The Golden Calf

Ostap Bender, the cunning and witty swindler, returns with a new grand plan—to track down and strip an underground millionaire, Alexander Koreiko, of his hidden fortune. Along the way, he gathers a band of unlikely companions: the naive driver Shura Balaganov, the gloomy petty thief Panikovsky, and the earnest young enthusiast Kozlevich with his battered car. Together, this odd quartet sets out on a comic journey across the Soviet Union, chasing wealth, clashing with bureaucracy, and constantly stumbling into absurd misadventures. But Bender’s dream of becoming a millionaire himself proves as elusive as ever.

The story is based on the satirical novel by Ilf and Petrov, whose works were considered daring for their criticism of greed, corruption, and blind ambition.

Actor Sergey Yursky became widely recognized for his brilliant portrayal of Ostap Bender. His performance gave the conman a mix of charm, irony, and flamboyance, which helped cement Bender as one of Soviet cinema’s most iconic characters.

The film was shot during the 1960s, a period when satire had to walk a fine line with Soviet censorship. Despite this, the adaptation managed to retain much of the novel’s biting humor and social commentary.

Today, The Golden Calf is considered a cult classic in Russia and the former Soviet Union, often quoted in everyday speech thanks to Bender’s witty one-liners and sharp observations.