Moscow on the Hudson (1984)

A Russian saxophonist visiting New York with a circus troupe suddenly decides to defect from the USSR during a shopping trip to a department store, but he finds adjusting to American life more difficult than he imagined.

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writers:

Paul Mazursky, Leon Capetanos

Stars:

Robin Williams, Maria Conchita Alonso, Cleavant Derricks

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robin Williams	...	Vladimir Ivanoff
Maria Conchita Alonso	...	Lucia Lombardo
Cleavant Derricks	...	Lionel Witherspoon
Alejandro Rey	...	Orlando Ramirez
Saveliy Kramarov	...	Boris (as Savely Kramarov)
Elya Baskin	...	Anatoly
Oleg Rudnik	...	Yury
Aleksandr Benyaminov	...	Vladimir's Grandfather (as Alexander Beniaminov)
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

Storyline

A Russian circus visits the US. A clown wants to defect, but doesn't have the nerve. His saxophone playing friend however comes to the decision to defect in the middle of Bloomingdales. He is befriended by the black security guard and falls in love with the Italian immigrant from behind the perfume counter. We follow his life as he works his way through the American dream and tries to find work as a musician.

---

Plot Keywords:

city name in title | musician | circus | saxophone | russian immigrant | 

---

Taglines:

America is sometimes a strange place even for Americans. Let alone for Vladimir Ivanoff, a Russian defector with a black roommate, a Cuban lawyer, and an Italian girlfriend. Who's learning to live with Big Macs, cable TV, hard rock, softcore, unemployment and a whole new wonderful word for him. Freedom.

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

After completing a first draft of the script, co-writers Paul Mazursky and Leon Capetanos went to Russia, where they spent three weeks walking the streets of Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev. "We went over there with great trepidation because all we had to go on was the fact that we had read every book we had been able to get our hands on," said Capetanos. "Neither of us had ever been to Russia before, so we weren't quite sure if it was what we imagined."

---

Goofs

Whenever Vladimir plays the saxophone, he is clearly not playing the music heard (the fingering is off and there doesn't seem to be any particular rhyme or reason to his breathing).

---

Quotes

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

---

Alternate Versions

CBS edited 19 minutes from this film for its 1986 network television premiere.

---

Connections

Referenced in My Name Is Earl: Foreign Exchange Student (2007)

---

Soundtracks

IT'S POSSIBLE
Composed by Arkadii II'ich Ostrovskii

User Reviews

A brilliant movie with disturbing accuracy.

Robin Williams truly shows his amazing acting skills in this film. This movie is more of a drama than a comedy which is to be expected when you hear the plot of the story. Williams's Russian is quite convincing and the over all acting from the cast must be a 10 out of 10. It is easy to feel for Vladimir and the journey brings you along. The accuracy is stunning for those who lived through those kinds of situations. Vladimir finds that life is not perfect anywhere but he is sure happy to live in the land of opportunity, the land that gave him `Freedom'.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

6 April 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Moscow on the Hudson

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,536,687, 8 April 1984

Gross USA:

$25,068,724

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,068,724

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Film, Columbia Pictures, Delphi Premier Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1