SO / CHRONICLESngrown to know and love from the daysnoi Babes on Broadway or Forty-SecondnStreet. Mikhail Baryshnikov is a greatnRussian ballet dancer who defected tonthe West’s freedom and wealth; GregorynHines is a Black American tapndancer who deserted to Russia fromnour army in Vietnam. Baryshnikov’snflight from London to Tokyo crashlandsnin Russia. (The plane crash,nincidentally, is very well directed. Nonone who sees what happens to Baryshnikovnwill ever disobey a stewardessnasking us to remain seated until thenplane reaches the gate.) KGB agentsnpersuade Hines to lure Baryshnikovninto opening the season at the Leningradntheater where his career began.nSo the two opposites have to live togethernand work together, their hostilitynturning into a grudging admirahon.nAt the end, Hines and his Russian wifenattempt to escape with Baryshnikovnwhen they learn that she is pregnant;nthey want their baby to grow up innfreedom.nThe dancing is very good, set tonmusic ranging from classical to Gershwinnto rock. We see Baryshnikov andnHines spotlighted on their own andndancing together. We glimpse vividlynimportant aspects of contemporarynRussia: its extremes of wealth and poverty,nthe oppressive hand of bureaucracynand the secret police, the compromisesnthe artist must make. The plot isna clever variation on tradition, withnthe opportunity for an exciting climax.nLike Hackford’s surprise hit of a summernago. An Officer and a Gentleman,nthere is something in the movie for allnages from teenagers on up and for bothnsexes. Unlike Officer, the cursing isnkept to the minimum needed to obtainna PG rating. It is hard to imaginenanyone not having a good time atnW/zife Nights.nWe do not need imagination, however.nAmerican reviewers have respondednwith a hostility which is hardnfor most viewers to understand.n”Rambo-esque,” one reviewer callednit. “The Cold War is alive and well innWhite Nights,” another grumbled.nGonsidering that the most violentnscene in the movie is the plane crashnand that the American ambassadornand his staff are shown as pusillanimousnbureaucrats, more interested innavoiding publicity than anything else,nit is hard to see what evokes such rage.nThe movie goes to great lengths to ben”even-handed.” The wealth open to ansuccessful defector is mentioned, as isnthe suffering, personal and professional,nof their families and loved ones.nHines explains in a sensational improvisatoryntap dance why a young Blacknperformer might want to defect fromnAmerica at the time of the VietnamnWar.nThe movie does present the SecretnPolice’s interests in manipulating performersnfor the good of the state, and itnshows that even under adverse conditionsnmost people opt for freedom overndictatorship. Surely neither of thesenobservations is controversial. We havena police force—albeit not a very effectivenone—to try to keep people out ofnAmerica; Russia has an army—and anrather effective one—to keep peoplenin, not to mention the Berlin Wall andna few other inventions. The Sovietsndidn’t let even a single stray sailor getnaway, and they spent years in courtntrying to get a teenage boy back, withnthe help of the American Civil LibertiesnUnion’s selective commitment tonparental rights.n”Now I don’t mind their taking sidesnand standing up for things that theynbelieve in,” like Merle Haggard. Thenmoviegoer rather wishes, however,nthat the reviewers of White Nightsnwould show a littie more discretion.nSurely a clever but innocuous variationnon a traditional Hollywood genrenis better treated with a grin or a yawn.nInstead, it makes them angry. Why?nWe can all understand why the Sovietngovernment does not like WhitenNights. Now I am not asserting thatnthe film reviewers of America arenCommunists. I just wonder, with Mr.nSobran, what they would do difiFerentlynif they were. ccnE. Christian Kopffis professor of classicsnat the University of Colorado andnan editor of Classical Journal.nARTnJeweler to Royaltynby Shehbaz H. Sa6:aninA million dollars for an egg? But ofncourse, not all eggs come from chickens.nMalcolm Forbes recently paid $1nnnmillion for an “egg” by Faberge at ansale of Russian art at Sotheby’s in NewnYork City. The cliche has it that diamondsnare a girl’s best friend, but whynthen are the jewels attractive to men?nIt was Czar Nicholas, the last Romanov,nwho set the standard for qualitynjewels among the elite and thenaristocracy, a standard aspired to bynmembers of the House of Windsor, asnwell as by Americans like Mr. Forbes.nEaster eggs, a holiday excitement fornchildren today, acquired a rare statusnin Imperial Russia. Created and craftednby Faberge, an astute jewelry designer,nRussian Easter eggs deserve tonbe seen. If it is at all possible, thenconnoisseur must touch these works asnwell, to recognize the feel of an artnobject that is exquisite to both the eyesnand the hands. Mr. Forbes currentlynholds 11 of the Imperial Russian Easterneggs; the Kremlin has only 10.nEncouraged by his success in acquiringnthese treasures, Mr. Forbes reportedlynwhispered after his latest acquisition,n”Eggs come by the dozen.”nNot too long ago, A. KennethnSnowman curated an exhibition ofnFaberge creations entitied “From thenCollection of Her Majesty QueennElizabeth II and Other British Lenders.”nMost of the works on display werenthose of royalty, including the QueennMother, Queen Elizabeth, and thenPrince of Wales, Prince Charles. Mr.nSnowman has also prepared an illustratedncatalog, Faberge: Jeweler to Royalty,nhighlighting the Windsor collection.nAlthough there are many booksnon Faberge, and some of his work is onndisplay in a few leading museums, thenWindsors cherish their private art collectionsnrather zealously. As such, thenSnowman exhibition and catalog shednmore light on the collecting instinctsnof the Windsors. In fact, the BritishnRoyal Collection of Faberge went onnview for the first time in the UnitednStates. This exhibition was shown atnNew York’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum.nDuring the American Bicentennial,nthe Cooper-Hewitt became the SmithsoniannInstitution’s National Museumnof Design.nThe Snowman catalog surveys somenof the finest of the over 200 rare andnunusual works from the Faberge workshopsnthat were on loan from thenRoyal Collection. Included in thenWindsor loan were selected worksn