The Rumyantsev Case

Sasha Rumyantsev works as a long-haul truck driver at a motor depot whose manager has ties to criminals. Without knowing it, Sasha is sent out with stolen goods, and when he is stopped on the road he is arrested and blamed for the whole affair. The people who set him up make sure the suspicion falls squarely on him, and an unimaginative police captain gets nowhere with the case. It is only when the experienced Colonel Afanasyev takes over that the truth starts to come out, with Sasha's fellow workers at the depot rallying behind him to help identify the real culprits.

The film was directed by Iosif Kheifits, who wrote the screenplay with Yuri German. It was the first of the four features he directed, followed by The Fires of Baku in 1958, Lady with the Dog in 1960 and In the Town of S. in 1966. Aleksey Batalov plays Rumyantsev, with Nelli Podgornaya as Klavdiya, Sergei Lukyanov as Colonel Afanasyev and Evgeni Leonov among a credited cast of twenty-seven. Made at Lenfilm in the Soviet Union and running 103 minutes, it mixes crime, drama and mystery.

Released in March 1956, the film holds a modest 6.5 out of 10 on TMDB from a small number of votes, which suggests it is remembered mainly as an early title in its director's filmography rather than as one of his most widely seen works.