I do disagree with your statement that "about anyone who isn't black could pass for some kind of 'Russian'". There is a much larger degree of homogeneity in the Russian Federation than in the US or many Western countries (though yes, there are some black people and half-black people in Russia, mostly children of students from African countries who stayed in the Soviet Union after studying there, some of whom married Russians, Ukrainians, et al.).

Of course, James Caan doesn't play an Italian (as your signature states - I'm sort of confused why you would say he was). I think that to some extent, some of the roles for Americans tend to work because Americans are such a mixed bunch that you can have someone with a Polish last name who looks Italian, or an Irish last name who looks Swedish, etc.

For the record, it pisses the Hell out of me that the tanks in Patton were almost exclusively Pershing and (ironically) Patton tanks. When I was 10 I loved the movie but as I read more about World War II and started trying to identify the tanks, I realized something was wrong.

Finally, why would illicit passport deals be brokered in a shady alley in the first place? Some minor government bureaucrat would invite people into his office (or a restaurant) and do it by the light of day. Corruption is a major problem in Russia, and the lack of any interest in doing anything about it is evidenced by how brazenly it is done.