One of Mikhail's uncles served as a General in the Imperial Russian Army, another one was among the founders of the Tbilisi State University.

During World War II he directed several propaganda films and worked as a cultural attaché at the Soviet embassy in the United States.

The Cranes Are Flying became one of the leaders of the 1957 Soviet box office (10th place with 28.3 million viewers)[6] and won several international awards, including Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.

[2] The Red Tent was a joint Soviet-Italian effort and featured an international team of actors, including Peter Finch, Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale, Hardy Krüger, Nikita Mikhalkov and others.

Mikhail Kalatozov died in Moscow on March 26, 1973 after his seventh heart attack and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.