Ruthless Romance

In Bryakhimov, a provincial town on the Volga, the noble but poor widow Ogudalova (Alisa Freyndlikh) keeps an open house, hoping a well-off gentleman will marry one of her three daughters for love, since none has a dowry. Eldar Ryazanov fills her parlor with suitors and guitars, and Larisa (Larisa Guzeeva, in her first film role) is the one every man watches. She sings, she smiles, and she believes she will be loved as herself.