La fille de la rue Petrovka

If you haven't seen this little gem of a film - and most people haven't - do yourself a favor and spend a couple of hours with stars Goldie Hawn, Hal Holbrook, and an up and coming young British stage actor named Anthony Hopkins. It's a terrific story, thoroughly engaging, and the performances (and Russian accents) are spot on. This is a wonderful movie, beautifully shot and directed in 1974 that holds up well with the passing of the years. It's a shame that more people haven't seen this one, as it really is something very special. It was adapted from a novel by journalist George Feifer, and Joe, the Holbrook character, may be seen as a thinly veiled version of the author himself. Don't miss this one.

One of these days Hollyweird will get the memo and cast couples in these film who are closer in age and not some old fart old enough to be her father as her romantic liaison in these god awful movies. She's ready to party while he's gulping down geritol and going to bed, and we're supposed to believe that she is actually involved with gramps. Old white men need to get out of the movie business and take their tired cliched nonsense with them. One thing about these older movie and that is the sheer quantity of misogyny in them from start to finish. I gave it a three due to Hawn and Hopkins presence in this movie.

I just saw this film for the first time. While Goldie Hawn's Russian accent left a lot to be desired, I found this an entertaining story. Hal Holbrook was great, of course. I thought the Soviet background was fairly well presented of it's 1970's time period. While this was the "Cold War" period, one should not mistake this film for some spy vs. spy story. It is a love story set against the background of the Soviet Union. Some of Goldie's character motivation seem a bit odd at times, I will say. Perhaps another film where if one read the book, some of the character development details would be filled in and better understood. While one recommendation here for a similar story was, "Reds," I would say the 1980's film, "White Nights," with Gregory Hines would be a much better comparison.

I didn't know much about this when I picked it up. The fact that I haven't ever heard of a film before doesn't necessarily mean that it's poor, and I enjoy discovering the overlooked gems of recent time as well as older releases. Unfortunately, that approach can also lead to finding average nothings like this, that just happen to have landed talented actors. It is kind of funny to see Hopkins be so animated, I can't think of many other roles where that is so; he's usually so subtle and downplayed. And you can't help but fall for Hawn, she is so lively and fun. There are some reasonably developed characters that are mostly credible. The editing and cinematography are fine. This didn't grab me or particularly have me engaged at any point. Now, I realize that this was made before the wall fell... still, seriously, OK, we get it, Soviet Russia sucks, quit hammering it home. Several of these problems exist in America, too, y'know, like drinking merely to get through the day and being unhappy even though you supposedly have everything that you "should" ever want. This is a cheap and see-through piece of propaganda, and it actually loses all of its credibility, in spite of having strong points. The story has nothing new to offer. I recommend this solely to the biggest fans of those who appear in this. 5/10

Chicago journalist in Moscow, the American news correspondent to the Soviet Union, becomes smitten with a bubbly young woman who has an elderly benefactor but no working papers (she sells her body to make ends meet); it doesn't take much for him to convince her that capitalism suits her better than communism. Terrible vehicle for Goldie Hawn, who nevertheless was reportedly quite proud of this misbegotten romantic drama, adapted from the book by George Feifer. Hawn, speaking (and singing!) with a wobbly Russian accent, is still easier to take than Hal Holbrook, more cranky and nasal than usual. Anthony Hopkins shows them both up as Hawn's flamboyant friend, although there isn't much of a role there. Filmed in Vienna, the picture certainly looks good, but the characters are simply not engaging. *1/2 from ****