The director went to extreme measures.
The short film “The Dog Mongrel and the Unusual Cross” occupies a special place in the work of Leonid Gaidai. It was in it that the director first showed the public his legendary trinity – Coward, Dunce and Experienced. The filmmaker himself also starred in the film, but he did not succeed in appearing on the big screen.
The Artistic Council favorably reacted to the idea of the director to shoot a project about three poachers and a conscientious dog, but the end result did not quite suit the officials. They were especially shocked by the scene in which the trinity runs into the hut, from where the Coward jumps out already without pants.
The hero’s trousers ended up in the paws of a bear running out after the intruders. At first, Gaidai wanted to shoot a real predator in this episode, but a lot of difficulties arose with this.
Then the director received a stuffed bear from Yuri Nikulin, into which he climbed himself. The scene was filmed, but the censors did not like it. As a result, the filmmaker was cut out of his own brainchild.
