn’t earn a single penny, not a single one, from the fame of “Midshipmen”...
Tatyana Lyutaeva (1965)
The film “Midshipmen, forward!”: actress Tatyana Lyutaeva in the role of Anastasia Yaguzhinskaya - then and now
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Another actress whose name cannot be ignored when talking about “Midshipmen” is artist Tatyana Lyutaeva.
In the film she reincarnated as Anastasia Yaguzhinskaya. Few people know, but in 1987 the actress was pregnant. Five months after the release of the film, the artist gave birth to a daughter, Agnia Ditkovskite.
Lyutaeva’s latest works are the films “Anna Karenina” and “One Life for Two.”
Who should have played whom?
Even then, Druzhinina had a good idea of what the characters would look like on the screen and what artists would play them. I knew in advance that I would invite Smoktunovsky, Strzhelchik, Evstigneev. The cast in “Midshipmen” was generally enviable. Only Leonid Filatov, to whom Druzhinina offered the role of an agent of the secret office of Fyodor Lyadashchev, could not decorate it. Instead of Filatov, Alexander Abdulov played this role.
At first, Druzhinina had complete confusion with young artists. Druzhinina wanted Oleg Menshikov to play Sasha Belov, her son Mikhail Mukasey to play Nikita Olenev, and Yuri Moroz to play Alyosha Korsak. Of the three of them, only Moroz came onto the site. But it soon became clear that he could only film in fits and starts, because he was busy with his graduation film at VGIK. “Unfortunately, he said this when two big episodes were filmed,” recalls Svetlana Druzhinina
. – Well, it would seem that I should continue. But no, dear. And that’s how Dimochka Kharatyan appeared.”
Photo: still from the film “Midshipmen, Forward!”
After starring roles in “The Hoax” and “The Green Van,” Kharatyan was already famous. In addition, he had masculine charm, a bright temperament and passion, without which there is nothing to do in adventure films. He had only one thing - he was wary of horses, although he was good in the saddle. Colleagues even joked: Kharatyan is afraid of horses. But in fact, it was not fear. “It’s not that I was afraid of horses, it’s just that horses were always different,” says Dmitry Kharatyan
. “Naturally, it took some time to get used to them. But there was no time. And that’s why I was anxious every time, I was afraid to do tricks on them, I didn’t have time to establish contact with them. So these are all myths that I’m supposedly afraid of horses.”
But in love scenes, Kharatyan had no equal. There was so much tenderness and passion, some special chemistry between Alyosha and his Sophia that it was impossible to doubt for a second the sincerity of these feelings. Their duet with Olga Mashna developed immediately. Although the artistic council did not want to approve Mashnaya for a long time. Another actress, Marina Zudina, was supposed to play Sofya Zotova. She has already starred in several episodes together with Yuri Moroz. But when Moroz left the picture, it immediately became clear to Druzhinina that Zudina would have to be replaced.
“They didn’t look together at all, both visually and in height,” recalls Svetlana Druzhinina
.- And then I, quickly taking advantage of this moment, said: then there will be Mashnaya! But one shot with Marina Zudina still remains in the film. In the episode when the nuns forcibly take Sophia to Mikeshin monastery, the actress’s face is almost invisible.
But the most difficult task in finding actors was to choose a beauty for the role of Anastasia Yaguzhinskaya. Exactly what the director wanted: talented, beautiful, aristocratic. And to feel some kind of mystery in it.
“It was the most difficult situation,” recalls Svetlana Druzhinina. – Until my son, who was then graduating from the cinematography department of the film institute, said: “Mom, what are you worried about? We have two such chic washcloths at VGIK!” I say: “What?!” And then “Mochalkin blues” was in fashion. And that’s why all the beautiful girls were called “washcloths” - it wasn’t offensive.”
One of these chic VGIK “washcloths” was Tatyana Lyutaeva. She was already graduating from college, and Svetlana Druzhinina specially came to watch her graduation performance. “I remember there wasn’t enough room for her and she was standing. – says Tatyana Lyutaeva
. – The hall was packed. The next day I was called for an audition. I came to the audition, they did my hair and makeup for three hours. And they plucked my eyebrows. My eyebrows were like that - cheerful, lush. And a day later they called and said that I was approved.”
From the stage in the monastery, work in cinema began for Tatyana Lyutaeva. In “Midshipmen” she was the only debutante - it was her first day of filming. And immediately such partners are Rimma Markova and Mikhail Boyarsky.
“I was terribly worried,” says Tatyana Lyutaeva. - I was very nervous. But Svetlana Sergeevna has the gift of showing how it should be done. And I, basically, was a monkey. She showed me how I needed to play the scene, I looked at her and repeated everything one by one.”
On those shoots, not only the beginner Lyutaeva, but also experienced artists were helped by the fact that Druzhinina could portray any character in paint. And a lady and a gentleman with a sword.
Mikhail Boyarsky: “She immediately had a romantic, distant, absent look. And now she is already talking about what should happen. And since she sees this inside herself, the result is a transfer of the entire scene: the heroine comes up from here, and the hero takes out a sword... And for Svetlana, everything is already happening here. All we have to do is translate all this into acting language and try to please her.”
Anna Bestuzheva's luxurious dress made of gold brocade was tailored to Svetlana Druzhinina's measurements. Because the role of the beautiful aristocrat Betsuzheva was intended for her. And this look. And these words... “I thought what a good role it would be if I just appeared at the beginning - in a luxurious dress... a luxurious beauty. Then they will talk and talk and talk about me all the time, and then immediately there will be a scene in rags with a cross. You see, what a uniquely winning job,” she recalls.
Everything was almost ready for filming the episodes with Anna Bestuzheva, but literally the day before, Druzhinina suddenly realized that she would not appear on the set as an actress. Playing a role and at the same time directing the filming process is, of course, possible. But there's too much fuss.
“I said: give me the costume designer Arina Putinovskaya here. And I tell her: “Sit down, otherwise you will fall, and everyone present here, sit down too.” Because director Druzhinina refuses actress Druzhinina the role. And indeed, everyone started saying: “Go crazy!” They're filming tomorrow, and they started begging and begging me. And I say: “everything, everything, calm down!” There is an amazing actress! And the next day Nelly Pshennaya, an amazing, beautiful, talented actress, came to our group. All the dresses, the whole costume, the wigs - it was as if they were made for her. And I must say – she played the role perfectly!”
