I love all the movies in this series, but this is probably my favorite. Heck, it’s probably my favorite Russian movie, possibly my favorite movie period. I watch it whenever I’m in a bad mood.

The third in a series of buddy movies that rank among my all-time favorite comedies. Here, the gang leaves on a fishing trip with a boatful of vodka. There’s one problem: they accidentally wind up in Finland, then leave the vodka there!

A personal favorite, this 1966 film, starring the incomparable Innokenti Smoktunovsky, is about a Robin Hood figure who steals cars from crooks and gives the money to orphanages. Meanwhile, he strikes up an unlikely friendship with… a police investigator! A funny, charming film.

Possibly the most famous Thaw-era movie, from 1964 (directed by Georgiy Daneliya) , this light-hearted movie features a few friends… walking around Moscow! Wait around for the famous sequence and song at the very end!

In one of the most ridiculous Soviet comedies, the helmet of Alexander the Great is stolen, and an innocent schoolteacher (who looks exactly like a crime lord) is enlisted to go undercover and track it down. Featuring the hilarious Yevgeny Leonov.