RICK’S REAL/REEL LIFE: A Heat Chilly Battle Comedy: ‘The Russians Are Coming!’

A bittersweet second with Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, & Carl Reiner close to the finale of 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

The Russians
Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! was launched in 1966, on the top of
the chilly battle. The Norman Jewison directed comedy, about chaos brought on by a
Russian sub that runs aground close to a small New England city, was notable for
its even-handed remedy of each Russian and American characters. On the time,
it was an enormous industrial hit and acquired 4 Oscar nominations.

I discover it odd that there is some derision directed at The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are
Coming! as a result of it was so profitable in its time. And but basic film
followers fall everywhere in the marathon farce It’s
a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Russians
could appear quaint by trendy films’ in your face type, however the humor continues to be most
apt and the forged is generally terrific. Additionally, the humor of Russians is extra character-driven than Mad World. I’ve at all times been allergic to the heavy-handed
slapstick of Mad, and I feel
Jewison is a much more expert and refined director than Stanley Kramer, whose
type was pedantic.

Cantankerous Carl Reiner warms as much as lovable Eva Marie Saint in 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

And whereas The Russians
Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! certainly looks like an elevated and
elongated sitcom, satirizing American hysteria continues to be pertinent at the moment. Additionally, I am
actually shocked that Carl Reiner did not have a hand in scripting this, as a result of
his and Saint’s characters remind me a little bit of Reiner’s creations, Rob and Laura
Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke Present.

Hilarious bodily comedy in “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

I really like Carl Reiner and his pure comedian skills save his
efficiency as playwright Walt Whittaker, comparable to his tied up scene with the native
phone operator, performed by Tessie O’Shea. However his comedian bitter puss persona
wears skinny quick as a lead, that is why he was so significantly better because the aspect
character Alan Brady on The Dick Van Dyke
Present. Watch Reiner as Rob Petrie within the pilot that was later re-tooled for
Dick Van Dyke to a lot better impact and also you’ll see the distinction.

Eva Marie Saint’s level-headed spouse tries to elucidate all of the chaos in 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

Eva Marie Saint is a wonderful straight lady and fairly interesting
as Ellie Whittaker. Saint appears to be like pretty right here in her early 40’s, she’s each subtly
attractive and the affected person spouse to bombastic Reiner’s husband. I at all times favored Saint’s
easy type, which didn’t date her to later audiences. On this movie, Eva Marie
appears to be like timeless.

Alan Arkin’s Russian asks Carl Reiner’s author to please not attempt to kill him once more! “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

Alan Arkin is charismatic and humorous because the Russian Lt. Rozanov.
Arkin’s grand-parents have been Russian Jews and he spoke Russian fluently. Right here, he
will get to fracture English to comedian impact. This was the actor’s first main function
and he obtained raves and an Oscar nomination. Arkin is hilarious however has authority,
believability, and heat. With these darkish expressive eyes and sly smile, Alan
might have performed extra romantic leads in a later period.

John Phillip Regulation is the shy Russian officer in 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

John Phillip Regulation, usually thought of picket, is good right here and
these blue-grey eyes are riveting. As Alexei, the 6 ft. 5 Regulation is a mild
big. Remembering him from this and some worldwide films, I assumed Regulation
was European, in all probability German, like Horst Bucholz. I used to be shocked to seek out that
he was born in California and grew up across the film enterprise! He’s fairly
endearing right here and I had additionally forgotten that he handed away in 2008, at simply
age 70, of pancreatic most cancers.

Brian Keith because the exasperated sheriff, with Dick Schaal & Jonathan Winters in 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!” Keith’s bangs are actually his mussed up comb-over!

What an awesome forged of character actors in The Russians are Coming! The Russians are
Coming! Some you’ll simply acknowledge by their acquainted faces, others are
well-known names like Theodore Bikel, Paul Ford, Jonathan Winters, and Brian
Keith. They’re all completely plausible as small city archetypes. Other than
Reiner’s often grating efficiency, the opposite dud is Sheldon Collins as son
Pete, who’s directed to be the massive mouth “cute” child. Extremely
annoying!

Sheldon Collins because the extremely irritating son of the Whittakers in 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

Joseph Biroc’s cinematography is gorgeous and trendy; Johnny
Mandel’s heat, humorous rating is an enormous plus. The visuals are very robust, making nice
use of the places, mixing them in with the story, although the New England
coastal group was truly shot alongside the Pacific coast. A couple of of such
scenes: Ben Blue as he chases a horse round an open discipline in try to make
like Paul Revere; Carl Reiner as he wobbly rides a small bike down a rural
highway; and the overhead pictures of the small American boats performing as a flotilla
for the Russian sub.

America’s favourite past-time, mass hysteria, in 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

The Russians Are Coming! The
Russians Are Coming!
is barely overlong at two hours and 5 minutes, but it surely’s not elephantine
just like the three and a half hour Mad World.
The finale is a bit pressured, with future Household
Affair star Johnny Whitaker dangling from a church steeple, which brings
the People and Russians collectively to his rescue. However Russians is a comedy, not a hard-hitting social drama, and the
ending with the locals escorting the Russian sub to security is an appropriately
feel-good second that’s not completely misplaced. Take pleasure in this trendy, generally
foolish, comedy with its stellar forged and good-hearted satire.

The locals give the Russians and their sub a send-off in 1966’s “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”

Right here’s
my tribute to Eva Marie Saint, a most intriguing Hitchcock blonde: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2019/07/eva-marie-saint-secret-weapon-of-north.html

Theodore Bikel’s Russian ship commander presents a wave goodbye in 1966’s  “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”