People's Artist of Russia Alla Larionova celebrates her 95th birthday on February 19. The peak of her fame came in the mid-50s of the last century: she was idolized by millions of spectators.
1954 On the set of “Anna on the Neck,” young actress Alla Larionova is lying in bed: luxurious, with skin as bright as a sea shell, eyes the color of a spring sky framed by black eyelashes and fixed locks of golden hair. The famous scene was shot in the garage of a film studio: all the booths were occupied. It was freezing outside, minus 20. She was only wearing a light shirt, which could not save her from the cold, but Alla played the scene perfectly. “Hooray! Hooray!” – the outstanding co-star in the film, famous expert on female beauty Alexander Vertinsky, told her after the scene. With each day of filming, he became more and more fascinated by Larionova – but at first he refused to act with her, saying that Chekhov's heroine was different… And then he became friends with Alla and always sent in February, on her birthday, a huge basket of white lilacs. Once I gave her a photo of myself with the caption: “I wish you a wonderful career and I believe in it, but don't rush into your personal life. Remember that you have to touch the hearts of people and domesticated animals… and therefore, do not pity yourself with lonely thoughts. Actors are always lonely. But he is God! And gods are lonely.” Vertinsky, delicate and profound, as if premonitioning something, wanted to warn Alla that happiness does not last forever, but fame will pass. He wanted to become the godfather of Alena, Larionova's eldest daughter, but did not have time. Vertinsky died in May 1957. And Larionova lived perhaps her happiest and most successful decade.
It was she who was dubbed the “queen of the 50s”. Her ascent to the cinematic Olympus began during her years of study at VGIK, when in 1952 the blue-eyed beauty starred in the film “Sadko”. The film received recognition both in the Soviet Union and abroad, winning the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. About Larionova, who flew to Italy as a member of the delegation, the newspapers wrote: “Alla is charming – the youngest, the funniest, the most beautiful. Her appearance at the festival was already a success! The Venetian sun in Alla's hair.” Charlie Chaplin invited her to film; In the Soviet Union, postcards with pictures of beautiful actresses were sold in huge quantities. Success and glory! Then the famous “Twelfth Night” was released, and Alla as Olivia was brilliant once again. They said that Minister of Culture Georgy Alexandrov completely lost his mind over her and bathed in a bathtub filled with champagne; A devastating article appeared in the newspaper Pravda, in which the minister allegedly had a whole harem of artists, and among them was Larionov. Alexandrov was removed from his post and Alla fell out of favor. In desperation, Larionova wrote a letter to the new Minister of Culture, in which she denied slander and asked to understand the situation. “Opal” was filmed and Larionova's fame became even greater. In 1957, at the International Film Festival in Italy, the film “Anna on the Neck” received the Palme d'Or.
They say that the handsome Gerard Philip himself was seriously in love with Larionova. She remembered much later: “Oh, these rumors! Yes, we sympathized with each other … Once I called him “Gerarchik”, and he replied: “Alchik”. At the farewell reception, he wrote on the restaurant menu: “A blonde girl in a blue dress is sitting next to me, and I love her.” But neither foreign handsome men nor Soviet ministers were her lovers. Alla did not even pay attention to one of her “dedicated pages” – Nikolai Rybnikov, who had been in unrequited love with her for six years. The hero of her novel is actor Ivan Pereverzev, whose head she lost during the filming of “Sadko”. While filming The Polesie Legend in 1956, she was waiting for a proposal – she was carrying his child. Pereverzev married, but not Alla, but actress Kira Kanaeva, who was also pregnant by him. As soon as he learned of this, Rybnikov flew to Larionova in Minsk, after taking a break from filming “Heights”. He promised to accept the child as his own and was happy to receive Alla's consent to marry. They got married in January 1957, and in February their daughter Alena appeared, whom Rybnikov loved no less than Arina, born in 1961.
The fame of “boyfriend” Nikolai Rybnikov, who starred in “Heights”, “Spring on Zarechnaya Street” and “Girls”, is not inferior to the level of popularity of his beautiful wife. Festival trips and filming, filming, filming. Your private apartment in the filmmaker's home. And when the daughters grew up, the family moved to Maryina Roshcha, to a five-room apartment, combined from two small apartments, stylishly furnished and cozy. Their hospitable home is open to friends day and night. Larionova drives a fashionable Volga…
Happiness, success – when did they suddenly decline? Alla Dmitrievna began to be invited to play older heroines, although she was still beautiful. Her husband still idolized her, but lack of need and a certain kind of belated jealousy had eaten away at the relationship like rust on iron. It is said that Rybnikov began to drink, and Larionova increasingly went to meet audiences alone… Rybnikov grew old and unattractive, wore dark glasses on the street so that passersby would not recognize him, became interested in chess and played complex games for many hours. Died in 1990. Suddenly, in my dream, my heart stopped beating. He was only fifty-nine years old. Their marriage lasted like in a fairy tale, thirty years and three years.
Difficult times came to her: it seemed that domestic cinema had ended in the 90s. What did she think during those terribly lonely days? She sorted notes from an envelope that read “Fantastic” – there she collected signatures of famous people whose lives had crossed hers. I reread Vertinsky's prediction. She was surprised by his insight: she, the goddess, was now very alone. That five-room apartment had to be changed. Daughters cannot repeat their parents' success. Alena got married and became a television editor. Arina was devastated after her father's death and found solace in alcohol.
Alla Larionova died in April 2000, like Rybnikov – in a dream, after a severe heart attack.
Not long before her death, she said: “I am a happy woman. My life includes cinema and Kolya Rybnikov loves me very much!”
