Give Me a Book of Complaints

1965 film

23 July 1965 (1965-07-23)

Running time

91 minutesCountrySoviet UnionLanguageRussian

Give Me a Book of Complaints^[1] (Russian: Дайте жалобную книгу, romanized: Dayte zhalobnuyu knigu^[2] is a 1965 Soviet comedy film directed by Eldar Ryazanov.

Plot

A group of young journalists accidentally walks into the restaurant Dandelion. The atmosphere in the restaurant is extremely unhealthy: rude waitresses, thieving barmaid, wretched interior, ridiculous restaurant singer and deputy director Kutaytsev, who is constantly drunk and encourages this mess. However, the young and energetic director of the restaurant Tatiana Shumova is trying, unsuccessfully, to deal with shortcomings of the restaurant that she was entrusted with.

Journalist Yuri Nikitin wrote a critical article about the restaurant, but hopelessly falls in love with Tatiana. Despite the opposition of bureaucrats, the young director Shumova manages to change the situation, making the restaurant an exemplary catering establishment, as well as finding love along the way.

Cast

Oleg Borisov as Yuri Nikitin, journalist of the newspaper Youth
Larisa Golubkina as Tatiana Shumova, director of the restaurant Dandelion
Anatoly Kuznetsov as Ivan Kondakov, head of the regional department of trade, Tatiana's bridegroom
Anatoli Papanov as Vasily Kutaytsev, deputy director of the restaurant
Nikolai Kryuchkov as Nikolay Ivanovich, head of department of trade
Nikolay Parfyonov as Ivan Postnikov, deputy of head of department of trade
Nina Agapova as barmaid Zinaida
Tatyana Gavrilova as waitress Claudia Raspopova
Natalia Surovegina as young waitress Raya
Zoya Isaeva as waitress Vera
Rina Zelyonaya as elderly singer at the restaurant
Larisa Mondrus as new and young singer at the restaurant
Georgi Tusuzov as Pavel Kuzmich, doorman of the restaurant
Jemal Sikharulidze as Tengiz, journalist, Yuri Nikitin's friend
Michaela Drozdovskaya as Masha, Tengiz's wife
Yuri Belov as German, journalist, Yuri Nikitin's friend
Vladimir Balon as journalist, Yuri Nikitin's friend
Felix Jaworski as bespectacled journalist
Eldar Ryazanov as chief editor of the newspaper Youth
Zoya Fyodorova as Yekaterina Ivanovna, janitor of Tatiana Shumova's house
Mikhail Pugovkin as Tatiana Shumova's neighbour
Vladimir Shiryaev as Sasha, student
Lyudmila Gnilova as Tamara, student
Vera Popova as old lady
Leonid Chubarov as policeman
Alexander Lenkov as leader of the youth ensemble
Yuri Nikulin as salesman in a clothing store, drunken rowdy to the restaurant
Georgy Vitsin as chief of the branch in a clothing store, drunken rowdy to the restaurant
Yevgeny Morgunov as director of clothing store, drunken rowdy to the restaurant