Die Königin der Tankstelle

Koroleva benzkolonki is an enjoyable light comedy with a simple story. Lyudmila (Nadezhda Rumyantseva) has repeatedly failed to secure favored employment. Undaunted she now pursues her latest dream fantasy, to be selected as a dancer for the prestigious 'Ballet on Ice'. In preparation with no ice, she devotes her free time to training on asphalt with rollerblades. At the same time Lyudmila is offered employment as a gas station attendant, at an outpost situated on a busy rural highway. Lyudmila is overwhelmed at first, however with her cheerful disposition and an enthusiastic resourcefulness she soon creates a fuel-station oasis, a comforting stop where all the drivers now come, many of them vying for her attentions.

"The Queen of the Gas Station" is based on the story of the same name by the writer and playwright Pyotr Lubensky, which he adapted into a script for the film. A production of the Dovzhenko Film Studios in the Ukrainian SSR, the film begins with a short tour of Kyiv viewed from the window of the passenger bus "Kyiv-Yalta". The story unfolds on location in the Poltava Oblast, the gas station is situated between Kyiv and Kharkiv.

Almost shelved for ideological reasons, the film had a troubled production and took over a year to complete. Management of the Dovzhenko film studio initially found the comedy meaningless, the script was revised and rewritten several times. At first, the role of Lyudmila Dobryvecher was played by an Estonian actress Terje Luik, attractive but completely devoid of a sense of humour, studio heads removed her from the role. Director Alexei Mishurin was now entrusted with completing the filming process, replacing director Nikolay Litus who remained on the project as a second director.

With an unsophisticated storyline and a straightforward filming style, critics harshly viewed the comedy, calling it an example of vulgarity, a film devoid of ideas, apolitical, primitive, designed only for low-grade laughter for the sake of laughter. Nonetheless, when finally released in February 1963, "Queen of the Gas Station" took fifth place at the box office in the USSR attracting over 34.3 million viewers, was very popular abroad and remains a much-loved Soviet comedy classic. Star of the film actress Nadezhda Rumyantseva had wonderful charm, humor and inimitable sincerity. Following on from her hyperactive Tosya in the comedy Devchata, here as Lyudmyla Dobryvechir, Nadezhda Rumyantseva is central to the film's appealing entertainment value and popular success...