• Home
  • News
  • Top Picks
    • Movies & Films: Top 25
    • Documentaries: Top 25
    • Films For Students: Top 10
    • Music Videos: Top 10
  • Categories
    • Film
    • Documentary
    • Shorts
    • Blog
    • Calendar
    • Links
    • About

Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World

Libertarian Movies, Films & Documentaries

Moscow on the Hudson (1984)

Tagged: Escape from socialism, Pro-immigration

A member of a Soviet entertainment troupe visiting the U.S. defects. [ Moscow on the Hudson credits: Dir: Paul Mazursky/ Robin Williams, Maria Conchita Alonso, Cleavant Derricks/ 115 min/ Comedy, Drama/ Escape from Socialism, Pro-Immigration]

“Alternately funny, touching, and bittersweet, Moscow on the Hudson succeeds as both comedy and drama. It’s an entertaining escape-from-socialism story with a sympathetic focus on the lives of recent immigrants.”

This film does an excellent job of contrasting Soviet and American life, and in so doing builds an appreciation for the freedom we still have left. But the real triumph of Moscow on the Hudson is in portraying immigrants in a sympathetic and even patriotic light, as likable, hard-working people with a strong appreciation for liberty.

The main character here is a Russian musician living in Moscow. He has a difficult existence. In particular, he’s constantly under the eye of the KGB; he isn’t free even to play the kind of music he likes; and he lives in impoverished, crowded conditions. Despite those deprivations, he has no conscious plan to defect during his circus troupe’s upcoming trip to New York City. But on the last day of his visit, while in that bastion of capitalism, Bloomingdale’s, he suddenly decides to make the leap. Instantly KGB agents swing into action to stop him, but they’re no match for the Bloomingdale’s staff, who help the defector gain his freedom.

The rest of the film is about his adjustment to American culture. The new immigrant’s friends include a black security guard from Alabama, an Italian salesperson, and a Cuban immigration lawyer. There is an implied element of social tolerance in this portrait of so many different types of people all getting along, working together, and helping each other when help is needed.

Of course, life in the U.S. isn’t perfect. The defector works mostly low-level jobs as he makes his way up, and at one point he’s a victim of violent crime. But the U.S. has that one essential ingredient of happiness so lacking around the world—freedom; and nobody knows it better than immigrants. That message is underscored in the touching final scene, in which, on the Fourth of July, a group of immigrants recite together the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. They know the words, long forgotten by so many of the rest of us.

Alternately funny, touching, and bittersweet, Moscow on the Hudson succeeds as both comedy and drama, thanks to a very good script and Robin Williams, the man with a million faces and accents, in the leading role. Many lesser characters are also well played. It’s an entertaining escape-from-socialism story with a sympathetic focus on the lives of recent immigrants.

How to See It

Netflix
Amazon (DVD)
Amazon (Instant Video)
YouTube Video Search
Google Video Search

Links

IMDB
Wikipedia
Google
More Films About: Escape from Socialism
More Films About: Pro-Immigration

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email

Related

Featured Post

covid response

Covid Response Pitch Meeting: Harrison Hill Smith

This hilarious skit by Comedian Harrison Hill Smith reimagines the government's initial Covid response pitch meeting among experts. If you're wondering how authorities could have made their response so haphazard and contradictory, this is one scenario. h/t Instapundit … Continue Reading

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace (2006)

WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS Inspired by Christian teachings against slavery, William Wilberforce leads an arduous but ultimately victorious life-long battle to abolish the slave trade. [ Amazing Grace credits: Dir: Michael Apted/ Ioan Gruffudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney/ 111 min/ Drama, … Continue Reading

victimless crime spree

Derrick J’s Victimless Crime Spree (2012)

WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN DOCUMENTARIES Libertarian activist Derrick J. Freeman chronicles his arrest and incarceration for five "crimes" -- videoing police, dancing in a public place, smoking cannabis, wearing a hat in court, and riding a bike -- in a civil disobedience spree that demonstrates just how … Continue Reading

Themes

Abuse of power American revolution Anti-draft Anti-regulation Anti-slavery Anti-socialism Anti-taxation Anti-war Ayn Rand Corrupt government Creator as hero Democide Econ 101 Eminent domain Equality & law Escape from socialism Freedom of speech Free press as hero Government as bigot Government as torturer Government enforced morality Government healthcare Government schools Incompetent government Individualism John Stossel Law & liberty Legalize Drugs Libertarian heroes Libertarianism 101 Power corrupts Power worship Pro-capitalism Pro-immigration Propaganda Psychiatric coercion Resistance to tyranny Right to secede Search & seizure Second amendment Sexual liberty Social tolerance Unions & monopolies Voluntarism Working for government

Genres/Categories

Action-Adventure Animated Biography Blog Comedy Documentary Drama Family Featured Film Foreign History Horror Music-Dance Netflix News Romance SciFi-Fantasy Shorts Thriller Upcoming Western

About Miss Liberty

This site is a collection of films and documentaries of particular interest to libertarians (and those interested in libertarianism). It began as a book, Miss Liberty’s Guide to Film: Movies for the Libertarian Millennium, where many of the recommended films were first reviewed. The current collection has grown to now more than double the number in that original list, and it’s growing still.

  • RSS

© 2025 Miss Liberty's Film & Documentary World. All Rights Reserved