Moscow on the Hudson (1984)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writers:

Paul Mazursky (writer) &
Leon Capetanos (writer)

Release Date:

6 April 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Vladimir Ivanoff walks into a department store to buy blue jeans, walks out with a girl friend, an immigration lawyer and a buddy. His life and theirs will never be the same again.

Plot:

When a Russian musician defects in Bloomingdale's department store in New York, he finds adjusting to American life more difficult than he imagined.

Plot Keywords:

Musician | Bloomingdales | Saxophone | Italian Immigrant | Friend

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Vladimir Ivanoff
Maria Conchita Alonso	...	Lucia Lombardo
Cleavant Derricks	...	Lionel Witherspoon, Bloomingdales Security Officer
Alejandro Rey	...	Orlando Ramirez, Vladimir's Cuban Lawyer
Saveli Kramarov	...	Boris, KGB man (as Savely Kramarov)
Elya Baskin	...	Anatoly Cherkasov
Oleg Rudnik	...	Yuri
Aleksandr Benyaminov	...	Vladimir's Grandfather
Lyudmila Kramarevskaya	...	Vladimir's Mother (as Ludmila Kramarevsky)
Ivo Vrzal-Wiegand	...	Vladimir's Father (as Ivo Vrzal)
Natalya Ivanova	...	Sasha (as Natalie Iwanow)
Tiger Haynes	...	Lionel's Grandfather
Eyde Byrde	...	Lionel's Mother (as Edye Byrde)
Robert MacBeth	...	Lionel's Stepfather
Donna Ingram-Young	...	Leanne Witherspoon

Runtime:

115 min | West Germany:117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bartlett Place, Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In one scene, a cinema is showing An Unmarried Woman, directed by Paul Mazursky, the director of Moscow on the Hudson.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Road signs in Moscow scenes are messy. For instance, Vladimir passes sign "no vehicles allowed" and some meters after you can see the sign "parking forbidden" which means a vehicle suppose to disrespect 1st sign to succeed in disrespecting then the 2nd.

Quotes:

french man on bus: [first lines]
french man on bus: Excuse me, sir. Does this bus go to the Lincoln Center?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Murphy Brown: Moscow on the Potomac (#1.16)" (1989)

Soundtrack:

FREEDOM

My released dream

The movie released in 1984 but I saw it only 2 years ago. I'm from former USSR and this film was prohibited in the Soviet Union.I think it's the best American film about America itself:sometimes fun,sometimes sad.It's useful especially for Russians who want to leave poor Russia for the US and release their 'Russian-American dream'.It's also the best film about the former USSR,its citizens' way of life,its lines to shops,surveillance of the KGB and many other bad things.I'm a history teacher in high school and I demonstrate this film to my young RUSSIAN students in Russian history class.Besides a very creditable performance of Robin Williams,Savely Kramarov.Very clever movie !