Barely having time to enter the country's television screens on August 11, 1973, the serial film "Seventeen Moments of Spring", directed by Tatyana Lioznova, produced the effect of a bomb. All Soviet viewers, forgetting about other matters, clung to their TV screens for twelve days, holding their breath, watching the heroic everyday life of the intelligence officer Maxim Isaev, better remembered as SS Standartenführer Max Otto von Stirlitz, performed by the wonderful Soviet and Russian actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov.
History of creation
Stirlitz owes his appearance on the pages of books to the writer Yulian Semenov, who wrote a trilogy novel about Soviet intelligence officers during the Great Patriotic War. The first book, entitled "No Password Needed", was published back in 1966. It was followed over the next three years by "Major Whirlwind" and, in fact, the novel "Seventeen Moments of Spring", the film on which was soon shot on the personal initiative of the chairman of the State Security Committee Yuri Andropov.
In the same year, in which the novel itself was written, the management of the Lenfilm film studio bought the script of the same name from Yulian Semenov, urgently approved it and appointed a director. Preparatory work for filming had already begun, tests of the first applicants for the role took place. Suddenly Tatyana Lioznova intervened in the situation, until that moment had managed to establish herself as a brilliant director's work in the just-released film "Three Poplars on Plyushchikha".
After a long time, she still managed to convince Semenov to withdraw the script from Lenfilm and sell it in which she worked.
Location question
Since the future television film was dedicated to the feat of Soviet intelligence officers risking their lives in the very lair of Nazi Germany - the city of Berlin, in addition to the selection of actors that would reflect as much as possible the vision of this story by the director Lioznova herself, who managed to almost completely correct and supplement the entire author's script by the beginning of filming, it was necessary to solve another , no less important question. It consisted in the fact that somehow it was necessary to convey the atmosphere of Berlin, Swiss Bern and other places of front-line Europe, but at the same time manage not to go beyond the allocated budget.
I had to use all my ingenuity and imagination. She came up with the idea of \u200b\u200bsolving this issue through geographical imitations, presenting on the screen some cities and states as completely different.
As a result, there were many places where the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" was filmed. They were both abroad and inside the country, and sometimes one single scene, visible to the viewer at the TV screen as a whole, was actually a whole patchwork quilt. As an example, we can cite the scene of Professor Pleischner's failure, in which he first begins his journey in German Meissen, admires the cubs already at the Tbilisi Zoo, and ends his life on the pavement of the Latvian capital Riga.
The Swiss border, which Pastor Schlag crossed, was in Georgia. The Berlin Zoological Museum, in which Stirlitz was expecting Bormann, was filmed in Leningrad. Filming "Seventeen Moments of Spring" in Butyrka prison easily portrayed the horrors of the torture chambers of the fascist Gestapo (pictured below).
Let us dwell in more detail on the filming locations of this legendary film, which for forty-five years has not lost either its relevance or the love of viewers.
GDR
After the end of all the organizational hardships, in the spring of 1971, work on the film finally began.
The film crew, along with all the props and actors, went to the friendly German Democratic Republic, the first of the locations where "17 Moments of Spring" was filmed. There it was planned to shoot the murder of a fascist provocateur by Stirlitz, performed by actor Lev Durov, as well as all the full-scale scenes of front-line Berlin.
However, the visiting commission did not release Durov from the fatherland. The reason for this was the artist's apolitical nature. On the question asked about what the flag of the Soviet Union looks like, Lev Durov replied:
It looks very simple: a black background with a white skull and two crossed tibia. The flag is called "Jolly Roger" ...
His name was immediately struck off the list of departures.
So, exactly what sights of the GDR became the very places where "17 Moments of Spring" was filmed?
There were quite a few of them. First, in Germany, views of the Swiss Bern were filmed, the city where Professor Pleischner arrived, whose role was played by the brilliant actor Yevgeny Evstigneev. Having appeared in Bern, the professor walks along its streets and gets acquainted with the city. TV viewers see old houses, unusual for the Soviet eye, tiled roofs, cobblestone pavements and the city cathedral with two symmetrical bell towers.
In fact, these shots were made on the Schlossbrücke street in the East German city of Meissen.
The second object for filming was the Stirlitz house, according to the script located in Babelsberg, an area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Potsdam.
In fact, this house is located in the Pankow district, the northern part of Berlin. It was here that the Soviet intelligence officer lived.
Another place where "17 Moments of Spring" was filmed, in particular, the hospital in which the screen child of radio operator Kat was born, was the real Berlin university clinic "Charite".
This hospital was founded in 1710 and is the oldest medical institution not only in Germany, but also in Europe.
"Elephant"
This establishment, Stirlitz's favorite beer restaurant, is known to any patriot of the TV movie.
In real life, "Elephant" is called Zur Letzten Instanz, which translates as "Last Resort". The restaurant is not only one of the attractions of Berlin, but also the oldest institution in the world, since the first mention of the building in which it is located dates back to 1561. The very same "Instance" dates back to 1621.
Over the years, such celebrities and historical figures as Napoleon Bonaparte, Clara Zetkin, Wilhelm Raabe, Charlie Chaplin have become visitors to this restaurant. And in the new history, the guests of "Instance" were Mikhail Gorbachev, Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin.
We are interested in this institution primarily as another place where "17 Moments of Spring" was filmed. It was here, in a pub, named after the film "Elephant", that Stirlitz once had a silent five-minute meeting with his wife, arranged by the Soviet foreign intelligence services.
In the same restaurant, Maxim Isaev had dinner with Pastor Schlag, played by the famous actor Rostislav Plyatt. True, this time the institution already bore a different name - Zum groben Gottlieb, which translates from German as “At the rude Gottlieb”.
The very famous and touching meeting of Stirlitz with his wife, whose image was embodied by the actress Eleanor Shashkova, was filmed not in this restaurant, but in Moscow, in the pavilion of the film studio.
Gorky Film Studio
After a month of work in the GDR, the film crew returned to Moscow, almost immediately starting work in the pavilions of the Gorky film studio specially created for the film.
By their arrival, the decorators managed to do a serious amount of work, recreating in their decorations the setting of Stirlitz's safe house, corridors of the Reich Chancellor of Germany and the office of the head of the secret state police Heinrich Müller, whose image became practically the first iconic work in the cinema of actor Leonid Bronevoy. The tunic sewn by costume designers rubbed Leonid Sergeyevich's neck out of habit, so he constantly nervously twitched his chin to the side. This movement was noticed by the director Lioznova and subsequently left in the film.
Work in the pavilions lasted almost the entire summer, after which the film crew went to the Latvian SSR.
Latvia
Shooting in Riga "Seventeen Moments of Spring" became one of the most important in the film. In the capital of Latvia, many episodes were filmed, giving viewers the atmosphere of both Berlin and Bern.
One of the sights of the city used in the film is the Riga House with black cats, which can be seen in the photo below.
This building in the central part of the Old Town of Riga, built in 1909, for the purpose of the film became for a time a Berlin hotel, where the Soviet intelligence officer Isaev met with Hitler's personal secretary Martin Borman, whose role, after some hesitation, was played by the Soviet songwriter and poet Yuri Vizbor.
The next object for filming was the Lutheran Church of the Cross, which is an architectural monument of the city of Riga.
This building for the needs of the film became the church of Pastor Schlag, and its outer shell. At the same time, the pastor was engaged in repairing the organ and conducting services in the premises of St. Paul's Church in Riga, the interior of which was also used in the painting.
The turnout of the Soviet intelligence officer in Bern was thwarted in a tenement house built in 1903 by the architect Wilhelm Ludwig Nikolaus Bokslavs.
In the right window in the photo below there was supposed to be a flower as a conditional signal warning of the failure of Stirlitz's safe house.
Professor Pleischner, by mistake, ignored this.
In order not to fall into the hands of the thugs of Gruppenführer Müller, he took his own life by jumping out of the entrance window onto the paving stones at about the place shown in the photo below.
The episode of the death of Professor Pleischner became one of the most dramatic in the film.
Flower street
This place, whose real name sounds like Jauniela Street, has become the most famous Soviet cinematic street in Old Riga over the years.
In "Seventeen Moments of Spring" it was called Blumenstrasse. In another famous film, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson", Jauniel Street became the very Baker Street.
In fact, the Flower Street in Bern, according to the script, which became the last refuge for the unfortunate Professor Pleischner, never existed and never does.
Georgia
In January 1972, filming of "Seventeen Moments of Spring" began in Georgia. The purpose of the trip of the film crew was Tbilisi, in the zoo of which an episode of Professor Pleischner's visit to the alleged Bernese menagerie was filmed.
In the Borjomi mountains, Pastor Shlag's crossing was filmed, and the place where the pastor started skiing was the Bakuriani ski resort.
The main greeting from sunny Georgia in the film was the same silent scene of Stirlitz's meeting with his wife in the Elephant cafe, the idea of \u200b\u200bwhich was submitted to Tatiana Lioznova by one of the main consultants of Seventeen Moments of Spring, Georgian KGB colonel Georgy Pipia, who took this story from his personal experience.
Moscow
By March, the film crew returned to Moscow. There were also a lot of places where this film was filmed.
In the very first shots of the picture, you can see Stirlitz walking in the suburbs of Berlin with Frau Saurich along the bank of a beautiful pond. In fact, this place was the former manor house of Arkhangelskoye-Tyurikovo, located in the North-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow.
The building of the US special services in Bern was the city of the eighteenth century on Myasnitskaya Street in Moscow.
The house with a safe house, in which the Nazis mocked the child of radio operator Kat, was the Solovyov mansion at the intersection of Khlebny and Maly Rzhevsky lanes.
Rizhsky railway station in Moscow, which is an architectural monument, was involved in the film twice.
For the first time, the Rizhsky railway station was used as an image of the border station, from which Professor Pleischner departs for the Swiss Bern. In the last episode of the film, he has already "played the role" of the railway station of the city of Bern, from which Stirlitz escorted radio operator Kat to Paris.
The Lira cafe, once popular among young people, was chosen for the Alpine Skiers Hotel, in which a drunk lady pestered Stirlitz, on the site of which the first McDonald's restaurant in the Soviet Union was built (pictured below).
Instead of an afterword
From 11 to 24 August 1973, the premiere of "Seventeen Moments of Spring" took place, capturing the attention of viewers for twelve days and even sharply reducing the level of crime, according to official police reports.
The same reaction of viewers was observed in Hungary, Bulgaria, Cuba, and everywhere, where this wonderful film was ever broadcast.
There is a legend according to which, after viewing this picture, a sentimental Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev ordered to immediately find and reward the real Stirlitz.
However, the fictional character Maxim Isaev was just a beautiful film legend about the feat of Soviet intelligence officers and the terrible war that the country experienced in those distant times, which must never be forgotten ...
the site decided to reveal the details of the shooting of the famous film.
In 1969, the novel by Yulian Semyonov had not even been released as a separate book, but the script "Seventeen Moments of Spring" has already been approved and the director has been selected.
Director Tatyana Lioznova fought so hard for the right to shoot the film that Semyonov had to withdraw the script from Lenfilm.
She selected the actors for her picture with incredible precision - the image had to match 100%. Lioznova, disagreeing with anyone.
The main rival of Ekaterina Gradova, who played the Russian radio operator Kat, was Irina Alferova.
The Leningrad singer Maria Pakhomenko and Svetlana Svetlichnaya, who were later approved for the role of Gabi, in love with the main character, auditioned for the role of Stirlitz's wife. Well, the wife of a Soviet intelligence agent was destined to become the actress of the Vakhtangov Theater, Eleonora Shashkova, who was brought to the site the day before filming.
Faina Ranevskaya could have appeared in the film, but Semenov did not respond to Lioznova's request and refused the scene with the participation of the old German woman. The director immediately decided that during the filming she would do everything in her own way. When Lioznova and Semenov came to Ranevskaya's home and showed her the script, Faina Georgievna, having read it, was horrified. “What is this idiocy? - she exclaimed. - How can you play it? And she flatly refused.
The great Faina Ranevskaya could have appeared in the film
There were several candidates for the role of Hitler, for which two Leonids auditioned: Bronevoy and Kuravlev. However, their photo tests did not satisfy the director, and they were approved for other roles: Bronevoy played Müller, Kuravlev played Aisman. And Hitler was the German actor Fritz Diez, who, ever since the epic "Liberation", was forever registered in this role.
Filming of "Seventeen Moments of Spring" took place both abroad and in different parts of the USSR.
The scene where Pastor Schlag crosses the Swiss border was actually filmed in Georgia. The Gestapo dungeons were found in the Butyrka prison. The Zoological Museum, where Stirlitz was waiting for Bormann, was filmed in Leningrad. And a few hours before the failure, Professor Pleischner begins to walk in Meissen in Germany, then looks at the cubs in the Tbilisi Zoo, reaches Blumenstrasse and is thrown out of the window in Riga. In addition to nature filming, the film also used a large amount of military documentary chronicles.Filming took place both abroad and in different parts of the USSR
Musical compositions "Song of the distant homeland" and "Moments" on the verses of Robert Rozhdestvensky became an indisputable decoration of the picture. However, finding the right artist for them proved to be difficult.
Invited to record the songs were: Muslim Magomayev, Valery Obodzinsky, Vadim Mulerman, Valentina Tolkunova. As a result, they agreed on Joseph Kobzon. However, the director demanded that he sang as if "there is no Kobzon in the film." The singer was upset, but still did what was asked of him. But his name did not get into the credits, since they were made before the artist was approved.
Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Oleg Strizhenov and Archil Gomiashvili auditioned for the role of Stirlitz. The candidacy of the latter, who became famous as Ostap Bender in "12 chairs", was defended by the author of the novel Yulian Semenov. Strizhenov was busy, but Smoktunovsky was not satisfied that the filming could take two years. Vsevolod Sanaev was considered for the role of Muller. But he refused: "I will not play a fascist!" They were looking for Hitler for a long time. Auditioned by Leonid Kuravlev. Unconvincing. They took a German, and he was given the role of the one-eyed SS man Eisman. As Kuravlev told us, he was not averse to playing the Fuhrer: “But failure! Well, even great artists fail. Lioznova always had personal opinion". The main rival of Ekaterina Gradova, who played the radio operator Kat, was Irina Alferova, but she was abroad at that time.
Smoktunovsky, Strizhenov and Gomiashvili auditioned for the role of Stirlitz
"17 Moments" is considered the most expensive Soviet TV series "17 Moments" is considered the most expensive Soviet TV series, although the film's real budget is a mystery shrouded in darkness. Moreover: so much money was spent on the shooting that Lioznova did not have enough money to complete the film. Still, the shooting lasted two years in different cities and countries.
One of the most romantic episodes of the film is the meeting of Colonel Isaev with his wife in the Elefant cafe in Germany. Although there was no scene of a date in a cafe in Semyonov's novel. Tikhonov suggested inserting it after talking with one of the scouts. It turns out that many of our residents arranged such contactless meetings with their relatives.
In the capital's places, where Stirlitz and other heroes of the film walked, "AiF" moscow expert Tatiana Vorontsova.
Germany ... in Moscow
It is generally accepted in our country that all overseas in the Soviet Union was filmed in the Baltic states. But "17 Moments of Spring" is a confirmation that Europe can be found on the territory of Moscow - here we have both Bern and Berlin. At least half of the nature - forests, old mansions - was filmed in the capital.
Remember the moment as SS Standartenfuehrer Stirlitz ( Vyacheslav Tikhonov) under the name of Mr. Bolsen, he walks with Frau Saurich ( Emilia Milton) in a small forest on the banks of a beautiful pond?
It turns out that these picturesque places were filmed in our northeast, on the Chelobityevskoye highway connecting Altufevka and Dmitrovka, about a kilometer from the Moscow Ring Road. The heroes walk through the forest. (1) At the time of filming, the forest parks of the 16th century Barsky estate Arkhangelskoye-Tyurikovo were preserved there. Ash trees, maples, oaks - this vegetation was typical for parks in Europe. Therefore, the Bern - Berlin track and walks allegedly near Berlin were filmed in this area. I wonder what Juliana Semyonova Frau Saurich was not there, it was invented by the director Tatiana Lioznovato "humanize" the strict Stirlitz. While walking, Frau picks off the grass and asks Stirlitz-Bolsen: "Do your kidneys hurt?" - "No." - "Sorry. Very sorry. Because this broth is very helpful for sick kidneys. "
These picturesque places were filmed on the Chelobityevskoe highway. Photo: Still from the film
In the picture, Stirlitz drives a 1938 Mercedes-Benz. Three identical cars were found for filming in Moscow, Riga and East Berlin. Only one car had windshield wipers on top, another - from the bottom of the windshield, and the third car had no wipers at all. With wipers on top was a Moscow Mercedes ... It was in it that Stirlitz fell asleep for 20 minutes. And I woke up in a Mercedes with wipers underneath ...
According to the plot in the second series, Stirlitz kills the agent and provocateur Klaus ( Lev Durov). Vyacheslav Tikhonov was already a famous actor and attracted a huge number of onlookers to the set in Arkhangelsk-Tyurikovo. A special excitement began when Stirlitz threw the pistol into the pond. Local boys, despite the cold weather, dived for several more days to find these weapons.
And the negotiations between the Germans and the Americans were filmed actually under the walls of the KGB - in the Chertkov estate at the beginning of Myasnitskaya Street, 7 (2) ... This pearl of the center of Moscow (at that moment it was occupied by the "Knowledge" society) in the fifth episode is the mansion of the US special department in Bern. Vasily Lanovoy, playing Obergruppen-Fuehrer SS Karl Wolff, was incredibly famous and was considered the main sex symbol of the country. And in the society "Knowledge" mostly women worked. And everyone wanted to look at Lanovoy. Vasily Semyonovich is a great actor, but when he was distracted, he forgot the text. And female faces appearing in the doorway incredibly prevented him from concentrating. As a result, even a police squad had to be called in to shoot the necessary episodes.
Negotiations between Germans and Americans were filmed actually under the walls of the KGB - in the Chertkov estate at the beginning of Myasnitskaya Street, 7. Photo: AiF / Edward Kudryavitsky
Our Moscow Rizhsky railway station was featured in the picture "17 Moments of Spring" in two episodes. (Riga square, 1) (3) In the sixth, he played the role of a German border station - from him Professor Pleischner ( Evgeny Evstigneev) went on a mission to Bern. And closer to the finale, in the twelfth episode, Rizhsky is shown to us as a station in Bern. From there, Stirlitz sent the rescued radio operator Kat (Ekaterina Gradova) to France. There's a funny blooper in there. On the carriage we see an inscription in German about the number of seats in the carriage and its class. And a little bit below it is written in Russian - "container 58 t".
Rizhsky Station was featured in the picture in two episodes. Photo: AiF / Edward Kudryavitsky
Stirlitz ... at the Georgian embassy?
In Episode 8, radio operator Kat is arrested. At the safe house, the Gestapo is trying to knock out codes from it. In fact, we see in the film the corner of the Khlebny and Maly Rzhevsky lanes. This mansion was built in 1901-1902. architect Solovyov for his family and became one of the main masterpieces of Moscow Art Nouveau (M. Rzhevsky per., 6) (4) Until 2008, it was occupied by the Georgian Embassy, \u200b\u200bnow it is in an undefined status. So you can ask a riddle: what was Stirlitz doing at the Georgian Embassy?
Radio operator Kat is kept in the Gestapo safe house. The shooting was on the corner of Maly Rzhevsky and Khlebny lanes, we see Solovyov's mansion in the Art Nouveau style.
Photo: Still from the film; AiF / Edward KudryavitskyAnd the "insides" of the Gestapo apartment were filmed at the Film Studio. Gorky (S. Eisenstein St., 8) (5) Lioznova recalled: for a very long time they could not get a cry from "Kat's son". According to the film, a Gestapo man puts a naked baby in the cold by opening a window. And they filmed a scene in the pavilion, and under the warm rays of the spotlights, the child began to smile happily.
In "17 Moments of Spring" there is a cult, I am not afraid of this word, a cafe-bar "Lira" on Pushkin Square. In the winter of 1990, the first McDonald's in the Soviet Union was opened on the site of the Lyra (Bolshaya Bronnaya St., 29) (6) It's a pity, Muscovites of the older generation say that in the 1970s they went here to “play” abroad - there it was written in Latin letters “bar”, they served cocktails with straws and coffee in elegant earthenware cups ... And Lioznova, for the same reason, a cafe liked it - within the walls of "Lyra" they filmed an episode when a lady with a fox ( Inna Ulyanova) pesters Stirlitz, who has come to a restaurant to meet with a contact. A drunk woman declares, "In love, I am Einstein." Stirlitz, to get rid of her, asks to wait for him on the street: "Go draw a couple of formulas."
But Stirlitz's meeting with his wife ( Eleanor Shashkova) in the cafe "Elefant" was filmed not in a restaurant, but in the pavilion of the film studio. Gorky. By the way, initially this scene was not in the book or in the script. The idea to the director was submitted by Vyacheslav Tikhonov. The story of how intelligence agents are forced to secretly, from afar to see their wives, he was told by an acquaintance colonel, acting under the name Gordon Lonsdale.
In August 1973, for 12 evenings in a row, strange things were happening in the Soviet Union: electricity consumption increased sharply, while water consumption decreased, and even street crime was practically zero - this fact was recorded in police statistics. For the first time, the vast country watched Tatiana Lioznova's film "Seventeen Moments of Spring".
How it all began
It is believed that the unofficial "godfather" of the picture was the chairman of the KGB of the USSR, Yuri Andropov. Allegedly, in a conversation with Yulian Semyonov, he praised the political detectives that the writer had been creating for several years, and offered to film the novels about Isaev. As a concrete help, he even allowed the author to work for some time in the KGB archives - this opportunity really took Semyonov's breath away, because until then no other writer had had such luck. By the way, the film was advised by the first deputy chairman of the KGB, Colonel-General Semyon Kuzmich Tsvigun, however, in the credits he is indicated under an assumed name.
Yulian Semenov, author of the novel "Seventeen Moments of Spring" and author of the film script Yulian Semenov began working on the script for the film at the same time as the book was written. As a result, it was even completed a year earlier than the printed edition of the novel was published - in 1968, and already in 1970 at the Gorky film studio, the shooting of a picture began, which will become the favorite film masterpiece of millions of viewers for many decades. Tatyana Lioznova was not immediately able to prove that a woman was capable of becoming a director of such a large-scale project, for this she had to "move" several male applicants, but she succeeded. Actors and roles
"Seventeen Moments of Spring" became the leader of Soviet cinema in terms of the number of folk actors. However, the cast, as often happens, did not take shape right away. Today it seems to us that no one except Vyacheslav Tikhonov could have played the role of Stirlitz, in fact, not long before filming Tatyana Lioznova seriously considered the candidacies of Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Oleg Strizhenov, Yuri Solomin and even Gaidaevsky Ostap Bender Archil Gomiashvili (according to rumors, her during this period just had an affair with him). Fortunately, unlike all the listed actors, Tikhonov simply turned out to be more free, and the choice was on him.
Another famous actress could also play the radio operator Kat. If not for a business trip, in this role, we could see Irina Alferova. The image of Frau Zaurich was written for Faina Ranevskaya, who simply refused this episodic role, "in which there is nothing to play." But Leonid Kuravlev was almost approved for the role of ... Hitler. By the way, he looked very convincing in makeup and even began to rehearse, but, according to him, he refused: “I really had samples for Hitler. I rehearsed, they made me up like Hitler ... But I did not master this antichrist, my nature was against it. ”As a result, the“ antichrist ”was played by the German actor Fritz Diez, who by that time had almost become the“ regular Hitler ”of international cinema. 
Lenid Kuravlev in the make-up of Hitler and Eisman for the film "17 Moments of Spring" When there was such an opportunity, they tried to adhere to historical accuracy in the choice of actors. So, for example, with the appearance of Schellenberg performed by Oleg Tabakov, it was incredibly possible to hit the bull's-eye. According to the memoirs of Yulia Vizbora, after the release of the film on the screens, Tabakov received a very unexpected message. Schellenberg's own niece wrote to him from Germany, who thanked the Russian actor very much for the way he played this role. The woman admitted that she revised the picture several times to look at "Uncle Walter." 
The real Walter Friedrich Schellenberg and Oleg Tabakov in this role But with the image of Heinrich Müller came a bobble. The director's group did not have photographs of a real historical person, and Leonid Bronevoy was not taken for this role for external resemblance. Then it turned out that the real Mueller was a tall, thin, hump-nosed brunette. However, the image of the "good-natured" Gestapo chief became, as a result, one of the most striking in the film. Bronevoy himself argued that if he knew then what the historical Muller looks like, he would most likely refuse the role. As close to life as possible
The film, despite the enormous internal tension and military-espionage theme, in the course of the development of the plot does not at all refer to the militants. It has very little movement and action scenes. In contrast to this, Tatiana Lioznova did her best to "revive" the characters. In order to more deeply show the inner world of the protagonist, she, for example, finished the script herself and came up with the images of Frau Saurich and Gaby. Their dialogues were created literally on the set, almost impromptu, although such liberties deeply contradicted her directorial approach.
In general, from the point of view of acting, the role of Stirlitz is considered very difficult. According to Lev Durov, there is nothing in it except for analysis and comparison - there is no opportunity to somehow reveal the character of the hero. Therefore, I had to create around him some little things in life. For example, a dog that put Stirlitz's head in his hands. This episode came out quite by accident - it is not known whose dog just wandered onto the set and approached the actor herself. 
For the rest of the characters, the director came up with special human "zest", as Lioznova called them, "quirks". For example, Mueller's characteristic movement, when he jerks his neck from a tight collar, was born by accident during filming - Bronevoy really got in the way of the suit, and he involuntarily did this several times: “Why did you stop jerking your neck? - once asked the actor on the set of Lioznova. - What, you need to pull? - Broneva was surprised. - Yes, yes, that’s very good. ” Obersturmbannführer Eisman, played by Leonid Kuravlev, in addition to the Aryan nose with a hump, received a black patch on the eye. The actor was in no way given the role of a Gestapo employee, and so, according to Lioznova, “a biography immediately appeared”. There were other difficulties on the set of the film. For example, a baby who had to be filmed. Children always create difficulties on the set, so at first they thought of using a doll, but then abandoned this idea - a tense scene when a newborn is undressed by an open window, of course, would not have been possible without a real child. By the way, I want to reassure everyone at once - in fact, it was so warm in the pavilion that the sound engineer even had a problem with recording the cry, and then I had to go to the children's hospital to finish writing it. The youngest actor was snoring peacefully at the time of filming the heartbreaking episode. Another unexpected question had to be solved when it turned out that the children were growing too quickly (as you know, only strangers, of course). Since the shooting lasted three years, six different babies had to be filmed in the role of the "real hero". More than forty years have passed since the premiere of Seventeen Moments of Spring, a film that became legendary after its release.
We invite you to get acquainted with the amazing facts that have become part of the history of the creation of this tape.
1. The effect of presence
Many viewers wondered: why "Seventeen Moments of Spring" came out in black and white, because in 1973 color films were actively released, although not everyone had TVs with color transmission. Tatiana Lioznova deliberately sought to resemble a documentary, so the film used a lot of materials with military chronicles, which by default could not be colored. If the fragments filmed by the crew had a different atmosphere from the documentaries, it would deprive the film of the effect of presence. 
2. Without "Glory"
When Stirlitz lays out matches on the table, in fact, the hands of the artist Felix Rostotsky appear in the frame. The thing is that on the back of Vyacheslav Tikhonov's hand there was a large ink tattoo "GLORY" - hello from youth. It is clear that Stirlitz could not have such a mark, but no makeup could hide it. By the way, Rostotsky also wrote encryptions for Professor Pleischner. No, Evgeny Evstigneev did not have a tattoo "ZHENYA" on his arm - the disgusting handwriting of the actor is to blame for everything. 
3. Under the gaze from the Lubyanka
When creating the film, special attention was paid to historical accuracy, so real employees of the Lubyanka were hired as consultants. At the request of Yuri Andropov, who headed the KGB at that time, their names were cut from the credits. 
After watching the final version of the film, the consultants found contradictions in the actions of the heroes of the film with the job description of the NKVD, but the decision of the censorship was to leave controversial points, because Stirlitz was to become the idol of Soviet citizens.
4. Custom SS warriors
In pursuit of historical accuracy, the film's curators revealed an almost anecdotal mistake. Looking through the footage of the German army, one of the consultants noticed that all the SS soldiers from the crowd were played by actors with a typically Jewish appearance. A scandal erupted, and several dozen border guard cadets were urgently sent from Estonia, as if they were blue-eyed and blond. 
5. Made in the USSR
Each outfit was sewn only after the approval of the clothing consultant - the former intelligence officer Colonel Brown, who knew the specifics of the German uniform down to the smallest subtleties. But the German costume designer did not cope with the task and dressed the extras in a form that is absolutely contrary to historical accuracy. Then from the USSR they sent 60 boxes with uniforms from Soviet tailors. When the extras dressed in her came out onto the set, the Germans themselves were stunned - even the most meticulous specialist would not have found any difference from the original SS costumes. 
6. An unexpected shot
The scene with Stirlitz and the dog is pure improvisation. When Tikhonov was parking his Mercedes in the courtyard, a dog walking nearby with the owner came running and sat down next to the actor. He was not taken aback and began to work with the mongrel under the sight of cameras: "Whose are you, you fool?" The dog approached himself and tenderly nuzzled his palms. The stage seemed to the director very successful, and it was included in the script. 
7. Film screening for the Cuban government
Fidel Castro is said to have been a huge fan of this series. Once, for several days in a row, a number of key officials did not appear at evening meetings of the Cuban government. It turned out that the ministers were sneaking out of service like schoolchildren to watch a new episode of "Instants." As a wise leader, Fidel did not punish his subordinates, instead arranging a collective screening of the film for the government, which took 14 hours. 
8. For which Tikhonov was almost arrested
It turns out that Vyacheslav Tikhonov could have been arrested while filming in the GDR. Once the actor either forgot or was too lazy to change his clothes and went to the set in the SS uniform. Residents of East Berlin, in indignation, almost handed Stirlitz to the police, but members of the film crew came running to the noise and explained the situation to the alarmed public. 
9. How "Jolly Roger" did not allow Durov to travel abroad
The shooting of the scene with the murder of Gestapo Klaus was supposed to take place in the GDR, but the performer of the role, Lev Durov, was refused to be released abroad. He needed to get the consent of the visiting committee, but the actor failed at the "exam": when asked to describe the Soviet flag, he began to talk about the pirate "Jolly Roger", and after the question about the capitals of the union republics, he listed cities that had nothing to do with them. As a result, the commission rejected Durov's request with the wording "for bad behavior", and Klaus had to die somewhere in the forests of the Moscow region. 
10.20 quiet evenings
According to the State TV and Radio, the premiere of "Seventeen Moments of Spring" was watched by over 200 million viewers. Over the course of twelve evenings, the streets of the cities of the USSR were sharply emptied, water consumption decreased, even the crime rate dropped - all people were chained to screens. 
11. Unusual voice of Kobzon
When Mikael Tariverdiev wrote the musical score for the film, Lioznova faced the question of whom to choose as a performer. Muslim Magomayev, Valentina Tolkunova and Valery Obodzinsky offered their versions of the compositions - the director rejected them all. Someone advised Tatyana the candidacy of Joseph Kobzon, but she answered sharply: "So that Kobzon is not even close in the film!" The singer was offended, but later it turned out that Lioznova was not going to offend his talent, just the proprietary "Kobzon" style of performance was not suitable for the tape. Therefore, in the cult “Don't think down on seconds” and other compositions from the film, a voice sounds so unlike the usual Kobzon timbre - the singer offered a dozen options in different performances. 
12.100 white shirts for Stirlitz
Speaking of clothes, Stirlitz had to take a hundred white shirts to shoot in the GDR. The dresser was not invited abroad in order to save the budget, and there was no one to wash, so Tikhonov began every shooting day in a brand new shirt. 
13. Convincing Müller
The audition for the role of Muller ended after auditioning Leonid Bronevoy, who at that time was known as a theater actor and had not the slightest idea about the intricacies of filmmaking: favorable angles, spectacular turns. He was simply given the role, which he completed brilliantly as a result. Before that, he auditioned for the role of Hitler, but, as the actor himself admitted, "I did not master this antichrist, my very nature was against it." 
Lioznova was delighted with her choice, she was especially delighted with her ability to emphasize the nervous character of the head of the Gestapo, who from time to time twitched his neck strangely. Then it turned out that Mueller's nervous tic was not at all the author's find of the actor; the collar of his shirt was simply too tight and uncomfortable. This inconspicuous detail fit into the image so much that Mueller still became a neurasthenic, although they still gave out a loose shirt to Armor.
The editorial board recommends that you read the article about the frontline actors who defended the freedom of our country with a gun in their hands.
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