Night Flight from Moscow

{{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|

}}

| 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,{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-serpent|title=The Serpent|magazine=Time Out London|access-date=2019-10-05}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-serpent/review/117263|title=The Serpent|publisher=TV Guide|access-date=2019-10-05}} is a 1973 Cold War 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 by DCI Allan Davies and 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 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 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." 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."

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".{{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}}