|
| • Advanced Search • Help |
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming | Year: 1966 Classification: Comedy Directed: - Norman Jewison Actors/Actresses: - Carl Reiner - Eva Marie Saint - Alan Arkin - Brian Keith - Jonathan Winters The Laughs are coming, the Laughs are coming ! I have watched this movie more times than I can count, and each time I find myself laughing until I cry. When a Russian submarine accidentally runs aground of a sleepy little island summer town, the people literally go nuts. Alan Arkin, Carl Reiner, Brian Keith and Jonathan Winters are just a few of the many fine actors who make this movie a laugh a minute. When the bumbling Russians tie up and gag the elderly Post-Mistress "Muriel Everitt" and sit her on top of the refrigerator - you will laugh until your sides ache when her nearly deaf husband eats breakfast 2 feet from her and never realizes she's behind him struggling to get his attention. The sight of Carl Reiner tied up face to face with the hefty town operator and their efforts to hop down a steep flight of steps, (ending, naturally, with the heavy woman falling on top of Carl Reiner and passing out ) is more than I could take with out laughing until I cried. Please rent this movie and have the entire family watch it with you. It's in the genre of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and you will enjoy every moment ! Character Is Key In This Low-Key Comedy I feel really old when I realize that I saw this film in a movie theater when it first came out. At that time, Carl Reiner was well-known from the Sid Caesar Show and the Dick Van Dyke Show, and Alan Arkin had made a big comic splash in "Enter Laughing" and was considered a rising star (somehow he never achieved full stardom and wound up doing odd character roles). Eva Marie Saint was a powerhouse dramatic actress ("On The Waterfront") doing a politically-incorrect simpering housewife role. Paul Ford was known for playing the colonel on the Phil Silvers "Sergeant Bilko" series. John Philip Law was the hunk du jour (and whatever happened to him?)and Andrea Dromm, the other half of the love story, apparently played out her entire movie career in this one film. Initially, I was disappointed in the film because I'd read Nathaniel Benchley's novel, "The Off-Islanders," which was a much richer and more subtle story. In time, the movie won me over and I still love watching it. Most of the deliberately "comic" set pieces misfire--many of the routines go on too long (the blustery tension between Paul Ford's obsessed veteran and Brian Keith's put-upon police chief, for example)and Jewison, a good director in other respects, has no sense of comic timing.I do laugh, though, at the silly bit where Reiner and Tessie O'Shea are tied up face to face and attempt to get down a steep flight of stairs. This is funny mostly because of Reiner's own timing. Overall, the film could benefit by a cut of about 10-15 minutes. What does keep me coming back is the warm, layered characterization of Alan Arkin's lieutenant and the journey of Carl Reiner's musical comedy writer from terrified schnook to murderous family man to chastened and maturing citizen.Reiner is actually scary when he fires a shotgun through the window of the car Arkin is driving. He's been pushed to the edge by his obnoxious son's goading and by the frightening threats to his family.The scene where he looks into the window of the crashed car and tries to apologize to the even-more-frightened Arkin is delicate and charmingly funny. Arkin seems to be in another film most of the time. His character is richly detailed and subtle. He is clearly a better sailor than his stubborn captain (Theodore Bikel), and his repressed fury at the captain's stupidity is a character study in itself. He portrays fear, determination, resourcefulness, tenderness, and exasperation, all without pushing or overacting (the same can't be said for some of the other principals, notably Jonathan Winters, who never succeeds in a scripted part). There is gentle satire in the portrayal of the easily duped and insular residents of Gloucester Island (Arkin's attempt to pronounce this name from a map is a gem in itself), though silent movie star Ben Blue wildly overacts. Brian Keith captures the weariness of a small town police chief's life, and his personal best moment comes when he faces the Soviet sub, guns trained on hi The day the cold war almost melted. . . "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" imagines life on a small New England vacation island one unsuspecting day in 1966 when a small Soviet submarine accidentally runs aground. The captain (Alan Arkin) just wants to gather provisions, fix the sub and head back to sea. In spite of his best efforts to stay anonymous, he gets involved with a vacationing family, the writer Walt Whitaker (Carl Reiner), his wife (Eva Marie Saint) and family. Never mind the fact that the Cold War is over. For droll humor, slapstick and plain old shtick, "The Russians Are Coming" is a fun night at the movies. I can still get a chuckle out of "Emergency! Everybody to get from street!" Hope you'll like it too. Buy The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
|
