Today it is simply impossible to imagine any other actress in the role of Mrs. Hudson in “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson” other than Rina Zelenaya. She coped with the task brilliantly. But she might not have appeared in the film at all.
When Igor Maslennikov started the first film about the adventures of the famous detective and his friend in the late 1970s, Rina Vasilyevna was already approaching 80. In total, eight films about Holmes were eventually released. Filming lasted for seven years.
The Arts Council initially rebelled against inviting a wonderful but already very old actress to the film project: “She won’t stand it, she won’t live to see the end of filming.” The role could have gone to Evgenia Khanaeva or Lyubov Dobzhanskaya.
However, Maslennikov fought to the death. In the role of Mrs. Hudson, he saw Zelenaya and no one else. The final picture of the cycle, “The Twentieth Century Begins,” reached the viewer in 1987. Rina Vasilievna was already almost 85 at that time. She passed away four years later.
Rina Zelenaya in the film “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson”
Zelenaya participated in the filming of “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” with great enthusiasm. She made her colleagues laugh with a remark about herself: “Just call me Ruina Vasilyevna.”
When the scene of Holmes’ “resurrection” was filmed, there was almost a real panic on the set. According to the idea, Vitaly Solomin’s hero, Dr. Watson, fainted. Suddenly Mrs. Hudson collapsed as if she had been knocked down.
Rina Zelenaya and Vitaly Solomin in the film “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson”
It turned out that the elderly actress dared to improvise. Fortunately, she was not injured during her risky venture. “Everyone says that you are playing an interesting role. Let’s expand it,” to the artist Maslennikov. Green exclaimed: “No way! I’ve never played furniture before! I like it”.
One problem did arise with Rina Vasilyevna: the actress was no longer able to “keep” the text well. But the film crew found a way out. They placed a man right at Rina Vasilievna’s feet who, if necessary, would give her cues. That’s all the payment for the great pleasure that is still available to us.
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Photo source: still from the film
