Night Flight from Moscow

{{Short description|1973 film by Henri Verneuil}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Infobox film | name = Night Flight from Moscow | image = Night-Flight-From-Moscow-Poster.jpg | caption = French theatrical release poster | native_name = {{Infobox name module|fr|Le Serpent}} | director = [[Henri Verneuil]] | screenplay = {{Plainlist| * [[Gilles Perrault]] * Henri Verneuil }} | based_on = {{based on|''Le 13e suicidé''|[[Pierre Nord]]}} | producer = Henri Verneuil | starring = {{Plainlist| * [[Yul Brynner]] * [[Henry Fonda]] * [[Dirk Bogarde]] * [[Philippe Noiret]] * [[Michel Bouquet]] * [[Virna Lisi]] * [[Guy Tréjan]] * [[Elga Andersen]] * [[Marie Dubois]] * [[Farley Granger]] }} | cinematography = [[Claude Renoir]] | editing = Pierre Gillette | music = [[Ennio Morricone]] | studio = {{Plainlist| * Les Films de la Boétie * Euro International Films * Rialto Film }} | distributor = {{Plainlist| * [[Cinema International Corporation]] (France) * Euro International Films (Italy) * [[Tobis Film]] (West Germany) }} | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1973|4|5|France|1973|4|13|West Germany|1973|5|18|Italy}} | runtime = 113 minutes | country = {{Plainlist| * France * Italy * West Germany }} | language = {{Plainlist| * English * French * German }} | budget = }} '''''Night Flight from Moscow''''' ({{langx|fr|'''Le Serpent'''}}), also known as '''''The Serpent''''',<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-serpent|title=The Serpent|magazine=[[Time Out London]]|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-serpent/review/117263|title=The Serpent|publisher=[[TV Guide]]|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref> is a 1973 [[Cold War]] [[Spy film|spy]] [[thriller film]] produced, co-written and directed by [[Henri Verneuil]] and starring [[Yul Brynner]], [[Henry Fonda]], [[Dirk Bogarde]], [[Philippe Noiret]] and [[Michel Bouquet]]. The score was composed by [[Ennio Morricone]].

==Plot== Aleksey Teodorovic Vlassov, a high-ranking [[KGB]] official who defects while he is in [[France]], possesses highly classified information as part of a deal with Western intelligence for his arrival in the [[United States]]. The debriefing is held at [[Langley, Virginia|Langley]] by [[Director of Central Intelligence|DCI]] Allan Davies and [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]] representative Philip Boyle. Vlassov hands a list that he has of enemy agents in [[Western Europe]], including a deep penetration into [[NATO]].

Davies wants to begin operations to arrest the agents, but those on the list suddenly begin to die off. The CIA also has suspicions over the authenticity of Vlassov's claims. The CIA discovers that a defection photo of Vlassov had been taken in the [[Soviet Union]], not in [[Turkey]], because of the contours of [[Mount Ararat]] in the background. Vlassov outsmarted a [[polygraph|lie detector]] test of the CIA by telling a minor lie to cover his real intentions.

==Cast== {{Cast listing| * [[Yul Brynner]] as Aleksey Teodorovic Vlassov * [[Henry Fonda]] as Allan Davies * [[Dirk Bogarde]] as Philip Boyle * [[Philippe Noiret]] as Lucien Berthon * [[Michel Bouquet]] as Tavel * [[Guy Tréjan]] as Robert Deval * [[Martin Held]] as Lepke * [[Virna Lisi]] as Annabel Lee * [[Paola Pitagora]] as Jeannine Santelli * [[Elga Andersen]] as Kate Cross * [[Marie Dubois]] as Suzanne * Nathalie Nerval as Tatiana Vlassov * [[Farley Granger]] as computer programming director * [[Luigi Diberti]] as Lefevre * [[Robert Alda]] as man interrogated by Tavel }}

==Reception== The film received mixed reviews. ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' called it "a very traditional spy fable" and stated, "The only thing that sets this film apart is the totally consistent layer of impenetrable gloss with which Verneuil covers it, and his general directorial tricksiness, which runs the gamut from the irrelevant to the pretentious and back."<ref name=":0" /> ''[[TV Guide (magazine)|TV Guide]]'' described it as "a solid international espionage tale", and added, "This is a gritty, tightly directed look at international intrigue, and the performances are all finely tuned. Particularly effective is Bogarde who offers a insightful portrait of a cool, calculating agent."<ref name=":1" />

A contemporary review by Tony Mastroianni in the ''[[Cleveland Press]]'' stated that the film demonstrated how in 1973, the [[computer]] had replaced the [[dagger]] in [[espionage]]. The reviewer also concluded the film had "more good moments than bad".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clevelandmemory.org/mastroianni/tm170.html|title=Review: ''CIA spy film: It's not Dullesville'' |author=Mastroianni, Tony|publisher=Cleveland State University Library|date=1973-11-23|accessdate=2013-06-25}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title}} * [http://www.pathfinderpictures.com/mov/trailers/nightflight.mov Trailer]

[[Category:1973 films]] [[Category:1973 thriller films]] [[Category:1973 English-language films]] [[Category:1973 French films]] [[Category:1973 French-language films]] [[Category:1973 German films]] [[Category:1973 German-language films]] [[Category:1973 Italian films]] [[Category:1970s psychological thriller films]] [[Category:1970s spy thriller films]] [[Category:Cold War spy films]] [[Category:English-language French films]] [[Category:English-language German films]] [[Category:English-language Italian films]] [[Category:Films about MI6]] [[Category:Films about the Central Intelligence Agency]] [[Category:Films about the KGB]] [[Category:Films based on French novels]] [[Category:Films directed by Henri Verneuil]] [[Category:Films scored by Ennio Morricone]] [[Category:Films set in France]] [[Category:Films set in Langley, Virginia]] [[Category:Films set in London]] [[Category:Films set in West Germany]] [[Category:Foreign films set in the United States]] [[Category:French spy thriller films]] [[Category:French psychological thriller films]] [[Category:French-language German films]] [[Category:French-language Italian films]] [[Category:German spy thriller films]] [[Category:German psychological thriller films]] [[Category:German-language French films]] [[Category:German-language Italian films]] [[Category:Italian spy thriller films]] [[Category:Italian psychological thriller films]] [[Category:Mount Ararat]] [[Category:West German films]] [[Category:English-language spy thriller films]]