Song of Russia

Song of Russia is a 1944 American war film made and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The picture was credited as being directed by Gregory Ratoff, though Ratoff collapsed near the end of the five-month production, and was replaced by László Benedek, who completed principal photography; the credited screenwriters were Paul Jarrico and Richard J. Collins. The film stars Robert Taylor, Susan Peters, and Robert Benchley. Plot American conductor John Meredith (Robert Taylor) and his manager, Hank Higgins (Robert Benchley), go to the Soviet Union shortly before the country is invaded by Germany. Meredith falls in love with beautiful Soviet pianist Nadya Stepanova (Susan Peters) while they travel throughout the country on a 40-city tour. Their bliss is destroyed by the German invasion. Cast Production MGM Pictures rapidly greenlit a war film set in the Soviet Union in 1942 after the United States Office of War Information encouraged films positively portraying the Allied Powers and in order to beat competing studios with similar ideas. The Government of the Soviet Union agreed to assist the film production in exchange for blocking "White or Anti-Soviet Russian" influence on the film. In October 1942, Russian-born director Gregory Ratoff discussed the project further with Soviet Ambassador to the United States Andrei Gromyko.