"About Little Red Riding Hood" - a two-part musical tale by Leonid Nechaev, released in 1977, a continuation of the classic European fairy tale about Little Red Riding Hood according to the script of Inna Vetkina. The film became a cult at the time, largely due to the work of a great cast.
Movie features
“About Little Red Riding Hood” is a Soviet two-part film that today provokes nostalgic feelings among viewers living in that era. Favorite actors, interesting plot, wonderful songs of that era, childhood memories. By the way, all the songs for the musical fairy tale were written by the famous Soviet bard and dissident Julius Kim, speaking under the pseudonym "Yu. Mikhailov".
Wikipedia reports few facts about the movie itself, but on the Wikipedia there is a large list of phrases from there that are “gone to the people”, there are a lot of photos and videos on the Internet devoted to this fairy tale, and on “Kinopoisk” the film “About Little Red Riding Hood” confidently holds a rating higher than seven.
The creator of the film, Belarusian and Russian director Leonid Nechaev, has been shooting only fairy tales all his life. “Peter Pen”, “The Adventures of Pinocchio”, “Don't Leave”, “Sold Laughter” - these and other wonderful films became a magnificent legacy of one of the most outstanding figures of Soviet cinema. His last work was Thumbelina, a 2007 fairy tale. And in 2010, Leonid Alekseevich, unfortunately, passed away.
Plot
The script for the tale was written by Inna Vetkina, who more than once took part in the creation of Nechaev's tales. The story begins with the fact that the grandmother of the Little Red Riding Hood fell ill again, and the girl was going to visit the old woman again. And then the real confusing thriller begins, with a gangster clan, an outsider saving the girl, villains and heroes, random companions and exciting adventures.
Wanting to avenge the death of the Gray Wolf, his mother persuades an old friend of the wolf family of the Thin to eat the girl responsible for the death of her son. This old forest robber takes with him the brother of the deceased, the second son of the Wolf Mother named Tolstoy. It was they who spread the rumors about the illness of the grandmother, with whom everything is in order, but only there you can lure the girl from a human settlement into the forest.
Meanwhile, the son of the Gray Wolf chooses a different path for himself. He does not obey his grandmother, believes that he should not quarrel with people and even more so eat them, and then runs away from home to interfere with the evil plans of Tolstoy and the Thin. And Little Red Riding Hood collects cakes baked by a caring mother in a basket and goes along a familiar path into the forest, unaware of a large-scale wolf plot. However, the girl herself is not so simple and naive as the wolves think, and is quite capable of standing up for herself, besides, the good Little Wolf helps her.
The main cast
Little Red Riding Hood - Yana Poplavskaya
The role of the main character of Little Red Riding Hood was written under the girl who played Malvina in the previous picture of Nechaev, Tatyana Protsenko. But she got sick and could not act in film. The film crew hardly found a suitable actress, ten-year-old Yana, who later received the USSR State Prize for her role.
Yana was born in the creative family of a journalist and theater actress in 1967. From early childhood she was engaged in rhythmic gymnastics and took part in the performances of her mother’s theater. Already at 4 years old she starred in the movie. Her work at the final installation was cut out, but the girl with a bright appearance was included in the lists of actor-children and began to be invited to the cinema.
To date, Poplavskaya has about 30 films. In addition to filming, she is engaged in active public activities, is a television and radio host, in 2017 she received a medal from the Ministry of Defense for participating in the Syrian military operation, and in 2018 she became the trustee of Sergei Sobyanin.
Grandma - Rina Green
The role of the grandmother of Little Red Riding Hood was performed by the legendary Soviet actress Ekaterina Zelenaya. Rina is the artist’s pseudonym. She was born in Tashkent in the distant 1901. Soon her father was transferred to serve in Moscow, where the whole family moved. She graduated from the Moscow Theater School in 1919, began her career as a pop artist, but then focused on theatrical work.
A brilliant dancer, parodist, comedian, mimic, singer, talented in imitating children's speech - sold out were going out for Rina Zelena’s performances. During the Great Patriotic War, she was a member of the front artistic brigade, was awarded the Order of the Red Star. In 1981, Green's book “Scattered Pages” was released - an excellent study of the creative environment in which the actress spent her whole life.
Rina Zeleny made her debut on the screen in 1931 and since then has not parted with cinema, starring in 54 films, several film magazines, writing several scripts and voicing a lot of cartoons. She was called the "Queen of laughter." The actress died in 1991 in Moscow.
Thin - Vladimir Basov
It looks like a Thin Wolf is an inveterate bandit. But in the end, he becomes attached to Little Red Riding Hood and no longer wants to do something bad to her. Vladimir Pavlovich Basov, who played this role, is one of the most recognizable faces of Soviet cinema. He was born in 1923, tried to enter VGIK in 1041, but the war broke his plans. Basov passed her the rank of lieutenant, accomplished a real feat, ensuring the capture of an important German defense point, organized an amateur ensemble, which gave more than 150 concerts for soldiers.
In 1947 he entered VGIK at the faculty of directing, graduated from it in 1952, worked at the Mosfilm film studio as an assistant director, and then began to act in films. Vladimir Basov was a gifted and versatile actor, brilliantly playing both comic and tragic characters. And his original appearance was immediately remembered by movie buffs. He has accounted for more than eighty roles in the most famous Soviet films, 19 films, where Basov acted as a director, including the leader of the Soviet distribution, the heroic drama School of Courage, 11 scenarios, including Vladimir Pavlovich co-authored the plot of the famous film Shield and the Sword. " This amazing and versatile person died in 1987, not seeing the death of the USSR.
Tolstoy - Nikolai Trofimov
The good-natured puffy Fat Wolf of short stature is not at all a villain by nature. He is just an obedient and timid son of a domineering mother, struggling to become a real predator. That's just with the Little Red Riding Hood that he certainly will not achieve it, admiring the cheerful carelessness and resourcefulness of the girl. Tolstoy was played by the famous actor of the Leningrad Comedy Theater, and then one of the leading artists of the Bolshoi Drama Theater Nikolai Trofimov.
He was born in 1920 in a family of ordinary workers, but since childhood he has been attracted to art and at the age of 14 he made his debut on the stage of the Youth Theater in the play "Uncle Tom's Cabin". On his account more than 70 roles in the cinema, a huge number of performances in the theater, scoring cartoons. Trofimov is the owner of an incredible number of awards, titles and prizes, both theatrical and "cinema" and the military. He died in 2005, becoming a true legend in theatrical art and in Soviet cinema.
Teen Wolf - Dima Joseph
Little wild hat of Little Red Riding Hood was played by Dmitry Joseph, a Soviet, and then a Belarusian and Russian actor. He was born in 1965 in a family of scientific intelligentsia and at the age of ten became famous throughout the Soviet Union, perfectly fulfilling the role of the protagonist in the film of the same Nechaev "The Adventures of Pinocchio." The role of the Teen Wolf in the film "About Little Red Riding Hood" became his second work.
After graduation, he entered VGIK, and then began an acting career, acting mainly in films of the Lenfilm studio. In the late nineties he moved to Moscow and began his career as a director and cameraman. He is one of the directors of the historical series "Catherine", which has been released since 2016.
