Incorrigible Liar (1973) Plot Summary Explained

The irony is that Tyutyurin tells the absolute truth, but his stories are so extraordinary, a prince hosting dinner in his honor, Edita Piekha nearly hitting him with a car, that no one believes him. His boss Mymrikov sums it up perfectly: Tyutyurin lies, but he doesn't know how to lie, meaning he can't make his true stories sound believable. His colleagues assume he's fabricating fables when in fact he's just unlucky enough to experience genuinely unlikely events.

• tyutyurin
• liar
• reputation
• boss
• misunderstandings

Tyutyurin's morning follows a chain of bizarre incidents: he helps a boy retrieve a ball from a busy roadway, then gets drenched by a street auto-dispenser and must return home to change. He later returns a lost gold cigarette case to a foreign prince, who invites him to dinner. On the way back, he falls under a car driven by Edita Piekha. Each event delays him further, creating the pattern of chronic lateness that fuels his reputation problem.

• mishaps
• lateness
• auto-dispenser
• prince
• ball

Mymrikov agrees to sign after Tyutyurin, with his boss's help, composes a 'believable' fabricated story about a party with beautiful women and dancing. The chief believes he has finally corrected Tyutyurin's behavior and sees the lie as proof that Tyutyurin can perform appropriately. This temporary success prompts the boss to sign, only for Tyutyurin to immediately confess that even this story was a lie.

• recommendation letter
• boss
• signature
• promotion
• fable

Tyutyurin experiences overwhelming remorse after deceiving his boss. Despite needing the promotion, he cannot live with the contradiction of having built his success on a lie. His confession reveals the real story, the boy, the ball, the fountain, the prince, and Edita Piekha, demonstrating that his genuine kindness and integrity matter more to him than career advancement.

• confession
• guilt
• honesty
• boss
• remorse

The prince's translator arrives at the salon bearing a gift for Tyutyurin, proving that the extraordinary events Tyutyurin described were real all along. This external validation transforms the situation from one where Tyutyurin seemed like a chronic liar to one where his bizarre stories are suddenly verifiable. The gift serves as concrete evidence supporting his honesty.

• prince
• translator
• gift
• proof
• validation

Edita Piekha arrives with Tyutyurin's wife specifically to clear up the misunderstanding. Her presence demonstrates that the car incident Tyutyurin described actually happened and that there's nothing scandalous to hide. By bringing his wife into the salon, the situation transforms from potential disaster to a moment where all parties understand Tyutyurin's character and the truth behind his delays.

• edita piekha
• wife
• arrival
• resolution
• salon

When Tyutyurin confesses that even his 'believable' story was a lie, Mymrikov becomes convinced he is truly incorrigible, beyond reform. The boss fears that someone who cannot stop lying, even when it's against his own interest, poses a fundamental problem for the salon's integrity. This leads him to consider extreme actions like termination, though the situation ultimately resolves differently.

• boss
• drastic measures
• confession
• firing
• incorrigible

The promotion appears to be secured after the boss signs the recommendation letter, though the timeline becomes complicated by Tyutyurin's confession and the subsequent arrivals of the prince's translator and Edita Piekha. By the end, with all misunderstandings resolved and his genuine character validated, Tyutyurin's prospects for advancement are restored. The film ends positively with his integrity recognized rather than punished.

• promotion
• manager
• resolution
• happy ending
• career