The Golden Calf (Russian: Золотой телёнок, romanized: Zolotoy telyonok) is a 1968 Soviet comedy film directed by Mikhail Schweitzer, based on the eponymous novel by Ilf and Petrov.

He visits the local government official to finagle 50 rubles out of him by posing as a son of revolutionary hero Lieutenant Schmidt and claiming he is on a trip and a mishap has left him out of money.

While the official is perplexed, Bender quickly assesses the youngster as an impostor and makes a show of treating him as his long-lost brother to defuse the situation.

During his exchange with Bender, Shura spots Panikovsky, a cantankerous old crook who also makes his living as a "son of Lieutenant Schmidt" and has been infringing on the young man's exclusive territory.

On the road, the quartet manages to obtain free food and fuel along part of the trip, thanks to Bender's idea of pretending to be the lead car in the ongoing Moscow-Kharkov-Moscow rally.

Using the money stolen from Koreiko, Bender has set up a front business, the Office for Collection of Horns and Hooves, with Panikovsky and Shura as fellow employees.

The company is supposed to supply raw materials for combs and buttons but serves as a cover while Bender goes on various trips to carry out a detailed investigation of Koreiko's past.

The three crooks are joined by Funt, an old man who's spent his whole adult life being the nominal director in dubious enterprises and going to jail when the inevitable bankruptcies followed.

Before Bender can sell the office equipment and supplies to raise funds, the company is raided by authorities for having appropriated negligible quantities of hooves and horns, and Funt is hauled off to jail once again.

The investment pays off when Zosya tells him she's received a letter from Koreiko detailing his whereabouts: he is now working as a time controller on the Turkestan-Siberia Railway.

After burying and eulogizing him, the three survivors decide to split up: Shura and Kozlevich have lost faith and turn back West, while Bender continues East alone.

Reverting to his original plan of moving to Rio de Janeiro, he tries to sneak out of the country in the dead of winter loaded with furs and jewelry, only to have border guards seize everything from him.