Midnight in Saint Petersburg is a 1996 made-for-television thriller film starring Michael Caine for the fifth and final time as British secret agent Harry Palmer.[1]
| Midnight in Saint Petersburg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Based on | Characters by Len Deighton |
| Screenplay by | Peter Welbeck |
| Directed by | Douglas Jackson |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Rick Wakeman |
| Country of origin |
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| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Harry Alan Towers |
| Producers |
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| Production locations | |
| Cinematography | Peter Benison |
| Editor | Vidal Beique |
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Showtime |
| Release | 14 February 1996 |
| Related | |
| Bullet to Beijing (1995) | |
It served as a sequel to Bullet to Beijing, which had been released the year before, the two films having been shot back-to-back. Three previous films featuring Caine as Palmer were released in the 1960s, beginning with The Ipcress File.[2]
Plot
editHarry Palmer heads a private investigation business based in Moscow. His associates are Nikolai "Nick" Petrov (Jason Connery), ex-CIA agent Craig (Michael Sarrazin), and ex-KGB Colonel Gradsky (Lev Prygunov[3]). They take on the job of finding 1000 grams of weapons-grade plutonium stolen from the Russian government, though they do not know the identity of their client.
This leads Harry back to Saint Petersburg, where (in Bullet to Beijing) he managed to make enemies of both of the leading rival gangsters, Alex (Michael Gambon) and Yuri (Anatoli Davydov). Nonetheless, suspecting that Alex is involved, Harry talks Yuri into helping him.
As a complication, Nick's ballerina girlfriend Tatiana (Tanya Jackson) is kidnapped by a gang working for Alex into order to pressure her father, the head curator of the Hermitage Museum, into helping steal valuable artwork for crooked art dealer Dr. Vestry (Serge Houde). Also in the mix is reporter Brandy (Michelle Burke), who turns out also to be working for Alex. Nick is captured when he goes looking for Tatiana, but manages to escape in time to assist Harry, with Yuri's help, to foil both schemes.
Cast
edit- Michael Caine as Harry Palmer
- Jason Connery as Nikolai Petrov
- Yuri Limonty as Circus Clown
- Tanya Jackson as Tatiana Zavarzina
- Michael Scherer as Mafiosa
- Michelle Burke as Brandy
- Gabriel Vorobyov as Driver
- Michael Sarrazin as Craig Warner
- Michael Gambon as Alexei Alexeyevich
- Lev Prygunov as Colonel Gradsky
- Olga Anokhina as Greta
- Yuriy Petrov as General Kornikov
- Anatoli Davydov as Yuri Stephanovich
- Serge Houde as Dr. Armand Vestry
- Ingolf Gorges as Club Manager
- Evgeny Zharikov as Feodor Zavarzin
- Vera Bykova-Pizhel as Maria Zavarzina
- Vladimir Yeryomin as Boris
- John Dunn-Hill as Louis
- Vlasta Vrana as Hans Schreiber
- Mia Sara as Natasha Gradskaya