Abstract. The aim of the paper is to present economical and production problems of the “era of stagnation”, which were reflected in such a genre of the Soviet visual industry as a “production drama”. The choice of the research subject proceeds from the idea that cinema in the Soviet system of relations between authorities and society was one of the most important channels of ideological influence, by means of that authorities tried to explain existence of certain problems in the economy that emerged in 1970-s. A «production drama» became a genre where problems of the Soviet economic system found its most complete, concentrated expression, and socio-economic relations and basic conflicts between different economic entities were revealed. In the movies of the early and mid-1970-s the main problems of Soviet economy were revealed as a part of a plot, and also appropriate solutions to them were proposed. In the end of 1970-s in most of movies economic problems were identified, but the methods and ways of their solution were absent.
Keywords: Soviet Union, crisis, planned economy, socialist economy, cinema, party organizer, company’s management, labor community.