I believe in myself. For a long time I thought in what color should be “colored” review. I stopped in green. I will try to make more or less convincing arguments. After watching the tape, there was a feeling of slight dissatisfaction. Why? The main reason, I think, is the story. Someone else would have appeared in the screenwriters, one might not be surprised, but the name of Sergei Apollinarievich Gerasimov is a kind of standard of quality. So where are the origins of such an uneven scenario? The picture can be divided into about three parts. The first is production. Here Elena Dmitrievna Soboleva, performed by Tamara Makarova, is struggling with postscripts at the plant, which causes not only the discontent of the authorities in the person of director Ivan Vasilyevich Shmelev (Alexander Borisov) and head of the planning department Nikolai Nikolaevich Rybakov (Konstantin Adashevsky), but also the support of chief technologist Andrei Nikolaevich Pavlov.
The second part is "judicial." The principle of Elena Dmitrievna, as well as the fact that she graduated from the law faculty at the evening department, allows her to become a people’s judge. And a fair judge, because it is not for nothing that colleagues "in the shop" say that in her heart she is more a sister of mercy than a judge. The third part is melodramatic. By this time, the viewer has already decided on the assessment of the characters, made preferences for a particular character.
Let’s take a closer look at all three components. But first we need to remember the main thing: the picture was released on screens in September 1956. More than six months have passed since the XXth Congress of the CPSU, best known for condemning Stalin’s cult of personality. This period is also known as the beginning of the Khrushchev Thaw, so the picture of Jan Fried should be viewed exclusively through the prism of this definition. In order to partially “whitewash” the judicial system, which was tarnished by Stalin’s repressions, a plot move was invented with a judge whose heart is “sister of mercy”. In order that this character did not arise “out of oblivion”, for Elena Dmitrievna, a “prehistory” was invented at the factory with tarnished “manly habits” and immoral behavior (mistress) by the director. Now everything seems to add up, but the creators of the picture decide to add “lyrics”. If the relationship of the son of Elena Dmitrievna Kosti (Yuri Perov) with a classmate he liked look natural and harmonious, then the “demon in the rib” from the technologist Andrei Nikolaevich in relation to the main character looks a little ... unexpectedly. I’m not talking about age (love, as you know, all ages are submissive), but about the fact that this storyline has no background, and there is no future, either. It is clear that such a “right” film and characters should be “right”. Hence the corresponding finale, in which the director placed all the dots on "i" with the right accent.
Then why the green color of the review? Thanks to the actors. Someone may think that what is depicted in the picture is a “shoot at sparrows from a cannon”, that a whole galaxy of famous actors is wasting their creative potential in vain. I think this is fundamentally wrong, because for a real actor, there is nothing more important than a new role. Roles can be more or less interesting or meaningful, but for each of them in the heart of the artist is sure to find an inspired corner. It was for this “hearty” participation that I put the green color. Is it possible to evaluate Tamara Makarova's game with gray colors? Of course not! Isn't she charming in her debut role as Lyudmila Gurchenko? Of course she is. Are there no bright colors in the game of Alla Larionova and Nikolai Rybnikov, who will soon connect their fates with one family? But in addition to them, there is also Vera Kuznetsova, Alexandra Denisov, Igor Bogolyubov, Oleg Zhakov, Evgeny Morgunov - a whole galaxy of talented actors who can revive any scenario.