True Friends (film)

True Friends (Верные друзья) is a 1954 Soviet adventure comedy-drama film directed by Mikhail Kalatozov.

Plot
Alexander, Boris and Vasily are three old friends, who now barely see each other as they are busy with their professional life. They embark on long-planned voyage on a raft down the Yauza river, which turns into a series of comical accidents but also strengthens their friendship.

Cast

 * Vasili Merkuryev as Vasili Nestratov
 * Boris Chirkov as Boris Chizhov
 * Aleksandr Borisov as Alexander Lapin
 * Alexey Gribov as Nekhoda
 * Liliya Gritsenko as Natalya Sergeyevna
 * Lyudmila Shagalova as Katya
 * Alexey Pokrovsky as junior lieutenant
 * Lyudmila Genika-Chirkova as Masha
 * Mikhail Pugovkin as club entertainer
 * Nikolay Smorchkov as Alexey Mazaev
 * Yuri Sarantsev as Sergey

Production
True Friends was made in the aftermath of the death of Joseph Stalin, when political control over Soviet cinema relaxed considerably. Josephin Woll wrote that "his death liberated director Kalatozov... True Friends was his first Thaw project." Its script was submitted for approval in 1952, but it was only authorized for filming after Stalin's passing away.

Reception
With 30.9 million tickets sold, True Friends was the seventh highest-grossing Soviet film of 1954. Together with Salt of the Earth, it was Ex aequo awarded the Crystal Globe in the 1954 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

The New York Times critic wrote that the film "makes for a surprisingly relaxed and sometimes infectious adventure." Mira and Antonin Liehm commented that "it is almost incredible how fresh and new this film seemed, with its tame satirical theme." John Wakeman regarded it as a "subtle and often very funny satire". David C. Gillespie opined that it is "an important, largely successful attempt... in addressing the legacy of Stalinism and its effects on the psyche and behaviour of people." Josephine Woll concluded that True Friends "broke little new ground", reflecting the slow start of the Thaw in 1954, but that it satisfied the audience's "hunger" for films that, "banal plot and schematic characters notwithstanding, portrayed their life with some veracity."