:
Carl Reiner,
Carl Reiner,
Eva Marie Saint,
more...
:
Norman Jewison,
Norman Jewison
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: MGM
: Comedies, Political Satire
: 126 min.
: English, French
: English, Spanish, French
see additional details...
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Just because The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming was vastly overrated by contemporary critics does not make it any less amusing. The story gets under way when a Soviet submarine accidently gets lodged in a sandbar on the coast of a New England town. In his feature film debut, Alan Arkin plays the sub's second-in-command, who is ordered by commander Theodore Bikel to free up the sub and skeedaddle before an international incident erupts. Hoping to secure a power boat to tug the sub out to sea, Arkin and his men call upon vacationing TV writer Carl Reiner, passing themselves off as Norwegians. When this ruse fails, Arkin is reluctantly compelled to force Reiner at gunpoint to fetch his motorboat, while gentle-natured Russian sailor John Philip Law is left behind to guard Reiner's wife Eva Marie Saint and pretty neighbor girl Andrea Dromm (yes, love blooms). The plot thickens when the locals, notably bullnecked sheriff Brian Keith and superpatriot Paul Ford, spread the word that the Russians have "invaded" their little community. Several slapstick complications later, the Russians and the locals face each other down in the center of the village, weapons at the ready. Fortunately, World War 3 is averted when the Russians and the villagers band together to rescue young Johnny Whittaker from falling to his doom. Enormously popular upon its first release, The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming still works on a slick sitcom level. The film was based on a novel by Nathaniel Benchley, the son of humorist Robert Benchley and the father of Jaws author Peter Benchley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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| Not what I expected
by sig11
September 7, 2004 - 11:57 AM PDT
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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This was not the movie I expected. While funny, it was less so than I thought. The message of the film was presented far more masterfully than I thought possible in a comedy and it held my attention well. My wife was apprehensive about this at first, not generally being one for a madcap comedy, but we both were left wanting to watch it again.
The extra on this DVD -- an interview with the director -- is absolutely top notch. There is a lot of fascinating history going with this film, including screenings in the Kremlin and for Russian's top film people. And the director's troubles getting back into the USA after this -- apparently the FBI had trouble believing that the Soviets would offer a trip to Moscow to an American director in 1965!
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| Timely message -- and funny!
by Cinenaut
July 8, 2003 - 11:37 AM PDT
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4 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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This is one of those movies that I find buried in my subconscious after having seen it so many times as a kid. It's perfect for fans of madcap comedy along the lines of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. The featurette is interesting, too, because it goes into what it was like to make this movie during the Cold War. The timeless message: we're all just human beings trying to muddle through life. Why kill each other?
One small beef: they should have given Jonathon Winters more to do. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.15)
33 Votes
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