Beware of the Car!

1966
8| 1h34m| en
Details

An insurance agent who moonlights as a carthief steals cars various crooks and never from the common people. He sells the stolen cars and gives the money to charity. His best friend, a cop, is assigned to bring in this modern robin hood.

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Reviews

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.
Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
Vadim Berman "Beware of the Car" is one of the icons of the old Soviet cinema.(Note: there will be spoilers because it seems that the viewers not familiar with the Soviet culture struggle to understand what the movie is about.)The film is both a comedy and an over-the-top thriller parody. It follows a modest insurance agent Detochkin who uses the insider knowledge about his clients to hijack their cars. Incidentally, Detochkin befriends the police detective who is leading the investigation of his cases.The twist is that Detochkin does not steal to profit, but donates all the proceeds to the orphanages, and his victims are only crooks and corrupt officials. So Detochkin is essentially a vigilante.The idea of an honest vigilante thief was unusual and original enough to carry the plot for most Soviet viewers. Otherwise, it is a light comedy, in the sweetly naive spirit of the times as expressed by a supporting character, Detochkin's fiancée: "You're thinking like a five-years-old child!" Much of the film is carried by mostly untranslatable jokes and comedic performances of the stars of the golden age of the Soviet cinema: Papanov, Mironov, Efremov, Aroseva. Smoktunovsky was undoubtedly one of the greatest actors who ever lived but seems to be miscast here: I will always remember him as Hamlet; he always carries this drama with him.A classic comedy, but sadly, I think most of it will be lost to the uninitiated. Hollywood could make a dumbed-down remake though, that might work.
Alex Kvaskov Just a great movie portraying the genres most often used in movies at that time: love, light humour. Smoktynovsky is perhaps not the ideal choice for the role (Ryzanov originally wanted Nikylin for this role, but the latter was currently in the also great comedy - Diamond Arm), yet he is very good. There are many funny quotes in this film, better understood if you understand Russian, a ton of small funny moments which just make you grin. The cast gives an outstanding performance. Back to Smoktynovsky again, I'll describe the movie for you a bit. He is an honest insurance agent who steals and sells cars from unfairly rich people, and gives the money to foster homes. His best friend is a detective trying to find the thief. After he learns the shocking truth, he obviously does not want Detochkin (Smoktynocsky's hero) to be punished severely.
Galina "Beware of the Car" aka "Uncommon Thief" or "Watch Out for the Automobile" is the comedy directed by one of the most famous and talented Soviet directors Edgar Ryazanov in 1966. Eldar Ryazanov, the master of the comedies, one of the most beloved Soviet and Russian directors, had directed many masterpieces, and I am not afraid to say so. I've seen his films when they were first released, and I've seen them many times since and they just don't get old or outdated. They are brilliant, they are sparkling, they are not slapstick laugh-out-loudly comedies, they are rather lyrical delicate dramedies and they are fabulous. The writing is always first class. Ryazanov often wrote the screenplays for his movies, and his best ones were the result of his cooperation with Emil Braginskiy - just like in "Beregis' avtomobilya". One of the most talented Russian film composers, Andrei Petrov who had written music scores for over 80 films and worked with Georgi Daneliya, George Cukor, Daniil Khrabrovitsky, Leonid Menaker, and Aleksei German among many others, had written his most beautiful melodious and recognizable scores and songs for Edgar Ryazanov. If I start talking about the actors who played in Ryazanov's B/W early comedy, "Beregis' Avtomobilya", someone would have to stop me. Who is who of the Soviet big screen and drama stage took the roles, even the small cameos in his funny and sad comedy/mystery/satire/crime/romance and every actor/actress is perfect.The timid, shy, modest and sweet insurance agent, the loving son and diligent employee of an insurance company, the actor of amateur theater (where his next role will be a coveted Hamlet in Shakespeare's tragedy) Jury Detochkin (the genius Innokenty Smoktunovsky. If you don't believe me, watch any of his movies, just the one. "Hamlet" aka "Gamlet",1964 would be more than enough to convince you) has a hidden site nobody is aware of. He is an irreconcilable fighter for justice who proves to be a clever, creative and mysterious car thief that steals the personal automobiles from those whom he considers as dishonest people. He sells the cars, and donated the money to his favorite charity, the children's homes. Detochkin never takes any money for himself and acts like a modern Robin Hood. However, for the justice represented by his good friend, the actor of the same theater, and in the real life - police inspector Podberezovikov (Oleg Efremov), this Robin Hood is nothing but the dangerous, smart, inventive and imperceptible criminal who has to be stopped, brought to justice, and put to jail.In this film Detochkin (Smoktunovsky) plays Hamlet in amateur performance. It is remarkable, that Innokenty Smoktunovsky by then had already played brilliantly Hamlet in the film directed by Grigoriy Kozintzev in 1964 that was based on the translation by Boris Pasternak with the music written by Dmitriy Shostakovich. Smoktunovsky's Hamlet is considered one of the best interpretations of the tragic Prince ever made.
Niffiwan This is one of my favourite comedies, and it's a real shame that as I write this there is no version with English subtitles available. This is truly one of the funniest movies that I've ever seen, especially the hilarious narrated car chase sequence.This is quite a well-known movie in Russia so it seems strange that there is no English version yet. We can only hope that RusCiCo or KINO will eventually release something.The movie's humour is gentle, ironic, and just plain wacky at times, and the main character is easy to identify with, even if he is technically a criminal (though not a criminal at heart); there are no actual "bad people" in the movie, and there are some pretty funny situations when the protagonist reveals through his own honesty how the morals of other people can be much more crooked than his (for example, the guy who desperately needs a ride and isn't at all put off after being told that the guy he's asking for a ride is about to steal the car).Highly recommended (if you can understand Russian).