Initially, another actor was invited for the role of Korostelyov. However, the artistic council of the association did not approve this and recommended Sergey Bondarchuk to them. The young directors did not believe that Bondarchuk would agree to act in a directorial debut. But after reading the script, Sergey said that he liked the role.
Based on a homonymous short novel by Vera Panova.
The beginning of the shooting was scheduled for September 1959. Since the action of the picture takes place in the summer, it was decided to build the set in Krasnodar, where autumn has a large number of sunny days.