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This amazing story may well be considered fantastic. Modest and shy insurance agent, amateur theater actor Yuri Detochkin turns out to be an implacable fighter for justice. However, for justice, represented by the actor of the same theater, and in the world-the investigator Podberezovikov, this Robin Hood is a dangerous, cunning, inventive and elusive criminal...

Beware of the Automobile. What would a Russian say when you mentioned it in front of him? I'm a Russian myself and I know. When someone mentions the movie's name, the other person would go babbling on about the storyline, every single detail from start to end. He would imitate highly enjoyed moments in the highly enjoyed film. He would repeat memorable quotes (which sound funnier in Russian). And he would go asking everyone if they knew interesting facts about the interesting film.

With non-Russians, however... well, to be honest I don't know. I have this movie on VHS in Russian and I never showed to an English speaking person before, but I think that even some non-Russian people will be fascinated by this film. I certainly am. I watch this movie whenever I get the chance. And I always love it, no matter how many times I've watched it.

The director, Eldar Ryazanov is a highly-loved Russian director and has directed a lot of classical Russian films, not one which I don't like. Go Ryazanov! Go Beware of the Automobile! Go whoever watched this film! Go whoever enjoyed it! Rating: 10/10

"Beware of the Car" aka "Uncommon Thief" or "Watch Out for the Automobile" is the comedy directed by one of the most famous and talented Soviet directors Edgar Ryazanov in 1966. Eldar Ryazanov, the master of the comedies, one of the most beloved Soviet and Russian directors, had directed many masterpieces, and I am not afraid to say so. I've seen his films when they were first released, and I've seen them many times since and they just don't get old or outdated. They are brilliant, they are sparkling, they are not slapstick laugh-out-loudly comedies, they are rather lyrical delicate dramedies and they are fabulous. The writing is always first class. Ryazanov often wrote the screenplays for his movies, and his best ones were the result of his cooperation with Emil Braginskiy - just like in "Beregis' avtomobilya". One of the most talented Russian film composers, Andrei Petrov who had written music scores for over 80 films and worked with Georgi Daneliya, George Cukor, Daniil Khrabrovitsky, Leonid Menaker, and Aleksei German among many others, had written his most beautiful melodious and recognizable scores and songs for Edgar Ryazanov. If I start talking about the actors who played in Ryazanov's B/W early comedy, "Beregis' Avtomobilya", someone would have to stop me. Who is who of the Soviet big screen and drama stage took the roles, even the small cameos in his funny and sad comedy/mystery/satire/crime/romance and every actor/actress is perfect.

The timid, shy, modest and sweet insurance agent, the loving son and diligent employee of an insurance company, the actor of amateur theater (where his next role will be a coveted Hamlet in Shakespeare's tragedy) Jury Detochkin (the genius Innokenty Smoktunovsky. If you don't believe me, watch any of his movies, just the one. "Hamlet" aka "Gamlet",1964 would be more than enough to convince you) has a hidden site nobody is aware of. He is an irreconcilable fighter for justice who proves to be a clever, creative and mysterious car thief that steals the personal automobiles from those whom he considers as dishonest people. He sells the cars, and donated the money to his favorite charity, the children's homes. Detochkin never takes any money for himself and acts like a modern Robin Hood. However, for the justice represented by his good friend, the actor of the same theater, and in the real life - police inspector Podberezovikov (Oleg Efremov), this Robin Hood is nothing but the dangerous, smart, inventive and imperceptible criminal who has to be stopped, brought to justice, and put to jail.

In this film Detochkin (Smoktunovsky) plays Hamlet in amateur performance. It is remarkable, that Innokenty Smoktunovsky by then had already played brilliantly Hamlet in the film directed by Grigoriy Kozintzev in 1964 that was based on the translation by Boris Pasternak with the music written by Dmitriy Shostakovich. Smoktunovsky's Hamlet is considered one of the best interpretations of the tragic Prince ever made.

By current standards it is really ridiculous to call it a "black comedy". "Death Becomes Her" and "Pulp Fiction" are black comedies. And among the Russian ones "Deja vu" is a good candidate. So, here goes problem number one. Being rather light-hearted it lacks colour badly (suppose they could make it in colour back in 1966). And sometimes it lacks style (the background voice making wise comments in a "TV news" manner is a downer). This is very subjective fault-finding but quite decisive to me. There are no complaints regarding the actors' performance and the story is fine with its "Robin Hood" touch. There are many memorable scenes ("Hamlet" performance, the Soviet shopping, a funny monologue about "our" Shakespeare, etc.) and tons of enjoyable sayings. Most these things are, unfortunately (or fortunately), can be easily understood by older Russian people (especially of older generations) only. As to people from other countries (and even younger Russian audience) – there will be some problems in catching its tune. Just to expand on this matter: for Russians, the movie is one good piece of entertainment, nostalgia, and a historical lesson (clothes, relations between people during the Soviet era, first businessmen a la "spekulianti", Soviet "drama clubs", etc.). For the rest of the world... - hardly. If you live in some sort of USA, was born there, have been living there your whole life, have just watched this movie and ready to give it a 10 right away with a frank heart, post me a few lines please.

It is a good movie but not great. Upon the DVD box it is written: "popular videos". It really belongs to that class of movies - "Russian popular videos" that is.

If it were in colour and without that bumbling voice behind the camera, the mark from my side would have been better.

Quite objectively, it is 6 out of 10 (but there should be a place for this film in the national top 1000 of course). Thanks for attention.

"Beregis avtomobilya" in Russian means "look out for the car". It seems that the title actually implies that cars become sort of a metaphor for our lives. The protagonist Detochkin (his surname implies "child" in Russian) is an insurance agent who steals cars from thieves and gives the money to charity. But then there's a surprise.

What I mean about the title as a metaphor for our lives. Some people put all their money into their cars; they're complete losers, but at least they have cool cars. Moreover, it's often said that a person is his/her own worst enemy. In this sense, the danger to Detochkin posed by the average vehicle is nothing compared to what his own actions can do.

Anyway, this is a pretty funny movie, a look at the Soviet Union in the mid-'60s. We even get to hear an American song in one scene! I suspect that they had fun making the movie. Worth seeing.