Moscow Nights (1935 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Moscow Nights

| image = Moscow_Nights_(1935_film).jpg

| caption =

| director = Anthony Asquith

| producer = Alexis Granowsky

| writer = Erich Seipmann
Anthony Asquith

| based_on = an unpublished novel by Pierre Benoît

| starring = Laurence Olivier
Penelope Dudley-Ward
Harry Baur

| music = Muir Mathieson

| cinematography = Philip Tannura

| editing = Francis D. Lyon

| studio = Denham Films
London Film Productions

| distributor = General Film Distributors

| released = {{Film date|1935|11|06|df=yes}}

| runtime = 100 minutes

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

}}

Moscow Nights (released as I Stand Condemned in the United States) is a 1935 British drama film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Laurence Olivier, Penelope Dudley-Ward and Harry Baur. The screenplay concerns a wounded officer who falls in love with his nurse.

Based on a novel by Pierre Benoit, it is a remake of the 1934 French film of the same title. Harry Baur was the only actor to reprise his role from the original. It was shot at Denham and Isleworth Studios, both controlled by Alexander Korda's London Films.Wood p.87 The film's sets were designed by the art director Vincent Korda. It was released in the United States by United Artists.

Plot

During the First World War, a wounded Russian officer, Captain Ignatoff, falls in love with his nurse. Matters are complicated by the fact that she is already engaged to a wealthy merchant.

Cast

Harry Baur as Brioukov
Penelope Dudley-Ward as Natasha
Laurence Olivier as Captain Ignatoff
Athene Seyler as Madame Sabline
Lilian Braithwaite as Countess
Morton Selten as Kovrin
Sam Livesey as Fedor
Robert Cochran as Polonsky
Hay Petrie as Spy
Walter Hudd as The Doctor
Kate Cutler as Madame Kovrin
C. M. Hallard as President of Court Martial
Charles Carson as Officer of Defence
Edmund Willard as Officer of Prosecution
Morland Graham as Bioukov's Servant

Critical response

Writing for The Spectator in 1935, Graham Greene called the film "completely bogus", and "the worst, as well as the most ballyhooed, film of the year". Asquith and Dudley-Ward were criticised in particular, with Greene describing Asquith's direction as puerile, and Dudley-Ward's acting as "country-house charades". Although Greene praised the acting from the rest of the film's stars, and noted that Asquith's past direction had been characterized by trickery, he commented that "now [Asquith's] bag of tricks seems empty".{{cite journal |last= Greene|first= Graham|author-link= Graham Greene|date= 15 November 1935|title= Last Love/Moscow Nights/Oil for the Lamps of China|journal= The Spectator}} (reprinted in: {{cite book|editor-last= Taylor|editor-first= John Russell|editor-link= John Russell Taylor|date= 1980|title= The Pleasure Dome|url= https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/35|pages= [https://archive.org/details/pleasuredomegrah00gree/page/35 35–36]|isbn= 0192812866|url-access= registration}})