| Where is the Nophelet? | |
| Director: | Gerald Bezhanov |
| Starring: | Vladimir Menshov Aleksandr Pankratov-Chyorny |
| Music: | Aleksandr Zatsepin |
| Cinematography: | Vsevolod Simakov |
| Studio: | Mosfilm Creative Union "Rhythm" |
| Runtime: | 77 minutes |
| Country: | Soviet Union |
| Language: | Russian |
Where is the Nophelet? (Russian: Где находится нофелет?|Gde nakhoditsa nofelet?) is a Soviet 1988 comedy directed by Gerald Bezhanov.[1] [2] [3]
Talented engineer Pavel Fedorovich Golikov who works at a research institute in a team comprised purely of females, is surprisingly timid and inexperienced in his relationships with women considering that he is more than forty years old. He is still single and lives with his parents who have long dreamed of having grandchildren. They unsuccessfully introduce him to unmarried daughters of friends in the hope that Pavel will finally marry. But suddenly cheerful and reckless Gena comes to Moscow for furniture - Pavel's cousin. At the request of Pavel's parents, Gena decides to stay in Moscow until he finds a wife for his brother. First, Gena disguises Pavel in a new suit, then they get acquainted with various girls using the pick-up line "Where is the nophelet?" ("Nophelet(e)" is an anadrome — the word "telephone" pronounced in the reverse order). But in his quiet fantasies of family life and children, Pavel sees an unknown female passenger, with whom he travels on a daily bus.
Later Gena's wife arrives who is troubled by his lengthy absence - she is an imperious and commanding woman, and as Pavel's parents look at her they even begin to doubt the need to marry off their son. Subsequently Pavel sorts out his timidity and decides to speak with the stranger from the bus.
The screenwriter Anatoly Eiramdzhan initially wrote the part of Gena for Andrei Mironov. But the actor did not like the idea of getting typecasted as a womanizer, and thus he was to play Pavel in the film instead, but Mironov died in 1987.[1]
Roles for female actresses were decided at random.[1]