The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed

The setting is post-war Moscow. An investigation into the "Black Cat" gang is carried out by officers of the anti-banditry division of the Moscow Criminal Investigations Department, headed by police captain Zheglov. The film's plot echoes the real story of the Krasnogorsk gang of Ivan Mitin, who were involved in robberies, assaults, and murders in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast in the early 1950s.

Filming took place in 1978–1979 at the Odessa Film Studio and in Moscow. The film's premiere, timed to coincide with Police and Internal Affairs Servicemen's Day, occurred on 11–16 November 1979 on Soviet Central Television. The press received the film positively, praising the acting and directorial work while noting the moral issues presented in the story, primarily associated with the ethical confrontations between Zheglov and Sharapov. Among the film's critics, the Vayner brothers, who disagreed with directorial decisions, asked to have their names removed from the credits. Later, at the brothers' initiative, their names were re-added.

While the film did not receive any awards, its creators received honorary certificates from the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Vysotsky received three posthumous awards for playing the role of Captain Zheglov: in 1981, a special diploma and a jury prize at the 9th All-Union Film Festival in Yerevan; in 1987, a USSR State Prize; and in 1998, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Prize. Vladimir Konkin was also awarded the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Prize in 1999 for his role as Sharapov.

The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed became a cult film in the USSR. Alongside Seventeen Moments of Spring (1973), it shaped popular culture for several generations of Russian-language viewers. Lines from the film have become commonplace catchphrases and aphorisms. The series was released in the West as The Age of Mercy, after the original novel by the Vayner brothers on which it is based.