The secrets of district police officer Aniskin: “The Village Detective” is 55 years old

“The Village Detective” – perhaps the most popular and heartfelt film on a crime theme – is 55 years old. On the occasion of this anniversary, let us remember some interesting moments associated with the filming of this first film in the trilogy about the rural district police officer Aniskin.

The basis for the script was the story of the same name by Vil Lipatov. The idea to film it was expressed by the “chief policeman of the country” – the USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov. It was at his suggestion that the ministry reached an agreement with the Moscow film studio, and Lipatov was ordered to write a script. In the same way, at the request of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the wonderful actor Mikhail Zharov was invited to play the main role.

Meticulous researchers managed to find out from whom the central character of the book and film inherited his surname, which later became a household name. It turns out that Vil Lipatov, once living in the Tomsk region, knew two rural district police officers well – Alexander Aniskin and Alexander Shinkevich. The first of them gave the hero of the story his last name, and the second helped the writer to better understand from the inside the specifics of the work of a district police officer in rural areas.

The movie Aniskin ended up not being like the book one. Judging by the description from the story, this local police officer was simply a giant. “Policeman Aniskin was considered the fattest man in the village. The director of the creamery, Cherkashin, weighed one hundred and five kilograms, but the district police officer was a head taller than him, much thicker… Despite his weight, the district police officer walked quickly around the village, especially on cool days, and loved to talk to people…”

The first part of this verbal portrait does not at all fit with the image embodied on the screen by Mikhail Zharov, but the second is reproduced exactly the same.

At the same time, the creators of “The Village Detective” “cheated” their hero by giving the 60-year-old (according to the descriptions in the book) employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs the rank of only a lieutenant. True, in the two subsequent films of “Aniskiniada” there was a rapid increase in ranks: Fyodor Ivanovich became first a senior lieutenant, and then a major, skipping one step – like Yuri Gagarin, who started as a senior leader and returned to earth as a major.

Before starting work on the film, its authors had great doubts whether Mikhail Zharov would agree to star in this role. However, the veteran artist, who had been in “forced downtime” for several years before, took up the work with pleasure. And he very convincingly “looked younger” in the frame, playing a cheerful 60-year-old district police officer, although Zharov himself was already 69 at that time.

Mikhail Ivanovich even spared no time for an “internship” in the internal affairs bodies: before the start of filming, he visited one of the regional departments of the city of Kalinin (Tver) several times and observed the work of the most experienced employee – Fyodor Afanasyev. According to some members of the film crew, it was from him that Zharov spied a characteristic external attribute for his hero – an army tablet, which Afanasyev, who fought as an officer at the front, did not part with while working “on the ground”, preferring folders that had become fashionable among younger people his colleagues. This “military mark” migrated to the screen Aniskin.

Filming took place in the Kalinin (Tver) region – in the ancient village of Gorodnya, located on the high bank of the Volga. (Although according to the script, the action takes place in some almost taiga outback, from where, judging by some of the characters’ remarks, it will take many kilometers to get to civilization).

Local residents were involved as extras, and anyway, at every opportunity, they tried to see how the film was being filmed, to be closer to the famous actors participating in the episodes. Of course, Mikhail Zharov received the most attention.

For his birthday, the town residents organized a big feast with numerous village treats – pickles, pickles, mushrooms… And, of course, with drinks appropriate for the occasion!

There were also “temporary” overlaps, which are so traditional in the film process – when the natural weather situation in the frame does not correspond to real climatic conditions at all.

In this case, we are talking about filming a scene where three young guys walk through the village on a summer evening, singing a humorous song about their local police officer: “Aniskin! This, you know, is funny – ha-ha-ha-ha!..” Initially, according to the script plan, the film was supposed to include only one verse and chorus. However, later the creators of the film decided to lengthen the scene by adding another verse. By that time, it was already deep autumn, so the actors had to work several takes in the cold in only light shirts, trying their best to restrain the trembling that overcame them and not even allowing themselves to breathe deeply – otherwise steam would begin to come out of their mouths, treacherously unmasking the entire supposedly summer scene.

After the release of The Village Detective, Mikhail Zharov was promoted to “honorary policeman” – on behalf of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he was presented with two sets of police uniforms. In this uniform, the actor later performed several times at concerts dedicated to Police Day.

Professional employees of the internal affairs bodies highly appreciated the work of this artist in “Village Detective”. Here is just one of the responses that have survived from that time: “A truthful and accurate film. In the image of Aniskin, created by the wonderful Mikhail Zharov, I see my colleagues, honest and devoted police officers. Of course, from our professional point of view, there are some inaccuracies here, but they are more than compensated by the skill of the filmmakers.”

“Village Detective” immediately gained great popularity. In 1969, about 25 million viewers watched it in the USSR. At the end of the year, the film entered the top 20 of Soviet film distribution.