The Kremlin Letter

The Kremlin Letter
Theatrical poster for The Kremlin Letter
Directed by	John Huston
Produced by	Carter DeHaven Sam Wiesenthal
Written by	John Huston Gladys Hill
Starring	Bibi Andersson Richard Boone Nigel Green Dean Jagger
Music by	Robert Jackson Drasnin
Cinematography	Edward Scaife
Editing by	Russell Lloyd
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	February 1, 1970 April 10 April 17 June 21, 1971
Running time	120 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English/Russian

The Kremlin Letter is a 1970 American espionage film, released by 20th Century-Fox. Directed by John Huston from a screenplay that Huston co-wrote with Gladys Hill (adapted from the novel by Noel Behn), the film is a complex tale of intrigue and espionage set in the days of the US-Soviet Cold War.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Background and production notes 4 External links

Plot

O'Neal plays a naval man drafted into the secret service because he has a photographic memory and is able to speak fluent Russian. He is given the task of retrieving the eponymous letter. Helping him is a motley team of undercover (and underworld) sorts, including Richard Boone as O'Neal's superior, charming and menacing both at the same time, George Sanders as a drag artist, and a beautiful safecracker (who opens safes with her feet while lying on her back), played by Barbara Parkins, with whom O'Neal falls in love. The characterizations and the acting are first-rate. Huston, who also plays a small role, directs with a deceptive touch of nonchalance that seems to imply wariness and uninvolvement but in fact, the film is a highly absorbing tale that sustains interest from beginning to end.

Cast

• Bibi Andersson as Erika (Beck) Kosnov, Prostitute/Kosnov's wife
• Richard Boone as Ward/Uncle
• Nigel Green as The Whore
• Dean Jagger as Highwayman
• Lila Kedrova as Madam Sophie
• Micheál MacLiammóir as Sweet Alice
• Patrick O'Neal as Charles Rone/Yorgi
• Barbara Parkins as B.A.
• Ronald Radd as Captain Potkin
• George Sanders as Warlock
• Raf Vallone as Puppet Maker
• Max von Sydow as Colonel Kosnov
• Orson Welles as Bresnavitch, Head of Soviet Politburo/Grodin's Father-in-Law
• Sandor Elès as Lt. Grodin (as Sandor Eles)
• Niall MacGinnis as Erector Set

Background and production notes

• One of the film's admirers was the French master of film noir Jean-Pierre Melville.
• An interesting technique used in the film to surmount the problem of having Russian characters speak in their own language while translating their dialogue into English without the use of English subtitles was to have the characters start speaking in Russian and gradually segueing into English. Such a practice has been little used since.
• Many of the scenes set to be in Communist Russia were filmed in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki, which features similar neoclassical buildings to Leningrad. Helsinki was quite a popular backdrop for similar films at the time.

External links

The Kremlin Letter at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Films directed by John Huston 1940s The Maltese Falcon • In This Our Life • Across the Pacific • Report from the Aleutians • The Battle of San Pietro • Let There Be Light • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre • Key Largo • We Were Strangers 1950s The Asphalt Jungle • The Red Badge of Courage • The African Queen • Moulin Rouge • Beat the Devil • Moby Dick • Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison • The Barbarian and the Geisha • The Roots of Heaven 1960s The Unforgiven • The Misfits • Freud the Secret Passion • The List of Adrian Messenger • The Night of the Iguana • The Bible: In the Beginning • Reflections in a Golden Eye • Casino Royale • Sinful Davey • A Walk with Love and Death 1970s The Kremlin Letter • Fat City • The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean • The Mackintosh Man • The Man Who Would Be King • Wise Blood 1980s Phobia • Victory • Annie • Under the Volcano • Prizzi's Honor • The Dead

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