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 | Romance

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 | New York | Friend | Saxophone

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:

Continuity: When we see Vladimir and Anatoly in NY bus the window is clear. Some moments after it's dusty enough for Anatoly to spell FREEDOM! on it.

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:

PEOPLE UP IN TEXAS

THE ONLY western movie I've seen that truly shows life in the Soviet Union

This is THE ONLY movie I've seen that truly shows life in the Soviet Union, which is made in the West.

This is a great movie! It really hits on why people tried to run from the Soviet Union, the oppression there and the taste of freedom in the USA. It is extremely realistic! We were ashamed at some points in the movie associating ourselves with the former fellow countrymen. But the showed THE TRUTH! All of the things shown used to happen in real life.

Robin Williams was brilliant. He spoke Russian with almost no accent, which was amazing!

I am from the Soviet Union so I know what I'm talking about. Nearly all of the rest of the movies are not more than a joke when it concerns reflecting life in Russia or Soviet Union. Even in the Air Force One (with Harrison Ford!) I was laughing like crazy when they showed supposedly Russian Prison.

So, all of you lucky to be born in freedom, please see this movie and you maybe will start thinking why you are so lucky and how exciting but difficult is to be an immigrant!