Hussar Ballad

The Hussar Ballad (Russian: Гусарская баллада, romanized: Gusarskaya ballada) is a 1962 Soviet musical film by Eldar Ryazanov, filmed at Mosfilm. In effect, it is one of the best-loved musical comedies in Russia. With most of its dialogue delivered in verse, Ryazanov's script romanticizes the adventures of the historical transgender man Aleksandr Aleksandrov during the Napoleonic Wars. The swift-paced, action-packed, humor-filled adventure is ingeniously mixed with light-hearted acting bravado and memorable operetta pieces. The film's musical score and songs were written by Tikhon Khrennikov. The leading roles — those of the cavalry maiden Shurochka Azarova and the dashing hussar Poruchik Dmitry Rzhevsky — were played by Andrei Mironov's future wife Larisa Golubkina and the People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Yakovlev, respectively. Comedian Igor Ilyinsky appeared as the one-eyed Field-Marshal Prince Mikhail Kutuzov. The film is based on the play A Long Time Ago by Alexander Gladkov. The film proved so popular with Soviet audiences that Poruchik Rzhevsky became quite a folklore character, featured in numerous jokes.