The Hussar Ballad

Hussar Ballad
A 1962 poster for the Hussar Ballad
Directed by	Eldar Ryazanov
Written by	Eldar Ryazanov Aleksandr Gladkov
Starring	Larisa Golubkina Yury Yakovlev Igor Ilyinsky Tatyana Shmyga
Music by	Tikhon Khrennikov
Distributed by	Mosfilm
Release date	1962 (Soviet Union) July 13, 1963 (United States)
Running time	96 min.
Country	Soviet Union
Language	Russian

The Hussar Ballad (Russian: Гусарская баллада, translit. Gusarskaya ballada) is a 1962 Soviet musical film by Eldar Ryazanov, filmed on Mosfilm. In effect, it is one of the best loved musical comedies in Russia.

With most of its dialogue delivered in verse, Ryazanov's script romanticizes the adventures of Nadezhda Durova during the Napoleonic wars. The swift paced, action packed, humor filled adventure is ingeniously mixed with light-hearted acting bravado and memorable operetta pieces. The film's musical score and songs were written by Tikhon Khrennikov.

The leading roles — those of the cavalry maiden Shurochka Azarova and the dashing hussar Poruchik Dmitry Rzhevsky — were played by Andrei Mironov's wife Larisa Golubkina and the People's Artist of the USSR Yuri Yakovlev, respectively. Comedian Igor Ilyinsky appeared as one-eyed Field-Marshal Prince Mikhail Kutuzov.

The film is based on the play A Long Time Ago by Alexander Gladkov.

The film proved so popular with Soviet audiences that poruchik Rzhevsky became quite a folklore character, featured in numerous jokes. See Russian jokes#Poruchik Rzhevsky for samples.