MIDNIGHT IN SAINT PETERSBURG is the second in a pair of Harry Palmer spy cheapies, following on from BULLET TO BEIJING with which it was shot back-to-back. These television movies have nothing of the atmosphere or style of the original IPCRESS FILE trilogy from the 1960s, although Michael Caine fans might find them interesting regardless. They were made by exploitation producer Harry Alan Towers, a hard-working industry presence ever since the 1960s.
This film sees Caine's spy teaming up with a younger model (the nice-but-wooden Jason Connery) to tackle some nefarious Russian mobsters. The plot is surprisingly fast-moving and features a few scenes of action and suspense which work quite well, although I wish there were more of them. A fight between Connery and an assassin on a train harks back to his father's glory days in From Russia with Love. The supporting cast sees Michael Gambson attempting an ill-advised Russian accent and failing.
This film sees Caine's spy teaming up with a younger model (the nice-but-wooden Jason Connery) to tackle some nefarious Russian mobsters. The plot is surprisingly fast-moving and features a few scenes of action and suspense which work quite well, although I wish there were more of them. A fight between Connery and an assassin on a train harks back to his father's glory days in From Russia with Love. The supporting cast sees Michael Gambson attempting an ill-advised Russian accent and failing.