Shortly after World War II, Moscow-based American newspaper reporter Philip Sutherland marries Russian ballerina Marya Lamarkina of the Bolshoi Ballet. They plan to settle in San Francisco eventually, though they realize that an exit visa for Marya will be difficult to obtain. The Sutherlands honeymoon in Tallinn, where they encounter Marya's friend Svetlana who is there with her English husband, Christopher Wellington St. John Denny. For taking pictures of his wife at the seaside, Denny is accused of spying by the
NKVD, the Russian secret police. He is sent home to England without his wife and banished from Russia. Philip writes an article that annoys the government and he can no longer be in Russia. He too is sent home and separated from his Russian wife. Because of the
Cold War, the only way for each couple to communicate is through letters smuggled by Philip's friend Steve Quillan, an English radio broadcaster who still works in Moscow. While visiting Christopher Denny in Cornwall, Philip decides to smuggle the wives out of Russia. He buys an old Dutch sailing boat and enlists the aid of experienced sailor Joe Brooks. Marya will be in Tallinn with the Bolshoi in mid-August, and arrangements for the rendezvous are made via Steve Quillan. Philip, Christopher and Joe sail to the Gulf of Finland. Svetlana swims out from Tallinn and they pick her up, but the Bolshoi schedule has changed at the last minute and Marya is still in Tallinn, dancing the lead in Swan Lake. Philip swims ashore, where he is inconspicuous in the throng of beachgoers. From a cabana he steals an army officer's uniform and goes to the ballet. When Marya is taking her bows she sees Philip in the audience and faints. Because he happened to steal the uniform of a medical officer, he is escorted backstage to tend to the stricken ballerina. Continuing to improvise, he insists on taking her to the hospital, and a car is provided. As they drive away, dancer Valentina Alexandrovna recognizes Philip and alerts the authorities. A car chase ends with Philip deliberately driving off a pier into the Baltic Sea. Philip and Marya escape the car and swim to the boat and freedom. ==Cast==