A Russian saxophonist visiting New York City with a USSR circus troupe suddenly decides to defect in Bloomingdale's.A Russian saxophonist visiting New York City with a USSR circus troupe suddenly decides to defect in Bloomingdale's.A Russian saxophonist visiting New York City with a USSR circus troupe suddenly decides to defect in Bloomingdale's.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Saveliy Kramarov
- Boris
- (as Savely Kramarov)
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)
Eyde Byrde
- Lionel's Mother
- (as Edye Byrde)
Aleksandr Narodetsky
- Leonid
- (as Alexander Narodetzky)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn preparation for his role, for about a year, lead actor Robin Williams studied Soviet customs and learned the Russian language. Reportedly, Williams spent five hours a day learning Russian and had learned to speak it well within a month. By the time of principal photography, Williams was at a proficiency level where he could carry out a conversation. Williams's teacher was a Russian actor called David.
- GoofsIn the USSR of the 1980s even teenagers weren't acquainted with middle finger gesture, let alone an 80-year-old man doing it towards KGB officers.
- Quotes
Vladimir Ivanoff: [confronting a stranger following him down the street] FBI?
Gay Man on Street: FBI? No.
Vladimir Ivanoff: KGB?
Gay Man on Street: No. G-A-Y.
Vladimir Ivanoff: Gay? Oh, no, no.
Gay Man on Street: Sorry. You have a nice face. I thought we had a "moment" back there.
- Alternate versionsCBS edited 19 minutes from this film for its 1986 network television premiere.
- SoundtracksFreedom
Written by David McHugh
Produced by Chaka Khan and David McHugh
Performed by Chaka Khan
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records
Featured review
Williams Best Performance!
Robin Williams delivers the best performance of his storied career (yes I know he won an Oscar for Good Will Hunting) as Vladimir Ivanoff a Russian musician who takes a chance at freedom in America. Released in 1984 during the height of U.S. Russian tension, director Paul Mazursky doesn't villify Russia instead using it as an opportunity to show how similar the people are to Americans. Noteworthy performances by Maria Conchita Alonso (as his eventual girlfriend) and Cleavant Derricks (as the Bloomingdales security guard who takes an immediate liking to Vladimir). Mazursky walks the line of schmaltz at times but doesn't cross over. Especially evident in a well done scene when Vladimir finds out about the death of his beloved grandfather. Moscow on the Hudson is an often overlooked film that to me stood out as one worth watching again and again.
helpful•325
- channel_3_tv
- Mar 8, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Moskau in New York
- Filming locations
- Munich, Bavaria, Germany(city: Moscow)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $13,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,068,724
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,536,687
- Apr 8, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $25,068,724
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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