Spring on Zarechnaya Street

Spring on Zarechnaya Street
Directed by	Felix Mironer Marlen Khutsiev
Written by	Felix Mironer
Starring	Nina Ivanova Nikolai Rybnikov
Music by	Boris Mokrousov
Cinematography	Pyotr Todorovsky Radomir Vasilevskiy
Production company	Odessa Film Studio
Release date	1956
Running time	96 min.
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

Spring on Zarechnaya Street (Russian: Весна на Заречной улице, translit. Vesna na Zarechnoy ulitse) is a 1956 Soviet drama film produced at the Odessa Film Studio and directed by Felix Mironer and Marlen Khutsiev. The film was one of the most popular pictures in the Soviet Union, it was seen by 30,12 million viewers.

The film takes place in the 1950s in a small working village, where the graduate of a pedagogical institute Tatiana Levchenko (Nina Ivanova) arrives. In the city department of education she receives a referral to an evening school. She is to teach Russian language and literature at the school for the working youth.

An old friend of Tatiana - engineer of a metallurgical plant Nikolay Krushenkov (Gennadi Yukhtin) helps Tanya rent a room and get acquainted with future students. At school Tatiana Sergeyevna becomes a class teacher of the eighth grade, in which Alexander Savchenko (Nikolai Rybnikov) is enrolled — smelter, udarnik, joker and the favorite of factory girls. Sasha immediately likes the new teacher and in order to attract her attention, he habitually tries to talk and flirt with her, even during the lessons.

However, Tatiana ignores his signs of attention. Sasha, accustomed to easy victories, is surprised by this girl's behavior, and his interest soon becomes resentment. Feeling hurt, Savchenko decides that the educated and intelligent Tatiana is contemptuous of him, a simple boy, a worker-steelmaker who has only completed seven classes, and that she considers him unworthy of her attention. In addition, he mistakes Tetyana's friendship with Mykola for a romantic relationship. Resentful and jealous, Alexander drops out of school and tries to forget Tatiana, but soon realizes that he really loves her.

After graduating in 1952 from the Institute of Cinematography, Marlen Khutsiev became a director at the Odessa Film Studio. Working as an assistant director in various film groups, he wrote the script for his first feature film. The initial version of the script was not accepted for the production and Khutsiev had to finish it together with Mironer, co-author of his thesis film. In the post-war period, the Odessa Film Studio became the base where many people came to make films. Director of the studio Alexander Gorsky invited Marlen Khutsiev and Felix Mironer to the studio. One of Gorsky's conditions was that they work together. Filming began in 1953, and the premiere of the film took place on November 26, 1956. With the film "Spring on Zarechnaya Street" Khutsiev paved the way for a new generation of actors: it was the film debut of VGIK graduates Yuri Belov, Nikolai Rybnikov, Gennadi Yukhtin. The role of teacher Tatyana Sergeevna was played by non-professional actress Nina Ivanova.