8 Soviet movies about VACATION that you can watch ONLINE

1. ‘True Friends’ (1954)

Three friends from childhood decide to fulfill their long-standing dream – to go on a homemade raft on a trip along the river: “Twenty days, no more!” A neurosurgeon, a livestock breeder and an architecture academician spend time fishing and singing songs – in general, they are busy with the simple joys of life. Against the backdrop of movies about labor exploits, this story captivates with its simple charm and light irony over important officials. One of the heroes, for example, expecting to travel with his friends on a motor ship in a luxury cabin, instead finds himself on a raft, completely out of place, walking around in a smart suit and hat!

The movie was directed by the famous Mikhail Kalatozov. ‘True Friends’ became the only comedy in his filmography. A few years later, his drama ‘The Cranes Are Flying’ (1957) would be applauded by Cannes and the whole world.

2. ‘Three Plus Two’ (1963)

Three friends go to the sea to live like savages by not shaving, smoking and generally getting up to male mischief. They live right on the beach and enjoy their vacation. Until two women appear and claim that the guys have taken their spot. They quite inventively try to ruin each other's lives until they, finally, fall in love. ‘Three Plus Two’ was filmed in Crimea: Thanks to the movie, the popularity of outdoor recreation on the peninsula skyrocketed. Everyone wanted to find a secluded bay and enjoy the sea without any conventions. This old summer comedy still leaves a feeling of carelessness that only takes hold by the shore.

3. ‘The Diamond Arm’ (1968)

Semyon Gorbunkov goes on a trip abroad on a cruise boat and accidentally ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. He returns home with a plaster cast on his arm. But his “closed fracture” is fake. While walking around the city, he falls, loses consciousness and, when he comes to his senses, he realizes that jewelry has been hidden inside his cast. Now, he must help the police bring the criminals to justice and find their leader.

This comedy has become popular to quote from and the songs instantly become hits. A trip abroad – exotic by Soviet standards – became an excellent backdrop to the plot with a charming swindler, his stern partner and a vigilant female house manager, who constantly monitors the moral character of her neighbors.

4. ‘Pechki-lavochki’, 1972

This is a road movie about a couple’s journey to the seaside. They travel from a village lost in the Altai Mountains: The entire village sees Ivan and Nyura off, with a feast and songs. Ahead of them is a long journey by train, which they will share with their fellow travelers – a thief and a professor of linguistics. For the two villagers, everything is new: the train, the people who are not like their fellow villagers, a noisy city upon arrival.

‘Pechki-lavochki’ is akin to a journey to another, parallel world, where they talk about the future, but know nothing about the present.

5. ‘From the Life of Vacationers’, 1980

It’s the end of the season by the seaside. Instead of the sun, however, there is a thick fog that engulfs a boarding house with guests, who are forced to come up with their own entertainment while the bad weather persists. Gossiping, mandatory exercise, idle talk and an amateur art group headed by a very active and cheerful leader. Against this background, a romance of two boarding house residents begins.

This is a sentimental movie, in which time seems to have stood still. The only reminder that the heroes' vacation is over is the arriving ship, still in the fog, delivering a new batch of tourists.

6. ‘Be My Husband’, 1981

This musical comedy is all about a “temporary husband”. The main character goes to a resort with her son, but it only has accommodation for married couples. So, she asks the first stranger she comes across to play along and pretend to be her husband.

The movie was filmed in the vicinity of Sochi. The sea, beaches filled to capacity, hotels and private houses with no vacancies – every Soviet person faced this at least once in their life. The plot was decorated with musical inserts and the male role was played by Andrei Mironov, one of the most popular actors of that time.

7. ‘Sportloto-82’, 1982

The plot centers around a group of fellow travelers traveling south on a train and a winning lottery ticket. Kostya, the main character, is trying to find a girl he met on the train. He bought her a lottery ticket, but his friend, not believing in luck, returned it. And that one, of course, turned out to be a winning one. True, Kostya did absentmindedly put it in one of the books that one of the fellow travelers was reading on the train and now it’s unclear where it is. So, now there’s a real hunt for the ticket with the participation of a couple of thieves who have learned about it.

Picturesque Crimean scenery, hilarious situations that the characters get into every now and then – the movie, despite the highly improbable plot, managed to preserve the charm of a story about summer adventures.

8. ‘Love and Doves’, 1984

This romantic comedy is all about a holiday romance, doves and a happy ending. Vasily, a villager, goes on a tour to the seaside. And he never returns home: He has an affair on the coast and decides to stay with her. Meanwhile, Vasily’s wife back at home falls into a depression and threatens to kill the doves that her unfaithful husband adores. But, soon, his new city life begins to crack: they are too different. Now, Vasily has to rebuild his relationship with his offended wife and eldest son, who cannot forgive him.

It’s hard to imagine which other Soviet movie enjoys such universal love. With naive special effects, like paper flowers blooming on a birch tree and the main character’s spectacular “fall” from the door of a village house straight into the sea. And, of course, pigeons, without which this story would be incomplete!