On 15 March, with
Malenkov signaling a policy of peaceful coexistence and Eisenhower believing it, the president's advisers told him it was a ruse.
Did the weak, equivocating
Malenkov really say "No problem", then change it (when he saw his position was unpopular) to "No!
In most cases, the actors lined up to portray historical figures, from Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) and Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) to Georgy
Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), Vyacheslav Molotov (Michael Palin) and Lavrenti Beria (Simon Russell Beale), bear at best a passing resemblance to the characters sometimes none at all and, thankfully, none of them speaks in a Hollywood-prescribed Russian accent.
It's a rich ensemble with varying accents and uniform comic brilliance, including Michael Palin as Molotov, Jeffrey Tambor as
Malenkov and Jason Isaacs as Zhukov.
1953 Georgi
Malenkov succeeds the late Joseph Stalin as Prime Minister of the Soviet Union.
Maxim editor in chief Alexander
Malenkov confirmed the magazine was promoting the presidential election as part of a "special business project" for an unknown client with financial remuneration that has not been revealed.
"Khrushchev doesn't want Beria to take over and so he tries to gain influence with Stalin's number two,
Malenkov (played by Jeffrey Tambor), as whoever can gain influence with
Malenkov can influence how things are going to turn out," explains 59-year-old Steve.
Close adviser Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) arrives soon afterwards, joined by other members of the inner circle including Stalin's bumbling deputy Georgy
Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), Lazar Kaganovich (Dermot Crowley), defence minister Nikolai Bulganin (Paul Chahidi) and Anastas Mikoyan (Paul Whitehouse).
They expressed their desire to continue contact with the new Soviet leaders--at first with Georgiy
Malenkov and then with Nikita Khrushchev.
The dictator's cronies, Nikita Khrushchev, Lavrenti Beria, Georgy
Malenkov, and Nikolai Bulganin, had been forced to endure another long, liquor-soaked dinner with their leader and earlier, a movie (Stalin adored Hollywood films).