Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, The

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In 1966 we were at the height of the Cold War. America and Russia were facing off in as deadly a game of global consequences as one could imagine, as revealed by the Cuban Missile Crisis of a few years earlier. It was courageous of director Norman Jewison to mock the childish and potentially disastrous attitudes of both countries in "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," a lighter and more optimistic view of the deadly situation than Stanley Kubrick had entertained in "Dr. Strangelove" shortly before.

"The Russians Are Coming" was one of Jewison's more youthful productions, so maybe he didn't know any better than to tackle a subject of such touchy proportions. All the better for us. He would later go on to make a string of classics like "In the Heat of the Night," the original "Thomas Crown Affair," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Jesus Christ Superstar," the original "Rollerball," "...And Justice for All," and "Moonstruck." But you can see in "The Russians Are Coming" all the talent, vitality, and dramatic spoofing that would lie ahead.

The story concerns a Russian submarine that runs aground off the coast of a small Massachusetts island called Gloucester. The Russian captain (Theodore Bikel) just wanted a "look" at America, came in too far, and got stuck on a sandbar. Now, they need to find a boat big enough to tow them off, so they send a landing party ashore that manages to inadvertently disrupt and terrorize the entire island. In a humorous, sometimes hilarious series of misadventures, the two sides almost start World War III.

Jewison somehow snared a whole passel of big-name actors and soon-to-be big-name actors for major and supporting roles. Jewison gave Alan Arkin his first big film break as Lt. Rosanov, the leader of the landing party, a part that earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Arkin is so good, his character so well meaning but so inept, the first time I watched the movie I thought he would make a perfect Inspector Clouseau (since at the time Peter Sellers had indicated he didn't want to continue the role). A few years later Arkin did, in fact, play the lead in "Inspector Clouseau" (1968), in which Arkin was the best (and practically only) thing in the picture. Anyway, as Rosanov, he's a total delight.

Ashore, the American lead, Walt Whittaker (or "Whittaker Walt" as Rosanov keeps calling him), is played by Carl Reiner. Whittaker is a writer of musical comedies trying to relax on the island with his wife and family while writing the last act of a play. He makes a perfect, befuddled foil for Rosanov and his crew. He's also the only one on the island to know that the Russians mean no harm; that they are as terrified of the situation as the Americans are. Whittaker's wife is played by Eva Marie Saint, herself a well-known movie star at the time ("North By Northwest"). Their son, a bratty kid named Pete, is the first one to notice the strangers prowling around the island, but, of course, no one pays attention to him.

Then, there's the love interest that eventually saves the day. One of the Russian seamen is a handsome young fellow named Alexei Kolchin, played by John Philip Law, and the Whittaker's baby-sitter is a beautiful young lady named Alison, played by Andrea Dromm. It doesn't take long for mutual attractions to overcome national animosities.

It's the other folk on the island who provide most of the laughs, though, the islanders who get hysterical when they think the Russians are invading America. There's Postmistress Muriel Everett (Doro Merande), a dotty old lady whose deaf husband doesn't notice her tied to a chair and hanging from the wall of their kitchen. There's the Chief of Police, Link Mattocks (Brian Keith), the only levelheaded member of the community but also the most flustered. Next is Deputy Norman Jonas (Jonathan Winters), whose antics are clearly in the improvisational Winter's style: "We've just got to get organized!" Veteran character actor Paul Ford plays Fendall Hawkins, a self-appointed leader of the town guard and symbol of the militant hawks of the community. Silent film comedian Ben Blue plays the town drunk, Luther Grilk, who spends almost the entire movie chasing a horse. Don't ask. And Michael J. Pollard plays Stanley, a completely bewildered airplane mechanic.

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