House No. 7, located at the corner of Bolshoy and Maly Gnezdnikovsky Lanes, does not stand out externally, but its coat of arms raises questions. It depicts a worker with a hammer in one hand and a film reel in the other. What could this mean?

In the 18th century, there was a large estate belonging to merchant Kondikov. In the early 19th century, the house belonged to the sons of Fyodor Orlov, one of the Orlov brothers who helped Catherine II ascend to the throne. In 1880, the mansion was acquired by Russian industrialist and philanthropist Georgy Lianozov, who commissioned architect I.P. Kherodinov to alter the facade and add extensions. His son, oil industrialist S.G. Lianozov, was fascinated by the new art form. He founded the company 'Biochrome' and, together with Fyodor Shalyapin and Maria Andreyeva, planned to make films. Maria Fedorovna wrote to Gorky: 'We are currently looking for money, we need about twenty thousand to pay the notary for the contract and make the first payment to Lianozov. We will return this money from the ninety thousand that 'Biochrome' is giving us... As you can see, this is a grand undertaking. If it succeeds, a whole network of cinemas will be secured.'

However, the project did not succeed. Shortly before the revolution, the mansion was rented by Chibrario de Goden, representing the film company 'Trans-Atlantic'. From 1918, it first housed the film photo department of the People's Commissariat for Education, then Sovkino, and later the Ministry of Cinematography. In 1925, the building was raised by two floors, and then the strange coat of arms appeared. It symbolized that under Soviet power, cinematography belonged to the workers, not the intelligentsia. This was partly true, as the ministry was headed by I.G. Bolshakov, who could not even pronounce the word 'cinematography' correctly. However, he entered history thanks to Samuel Marshak, who, not waiting for an appointment, left a note: 'You, Comrade Bolshakov, do not have so many Marshaks.'

In this house, Grigory Alexandrov's film 'The Cheerful Guys' was saved. Officials wanted to shelve it, believing that Alexandrov was imitating American musicals. However, the head of the cinematography department, Boris Shumyatsky, disagreed and showed the film to Gorky, who told Stalin about it. Stalin, lacking a screening room in the Kremlin, came to view it at the mansion and, laughing, said he had never rested so well and that he liked Lyubov Orlova the most. The question of shelving was dropped, and the film was released, achieving enormous success.

Currently, the building houses the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.