''Red King, White Knight'' is a 1989 American

political thriller A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle, high stakes and suspense is the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. The st ...

television film 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 ...

directed by

Geoff Murphy Geoffrey Peter Murphy (12 October 1938 – 3 December 2018) was a New Zealand filmmaker, producer, director, and screenwriter best known for his work during the renaissance of New Zealand cinema that began in the second half of the 1970s. His s ...

and written by Ron Hutchinson. The film stars

Tom Skerritt Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in ''M*A*S*H'', ''Alien'', '' The Dead Zone'', '' Top Gun'', '' A ...

as Bill Stoner, a retired

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

operative who is sent to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to determine the truth behind assassination rumors. It also stars

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

as his old

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 ...

adversary Szaz and Helen Mirren as his former girlfriend Anna. At the

42nd Primetime Emmy Awards The 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 16, 1990. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. Two networks, The Family Channel and The Disney Channel, received their firs ...

, von Sydow was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for his role in the film.

Plot

The CIA hears of a KGB scheme to assassinate the Soviet General Secretary and enlists Stoner, an agent retired for 10 years, to go to Russia to investigate. He verifies the plot, but then has trouble leaving the country. In the meantime, the U.S. policy makers struggle over whether or not to inform the Soviets of the plot. Stoner's problems are complicated by the renewal of an affair with Anna, a Russian, as he tries to convince her to defect.

Cast

as Stoner *

as Szaz * Helen Mirren as Anna * Tom Bell as Tulayev *

Gavan O'Herlihy Gavan John O'Herlihy (29 July 1951 – 15 September 2021) was an American actor. He was known for playing Chuck Cunningham in the first episodes of ''Happy Days'', as well as his appearances in films such as ''Never Say Never Again'', ''Death W ...

as Clancy *

Barry Corbin Leonard Barrie Corbin (born October 16, 1940) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Maurice Minnifield on the television series '' Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), which earned him two consecutive Primetime Emmy Awar ...

as Bentick *

Clarke Peters Peter Clarke (born April 7, 1952), known professionally as Clarke Peters, is an American-British actor, writer, and director. He is best known for his roles as Lester Freamon in the television series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and Albert Lambrea ...

as Jones *

Kerry Shale Kerry Shale is a Canadian actor and writer based in London, England. Filmography Film Television Video games References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shale, Kerry Living people 20th-century British male actors 20th-century Ca ...

as Viktor *

Lou Hirsch Lou may refer to: __NOTOC__ Personal name * Lou (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lou (German singer) * Lou (French singer) * Lou (surname 娄), the 229th most common surname in China * Lou (surname 楼), the 269th most co ...

as Baetz

Release

''Red King, White Knight'' premiered on HBO on November 25, 1989.

References

External links

* 1989 films 1989 television films 1980s political thriller films 1980s spy thriller films American political thriller films American spy thriller films Films about assassinations Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films about the KGB Films directed by Geoff Murphy Films produced by John Kemeny Films scored by John Scott (composer) Films set in Moscow Films set in the Soviet Union Films shot in Budapest Films shot in Washington, D.C. HBO Films films Cold War spy films Spy television films American thriller television films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films {{US-tv-thriller-film-stub