‘This concept does not exist for me in an original way.’
A top scientist has invented a robot in his own image. As the ultimate field test, he secretly moves in with his laboratory assistant and lets the robot assume his everyday identity…
Lightly satirical Science Fiction comedy from the Soviet Union. Director Ilya Olshvanger goes straight for the funny bone with the aid of stars Oleg Strizhenov and Marianna Vertinskaya.
Leading scientist Sergey Kuklin (Strizhenov) has invented a humanoid robot named Robert (Strizhenov, again), modelling its physical appearance after his own. His obsession with the project has already alienated laboratory assistants Gennadiy (Vladimir Pobol) and Katya (Nina Mamaeva), and things get a lot worse when he proposes a final test. This involves the scientist and robot swapping places, the egghead moving in with Pobol and the mechanical man taking over his apartment and assuming his identity. The arrangement also sees the robot taking Pobol’s place incognito on a date at the theatre with the lab man’s pretty girlfriend, Tanya (Vertinskaya).
Surprised to find herself apparently out on the town with her boyfriend’s boss, Vertinskaya is even more astonished at his behaviour. The robot has been instructed to keep a close eye on her but takes his orders much too literally, and they are thrown out of the theatre after he assaults the conductor of the orchestra. However, as the night passes, she becomes intrigued by his naivety and blind obedience to her every wish. Back at the lab, Strizhenov decides to end the test, but the robot has already agreed to accompany Vertinskaya to a ski resort. Rather than comply with his creator’s wishes, he employs subterfuge and commits theft to join her.
Viewed almost half a century after its production, it’s no great revelation to reveal that Olshvanger’s film has not aged too well. The term ‘android’ had been around for quite a while by the late 1960s but had not entered into general use, although it had appeared in science fiction as early as Jack Williamson’s 1936 pulp novel ‘The Cometeers’. Robert qualifies as an android, although the only evidence of his enhanced capabilities is the occasional feats of speed and strength that baffle Vertinskaya. As she remains ignorant of his nature almost to the end, the audience is left to assume that Pobol could be more forthcoming when talking about his work. After all the bright blue suit Robert wears throughout isn’t much of a clue.
Unfortunately, the humour is almost entirely predictable and centred on the old ‘fish out of water’ trope. The robot misunderstands social cues, takes things too much at face value and lurches from one awkward interaction to the next. Some of the gags depend on his robotic status, but they are few and far between and, for the most part, just verge on half-hearted slapstick anyway. Recast the film with teenagers a few years later, move it to America, and you’ll get a young Kurt Russell messing about in a college lab on the Disney campus. The only real bright spots are the performances, with Vertinskaya, in particular, bringing a fun energy and nailing a late scene when she gives egghead Strizhenov a piece of her mind. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. The scene hints at what the film might have been if Olshvanger had leaned into the satire a lot more and adopted a more edgier viewpoint rather than just settling for easy and comfortable gags.
The film is an interesting time capsule, though. The late 1960s was a time when such technologies were not taken too seriously by the public, and their development was expected to go very differently. Strizhenov has solved all the physical challenges of robotics but seemingly very few of the mental ones. Robert appears perfectly human in appearance and dynamics of motion. He passes for the scientist easily. However, he is incredibly stupid and almost entirely lacks common sense and analytical ability. He lacks basic knowledge in many areas, such as the concept of currency and payment. There is some evidence of learning as his relationship with Vertinskaya progresses, but he’s still nearly clueless at the end. In reality, of course, the development of electronic brains has far outpaced the physical aspects of robotics, although recent innovations in that area have shown incredible progress. Unfortunately, from the film’s perspective, a modern audience will likely find Robert a somewhat less-than-credible protagonist. A pocket calculator seems more sophisticated than him.
If you’re looking for positives, there are some isolated moments that amuse. Robert doesn’t understand the purpose of a necktie, so I have to qualify what I said earlier about his low level of intelligence! I’ve never understood it either. There’s also a surprise appearance by world-famous mime Marcel Marceau on stage at the theatre. He doesn’t interact with anyone else, so it may have been footage taken from elsewhere, but it fits in with what’s happening in the scene. Marceau toured globally for many years, so it is possible that he was in Russia during the time of production. The split screen FX when Strizhenov appears as both scientist and robot are highly accomplished for their era, and, in general, the star’s turn as the bewildered Robert does raise a smile or two along the way.
Vertinskaya was born on a train to Shanghai in 1943, the daughter of a very popular actor, singer and songwriter. As a young woman, she studied acting in Moscow and joined the Vakhtangov Theatre. It was a long and highly successful association, and she gained frequent acclaim in many productions over the decades that followed. Given her concentration on the stage, her screen appearances were necessarily more limited. However, she did impress as the flighty Anya in the highly regarded drama ‘I Am Twenty/Mne dvadtsat let’ (1965). She also appeared in the Jules Verne epic ‘Captain Nemo/Kapitan Nemo’ (1975), which seems to have been screened both as a 3-part mini-series on television and in theatres as a three-and-a-half-hour feature.
Lightweight and fitfully amusing comedy, but ultimately very forgettable.