The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!

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Movie
German title The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!
Original title The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1966
length 125 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Norman Jewison
script William Rose
production Norman Jewison
music Johnny Almond
camera Joseph Biroc
cut Hal Ashby
J. Terry Williams
occupation

The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! (Original title: The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming ) is a film satire by Norman Jewison . The 1966 film is based on the novel of the same name (original title: The Off-Islanders , 1961) by Nathaniel Benchley . The Mirisch Corporation production was loaned by United Artists . The film was released in Germany on September 29, 1966.

action

A Russian submarine cruises off the east coast of the USA. When his captain wants to take a closer look at America, his submarine runs aground on a sandbank off an island in New England.

The first officer Rozanov receives the order to get a boat that is able to tow the submarine free again. This has to be done in secret, otherwise an international crisis could be provoked - not to mention the embarrassment. Rozanov and his men go ashore. You arrive at a detached house that the writer Walt Whittaker rented for vacation with his family. The Russian sailors, of whom only Rozanov and Kolchin speak English, pose as Norwegians.

When Whittaker sees through the trick, the Russians force him at gunpoint to surrender his car so that they can take control of a motorboat in the next port. While Officer Rozanov and eight sailors want to take care of the boat, the rather meek sailor Alexei Kolchin is supposed to guard Whittaker and his family and the beautiful neighbor Alison Palmer. Meanwhile, the sailor Kolchin is overwhelmed by the Whittaker family man. In a panic, the sailor who lost his weapon flees and hides near the house. Father Whittaker sets off for the sheriff's office on his bike.

In a small town Rozanov tries to steal a car and is discovered by the old postwoman - who can just make an emergency telephone call. For the time being, Rozanov and the sailors want to prevent the situation from escalating, so they cut the West Island's telephone connection to the city. When the group arrives in town, however, they discover that word of their presence has already got around. However, the population assumes that they are Russian paratroopers. An armed mob has already gathered at the port, which is why Rozanov's men cannot get a boat for the time being. When the rumor spread that the Russians had taken the island's airfield, the sheriff and his men set off armed with the majority of the residents.

The soldiers around Rozanov meanwhile start a diversionary maneuver and steal a boat. Officer Rozanov is sure that the submarine can be towed free in this way and sets off with a stolen car to pick up Kolchin. Completely unexpectedly, however, the submarine has already been released through the efforts of the crew and enters the port of the city. Rozanov's men drive far from the coast so that the population cannot spot the boat; they were also shot at by the angry mob.

Things go upside down when Sheriff Mattocks and the overzealous patriot Fendall Hawkins return from the airfield with the armed townspeople and discover the Russian submarine in the harbor. The captain, in turn, suspects that the residents are holding his missing sailors prisoner. He threatens the city and residents with the submarine's on-board gun in order to free his men. Unimpressed by this, the stubborn sheriff declares him arrested. So Russians and Americans face each other in the center of the city, armed to the teeth and ready for the final showdown.

The Third World War is just being averted again. A little boy threatens to fall from the church tower, he is hanging on the gutter by his suspenders. Americans and Russians are now teaming up to save the little one. After they finally rescued the boy by means of a human pyramid, all hostility is forgotten, and the citizens even help the Russians with an escort to get their submarine, which has meanwhile been floated, to safety from approaching naval aircraft.

Details

The action actually takes place on the New England fictional island "Gloucester Island". The film was actually shot on the California coast in Mendocino and the harbor scenes in a small town south of Fort Bragg (California) . Due to the swapped locations (east coast / west coast), the sunrise (shown at the beginning of the film) therefore had to be recorded at sunset.

The submarine used in the film is just a dummy. The US Navy refused to provide its own boat and also prevented a Soviet -designed submarine from being brought to the filming session. So the film studio was forced to "invent" its own boat: It was divided into four parts, each part having its own drive motor .

Reviews

Though it only offers seasoned sitcom humor on the face of it, the film was hugely popular when it came out. The satire, which is excellently played, tries to break down prejudices with regard to East-West enemy images in a naive way.

(Summarized from Lexicon of International Films and All Movie Guide)

Awards

Despite numerous nominations, The Russians are coming! The Russians are Coming! only two awards:

Nominations 1966
  • New York Film Critics Circle - Best Actor: Alan Arkin
  • Directors Guild of America - Best Director: Norman Jewison
  • Golden Globe Newcomer of the Year, Male: Alan Arkin, John Phillip Law
  • Golden Globe - Best Screenplay: William Rose
  • Oscar - Best Actor : Alan Arkin
  • Oscar - Best Adapted Screenplay : William Rose
  • Oscar - Best Editing : Hal Ashby, J. Terry Williams
  • Oscar - Best Picture
  • National Board of Review - Best Picture

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Russians are coming! The Russians are Coming! In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 25, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Hal Erickson : The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming! (1966). In: AllMovie. Retrieved July 25, 2017 .