thejcowboy22
Being eight years old and nothing to do on a gray Sunday afternoon, My Sister dragged me to the movies to watch this compounded misunderstanding of Detente. The Post World War two era had the Soviet Union and The U.S.A. at odds with each also known as the Cold War.A simple case of Communism against Democracy in it's purest form.This also carried over to the Olympic games which made it more entertaining as The U.S. would battle the Soviets for athletic supremacy. Getting to our picture and review. A Soviet submarine is floating off the coast of New England. Through their periscope they see Gloucester Island. The Submarine Captain (Theodore Bikel) wants to have a closer look so the Sub drifts into a sandbar. Embarrassed but prideful, the Captain orders his second in command Lieutenant Yuri Rosanov (Alan Arkin)who speaks a fractured English but comprehend-able to the language. Takes his landing party of eight to shore and try to steal a boat secretly to free the sub without an international incident and embarrassment. Meanwhile an Obnoxious nine year old Pete Whittaker(Sheldon Collins) notices the strangers in black outside his summer home. He tells his Dad Walt Whittaker (Carl Reiner)that there's Russians outside their home with machine guns. Rosanov enters the house and tells Whittaker that they are Norweigen fisherman but his story falls apart as Rosanov admits he's Russian and draws his pistol at the Whittaker's demanding their station wagon. Meanwhile the Whittakers attractive babysitter Allison Palmer (Andrea Dromm) shows up to tend to the Whittakers three year old daughter Annie. Mrs. Whittaker (Eva Marie Saint joins in on the encounter offering the car keys to displaced Russians. One Russian stays behind to guard the family named Kolchin (John Phillip Law). Meanwhile the other eight Russian sailors drive toward the town but the Station wagon runs out of gas. The Russian steal another car,an old sedan owned by Muriel Everett (Doro Merande)a letter carrier who quickly phones the homely gossipy telephone operator of the island Alice (Tessie O'Shea). Muriel tells Alice that her car was stolen from Russian paratroopers who plan to invade and take over the Island. The bumbling Deputy Norman(Jonathan Winters) gets wind of this information and sets up a Militia led by over zealous Fendall Hawkins (Paul Ford) complete with a sword at his side ready to attack. A domino effect takes over the locals as there ready to fight to save their country. One problem though except for a few people no one has seen the Russians. The Police chief,the relaxed Brian Keith feels there only rumors and everyone should go home. One mishap after another makes this film memorable and a laugh out loud comedy for all to enjoy . A running gag throughout the film is when the town drunk Luther (Ben Blue) is trying to saddle his horse to re-create the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Another one of my favorite scenes is when Whittaker is recaptured by the Russians then tied together back to back with Alice the operator. Their mouths gagged trying to untie each other. The film reminds me of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World with so many recognizable character actors spattered all around. Break out performance for Alan Arkin fresh off the Second City ensemble in Chicago One last question? Does Norman Jewison ever direct a bad Film? Off camera Brian Keith meets Johnny Whittaker for the first time. Johnny plays the boy who is hanging from the steeple in the film. Johnny will reunites with Keith on the TV show Family Affair a year later playing the orphaned nephew Jody.
SimonJack
Two years after "Dr. Strangelove" exploded on movie screens around the U.S., this milder satire about the Cold War gently rolled out. Both films were around the height of the Cold War, and both lampooned the paranoia of the time. In the first case, it was the military and government leaders, with a doomsday ending. In this, it is the public, the general populace, with a happy ending. Nothing was going to top "Strangelove" for its bodacious humor of extremes and outlandish scenarios. Instead, this film taps into the common, everyday lives of regular people – well, admittedly in just the right locale and circumstances. It creates a wonderfully humorous look at the reactions of people in a remote Massachusetts vacation area on the Atlantic Coast (i.e., Martha's Vineyard) when they hear "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming."The movie is based on a 1961 novel by Nathaniel Benchley, "The Off- Islanders." I don't know how much this sticks to the book, but it's a wonderful comedy of situations with the residents of a fictional Gloucester island. It's not a comedy of witty dialog or running wisecracks. It has an occasional zinger, but mostly the humor is in the actions and reactions of the residents of the island. The team of Russian sailors from the grounded submarine add to the humor in places. The plot is very good, the direction and all aspects of production are excellent. But, it's the cast that carries this film. Norman Jewison, who directed the film, credits the wonderful cast for the film's rousing success. In a much later produced featurette on the making of this movie, Jewison tells how the film came about, and the efforts to get the cast they did. There's no headline star here, but a host of wonderful actors at the top of a heap. Even the extras, the townsfolk of Mendocino, California, were excellent. The film had to be shot in California because the weather was too cold and rough at the time for shooting in the Northeast. Jewison said the people of Mendocino made this their film, and when the daily shoots were reviewed at night, they were shown in the local theater and the whole town turned out to watch them. Clearly, the people in this production had a ball. Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin, Brian Keith, Jonathan Winters, Paul Ford, Theodore Bikel, Tessie O'Shea, and Ben Blue were a sure-fire combination for comedy. Throw in some more comics, a leading female (Eva Marie Saint), and a wonderful supporting cast of many, and we have a film that's sure to delight any audience. Here are a few funny lines. After Walt and Elspeth Whittaker (Carl Reiner and Eva Marie Saint) debate the number of residents of the island, 200 or so, Russian Navy Lt. Rozanov (Alan Arkin) asks, "No matter. No matter. Not many people. How many members of the police department here? 20? 40?" Walt says, "Maybe three or four." Their son, Pete (Shelton Collins) says, "Don't tell 'em anything. He hasn't even tortured you yet." Rozanov tells them to behave and not cause any trouble "So we don't have to be shooting you into small pieces."Alexei Kolchin (John Phillip Law) is left to guard the Whittakers while the lieutenant and others take their car to go to the town. At the boat basin, they hope to commandeer a large motor boat. Walt asks how they happened to be in America. Alexei tells them the captain ran their submarine aground. Walt asks how that happened. Alexi, "He want to look at America." Walt, "What for?" Alexi, "He never saw it."After a squabble among the aroused townsfolk and the law, Police Chief Link Mattocks (Brian Keith) confronts the self-appointed military leader Fendall Hawkins (Paul Ford). Mattocks takes Hawkins' sword and breaks it across his leg. Hawkins, "That's a Dexter F. Meadows Memorial Sword." Mattocks, "Yeah?" Hawkins, "You traitorous fink."
Claudio Carvalho
In the Cold War, when the captain of a Russian submarine comes too close to the Gloucester Island in Massachusetts to give a look at America, the submarine gets stranded. A nine-man team commanded by Lieutenant Rozanov (Alan Arkin) goes onshore to search a motor boat to release the submarine and arrives at the summer house of the New Yorker writer Walt Whittaker (Carl Reiner) that is spending the weekend with his family in Gloucester. When he realizes that they are Russians, he believes that it is an invasion. Soon the information leaks, leading hysteria and paranoia along the inhabitants of the small village."The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming" is a hilarious parody of the America's paranoia in times of Cold War. The situations are extremely funny and despite the dated theme, it is still a great comedy from the 60's. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Os Russos Estão Chegando!" ("The Russians Are Coming!} – Not available on DVD or Blu-Ray.
christhecat
I remember watching this as a child with my parents and enjoying it. I watched it again recently and enjoyed it more because I understood a lot of the humor I missed as a child, even laughing out loud in some parts. It's perhaps a little slow in parts, but maybe because I've grown used to modern, non-stop-wise-cracking comedies.There are some aspects that are remarkably unrealistic: a Russian sub captain wanting to "sneak a peak" at the USA, a Russian Sub captain threatening to shell a town instead of using diplomatic detente (really-- I'm sure ALL the sailors knew how serious the tensions between the two powers were).There are some aspects that are remarkably realistic: how the rumor of invasion grows wings and develops purely invented details, how quickly mob mentality takes over, how everyone thinks they know what's going on but clearly do not (I note that the Russians are maybe more scared than the Americans, as they always seem to be perspiring.) Indeed-- one of the themes of the film seems to be mis-communication, and how quickly misunderstanding can turn into war.I was also thinking about "treason" while watching the film. The idea is brought up at least twice on screen. Carl Reiner's "Whittaker Walt" clearly is just trying to be a good samaritan, and doesn't want to see anybody get hurt, neither Yankee nor Slav. By the end of the film I was reminded of that sappy Sting song with the lyric "I'm sure the Russians love their children too"-- clearly the whole town has come to the same conclusion, and decides it's maybe better to be (perhaps) treasonous against their own country than to be (definitely) treasonous against their own humanity. (Besides-- how would it aid the US to go to war over a minor misunderstanding caused by a bumbling sea captain?)
