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105th Birth Anniversary of Peter Glebov

April 14 marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of Peter Petrovich Glebov – the Soviet theater and film actor, People's Artist of the USSR (1981), laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR named after Vasiliev brothers (1983).

In the creative repertoire of this actor there are more than fifty roles, but the role of Grigory Melekhov in the film “And Quiet Flows the Don” (1958), directed by Serghey Gerasimov became for Glebov the most important of them, the “role of life”

As you know, Peter Glebov was casted for the role of Gregory by chance. Director Serghey Gerasimov recalled:

“The main issue was the selection of performers of not only the main, but also secondary roles <...>. A grand file of candidates was compiled<...>, but Melekhov was not found. <...> We began the search on the Don - in Rostov, in the villages. There were people who were similar in temperament, but there was not a whole image of Grigory Melekhov <...>. And here <...> the case helped us.

We conducted a test shooting for the actor Igor Dmitriev, who was outlined for the role of Evgeny Listnitsky. When entering the pavilion, I glanced briefly at the half-dark dugout where the officers were sitting at the table.

I drew attention to one of them <...>. I waited for him to speak. And, perhaps, the voice just decided the matter. It was actor Peter Glebov, who came to the studio with the intention of acting in an episode.

I asked the assistants to make up for him with Melekhov. <...> And in the morning, coming to the studio, I saw Grigory Melekhov walking towards me along the corridor. <...> The impression was extraordinary. He was unusually similar to the very Grigory Melekhov from the pages of the novel <...>. And when the samples were taken and we sat down with Sholokhov in the viewing room, then after the first frames <...> Mikhail Alexandrovich said with an extraordinary ease:

- He is. He is alive.”

Peter Glebov did not play the role of Grigory Melekhov - he lived it. He admitted: “I was in love with every movement of the soul of Gregory because I clearly saw the absolute truth of the character of a unique human person who fell into a maelstrom of complex social upheavals. During the filming, I lived the life of Grigory Melekhov, suffered from his doubts, loved with his love ... "

Reading these words, you better understand what the secret of such a depth of transmission of the image of the Sholokhov hero is.

Peter Glebov recalled: “I lived with my hero all his complex, unprecedentedly tragic life. The life of a person who, in his gut, hates violence, war, but in fact kills as many as would be enough for ten lives of a professional military man. I experienced horror and bitterness with him at the sight of a duckling accidentally stabbed with a scythe <...>. And the first hacked-up Austrian soldier I mourned with my Grishka. And I wanted, that I the murderer of the blood brothers - the Russian sailors - was "put to the ground" together with Gregory. In disgust, I threw the rifle, drowned it, returning home to the Tatar farm. And never forget the feeling that I experienced in the scene of farewell to Gregory with the grave of Aksinya. <...>

And then I saw the tears of Mikhail Sholokhov. He watched the third episode of the film. The light was switched on. And Sholokhov touchingly cheated - he said, wiping his tears:

“Oh, Serezha, thank you: you love horses ...”

After the premiere of the film, the command of the Donskoy Army assigned Peter Glebov the title of Honorary Major General with the right to wear uniforms and weapons.

Fans of the work of M. Sholokhov well remember by Peter Glebov in the role of yesaul Polovtsev in the film adaptation of “Virgin Soil Upturned” (1961) directed by Alexander Ivanov.

Peter Glebov used to visit Vyoshenskaya during the life of Mikhail Sholokhov and after his death. The actor recalled about the writer with great warmth and gratitude: “I bow low to him for the great happiness of my meeting with such a comprehensive national character as he created his Grigory Melekhov. For the fact that Gregory turned out to be mine, the main role in my creative destiny. For the fact that Sholokhov <...> entered my life ... "

Elena Popova