Talents and Admirers

Negina, a popular but poor actress, receives lessons from her fiancé Meluzov. Prince Dulebov, intending to take advantage of the girl's dire circumstances, suggests sponsorship, gets refused and becomes spiteful. Despite the latter's intrigues, Negina's benefice performance is triumphant and she receives a large sum of money, part of which Dulebov himself has to provide to keep his face. Still, the entrepreneur refuses to prolong her contract. One after another ecstatic admires come to her expressing their affection, among them Narokov, Naluzov and Velikatov. She leaves honest but dull Meluzov and goes away with rich Velikatov, motivated not by greed but by the desire to work on stage, the only thing she is really in love with.

Directed by Isidor Annensky, Talents and Admirers leans on a strong ensemble — Olga Khorkova, Svetlana Pelikhovskaya, Nikolai Gritsenko — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1973.