One can only envy the ingenuity of the directors.
Alexander Rowe presented his musical fairy tale “The New Adventures of Puss in Boots” in the late 50s. The children’s film was liked by the public, and they especially appreciated the actors who played the main roles. However, few could even imagine what kind of celebrity reincarnated as Puss in Boots himself.
As it turned out, the enterprising hero was played by Maria Barabanova, who was 47 years old at the time. Rowe, without hesitation, invited her to his film, having no doubt at all about the artist’s talents, and she managed to give the audience a vivid image.
Another thing that helped Barabanova cope with the role was her experience of playing “male” characters. So, in her youth she played the role of a groom in the film “Doctor Kalyuzhny”, and in the fairy tale “The Prince and the Pauper” she played Edward VI himself and Tom Canty. Therefore, the directors knew that the artist could always become a man on the screen, and she herself was never against such experiments.
