USSR's Minister of Art & Culture, Romanov, forbade Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy to play the part of Detochkin because a couple of years before Smoktunovsky had played Vladimir Lenin. And, according to Romanov, Smoktunovsky could not play someone who steals cars; in fact, he thought that a man, who once played Lenin, could not play in movies any longer. But, luckily, Romanov retired in the same month his statement was made and a new minister allowed Innokenti to continue his work.
Detochkin, Smoktunovsky's character, plays Hamlet in an amateur production. Smoktunovsky himself played Hamlet in Hamlet (1964), and is famous for this role.
Yuriy Nikulin was first considered to play Yury Detochkin and almost signed the contract, but his Circus sent him on tour to South America for almost half a year. The project could not be postponed for such a long period, so Oleg Efremov was invited, but after long debates the role was given to Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, and Yefremov became Maxim Podberezovikov.
American cars can be spotted in the petrol station scene: a 1955 Buick and a 1955 Oldsmobile.
The scene where Detochkin holding flowers in a back seat of a police car between two policemen is escorted following the performance duplicates the last scene from Pink Panther (1963).