The director had to redraw the original plot.
Soviet filmmakers and even government officials often drew inspiration from their Hollywood colleagues. Nikita Khrushchev liked the painting The Magnificent Seven so much that he immediately ordered that our response to the Americans be filmed. Soon the filmmakers began filming The Elusive Avengers.
The main characters of the Soviet picture were partly written off from the characters of the story “Red Devils”. True, one of the heroes has experienced a serious transformation. The original featured the Chinese Yu-yu, who became an African American in the 1923 film adaptation. In the legendary version of 1966, the character turned into the gypsy Yashka.
The director decided that a Chinese or black hero would be far from the viewer. Therefore, it was decided not to invite a foreign actor, but to transform the hero into a gypsy more understandable to the Soviet public. The role was approved by 16-year-old Vasily Vasilyev, a young man from a settled family.
The picture brought him a resounding popularity. Vasiliev became an actor in the gypsy theater “Romen”, and then moved to the “Lenconcert”.
