''Midnight in Saint Petersburg'' is a 1996

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

starring Michael Caine for the fifth and final time as British secret agent Harry Palmer. It served as a sequel to ''

Bullet to Beijing ''Bullet to Beijing'' is a 1995 made-for-television film that continues the adventures of the fictional spy Harry Palmer, who appeared in the 1960s films ''The Ipcress File'', ''Funeral in Berlin'' and ''Billion Dollar Brain'', based on books b ...

'', 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''.

Plot

Harry Palmer heads a private investigation business based in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. His associates are Nikolai "Nick" Petrov (

Jason Connery Jason Joseph Connery (born 11 January 1963) is a British actor and director. He is the son of Sean Connery and Diane Cilento. On screen, he is best known for appearing in the third series of the ITV drama series ''Robin of Sherwood'' in 1986. He ...

), ex-

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

agent Craig ( Michael Sarrazin), and ex-

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

Colonel Gradsky (

Lev Prygunov Lev Georgievich Prygunov (russian: Лев Гео́ргиевич Прыгуно́в; born 23 April 1939, Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR) is a Russian actor, painter, People's Artist of Russia (2013). His son is a Russian film director . After graduation, ...

Cinematografo.it - Intrigo a San Pietroburgo
/ref>). They take on the job of finding 1000 grams of weapons-grade

plutonium Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibi ...

stolen from the Russian government, though they do not know the identity of their client. This leads Harry back to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, where (in ''Bullet to Beijing'') he managed to make enemies of both of the leading rival gangsters, Alex (

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; born 19 October 1940) is an Irish-English actor. Regarded as one of Ireland and Britain's most distinguished actors, he is known for his work on stage and screen. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivi ...

) 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 The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...

, into helping steal valuable artwork for crooked art dealer Dr. Vestry ( Serge Houde). Also in the mix is reporter Brandy (

Michelle Burke Michelle Burke (born Michelle Gray; November 30, 1970) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jodi Kramer in the 1993 Richard Linklater film '' Dazed and Confused'' and as Connie Conehead in the 1993 movie ''Coneheads''. ...

), 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, foil both schemes.

Cast

* Michael Caine as Harry Palmer *

as Nikolai Petrov * Yuri Limonty as Circus Clown * Tanya Jackson as Tatiana Zavarzina * Michael Scherer (actor) as Mafiosa *

as Brandy *

Gabriel Vorobyov In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

as Driver * Michael Sarrazin as Craig Warner *

as Alexei Alexeyevich *

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 Evgeny Ilyich "Zhenya" Zharikov (''Russian:'' Евгений Ильич Жариков; 26 February 1941 — 18 January 2012), also spelt Yevgeniy Ilich Zharikov and variants, was a Soviet and Russian film actor. He was awarded the USSR State Priz ...

as Feodor Zavarzin * Vera Bykova-Pizhel as Maria Zavarzina * Vladimir Yeryomin as Boris *

John Dunn-Hill John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

as Louis * Vlasta Vrana as Hans Schreiber *

Mia Sara Mia Sarapochiello (born June 19, 1967), known professionally as Mia Sara, is a retired American actress. She made her film debut as Princess Lili in the fantasy film ''Legend'' (1985), and had her breakthrough starring as Sloane Peterson in the ...

as Natasha

References

External links

* 1996 television films 1996 films 1990s spy thriller films British sequel films British spy thriller films Films directed by Douglas Jackson Films set in Russia Russian sequel films Russian spy thriller films Russian television films Spy television films Television sequel films British thriller television films Films set in Moscow Films set in Saint Petersburg Films about the Russian Mafia 1990s British films {{1990s-thriller-film-stub