Midnight in St Petersberg *** (1996, Michael Caine, Jason Connery, Michael Sarrazin, Michelle Burke, Michael Gambon) – Classic Movie Review 9839

Michael Caine returns for the fifth and final time as one-time British secret agent Harry Palmer, in the 1996 made-for-TV thriller Midnight in St Petersburg, the sequel to Bullet to Beijing, released the year before, though they were shot back-to-back.

Jason Connery as Nikolai Petrov, Michael Sarrazin as CIA ex-spy Craig Warner, Lev Prygunov as ex-KGB Colonel Colonel Gradsky and Michael Gambon as Russian gangster bossman Alex also return from Bullet to Beijing.

Now Harry Palmer heads a Moscow-based private investigation business with Nikolai, Craig and Gradsky (Lev Prygunov), who try to finding 1000 grams of weapons-grade plutonium stolen from the Russian government, leading Harry back to St Petersburg.

The main cast are: 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, Lev Prygunov as Colonel Gradsky, Olga Anokhina as Greta Zavarzina, Yuriy Petrov as General Kornikov, Anatoli Davydov as Yuri Stephanovich, Serge Houde as Dr Vestry, Ingolf Gorges as Club Manager, Evgeny Zharikov as Fyodor Zavarzin, Michael Gambon as Alex and Vladimir Yeryomin as Boris.

It is directed by Douglas Jackson, written and executive produced by Harry Alan Towers (under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck) and scored by Rick Wakeman.

Three previous films featuring Caine as Palmer were released earlier, his Sixties hits The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain.

Caine said that the making of these movies ‘was my worst professional experience ever’ and that he decided to quit acting during the production. Jack Nicholson persuaded him to come out of retirement for Blood and Wine (1996). While shooting in Moscow and St Petersburg, he and the crew received death threats from Russian crime lords so he had two armed bodyguards.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9839

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