Spring

Grigori Aleksandrov, 1947; 104m

After the war, now over 40, Lubov Orlova was unable to perform her musical and dance numbers the way she did them before. So now a very important task for Aleksandrov was to reinvent his leading lady without stripping her characters off what Orlova was most famous and loved for. Actress's captivating charm, charisma and elegance were sure virtues director was able to bank on.

In 1947 Orlova starred in the romantic comedy Spring alongside the titan of Soviet cinema, Nikolai Cherkassov (best-known for the roles of Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible in Eisenstein's masterpieces). In Spring, Orlova plays a double role: on the one hand she is a scientist Irina Nikitina, and on the other, the actress Vera Shatrova, who is supposed to play a character prototyped after Nikitina. Meant to entertain, the film revolves around endless qui-pro-quos and moves in luxurious interiors far from the drab post-war Soviet reality.