Plot summary

A Russian submarine draws too close to the New England coast when its captain wants to take a good look at America and runs aground on a sandbar near an island off Cape Cod. Rather than radio for help and risk an embarrassing international incident, the captain sends a nine-man landing party headed by his second-in-command Lieutenant Rozanov (Alan Arkin) to find a motor launch to help free the sub from the bar. The men arrive at the house of Walt Whittaker (Carl Reiner), a vacationing playwright from New York City. Whittaker is eager to get his wife Elspeth (Eva Marie Saint) and two children, obnoxious six-year-old Pete (Sheldon Collins) and three-year-old Annie (Cindy Putnam), off the island now that summer is over.

Failing to convince the Whittakers that his group are Norwegians (all of the Russians are conspicuously dressed in sinister all black clothing), Rozanov draws a gun and promises no harm if the family provides information about military on the island (none) and police force (small), and gives them keys to their car. Walt and Elspeth provide the answers and the keys, and the Russians depart, leaving behind a young sailor, Alexei Kolchin (John Phillip Law), to guard the Whittakers and, subsequently, their attractive 18-year-old neighbor, Alison Palmer (Andrea Dromm).[1]

The Whittakers' station wagon quickly runs out of gasoline, forcing the Russians to walk. They steal an old sedan from Muriel Everett (Doro Merande), the postmistress; she calls Alice Foss (Tessie O'Shea), the gossipy telephone switchboard operator, and before long, wild rumors throw the entire island into confusion. As level-headed Police Chief Link Mattocks (Brian Keith) and his bumbling assistant Norman Jonas (Jonathan Winters) try to squelch the inept vigilante movement of blustering Fendall Hawkins (Paul Ford), the Russians find and take a boat. Meanwhile, Walt and Elspeth manage to overpower Kolchin[Elspeth does not participate in the overpowering; Walt is only able to do so because of Kolchin's reluctance to hurt anyone], who flees, but when Walt and Elspeth leave to find help, he returns and takes Alison and Annie hostage [Kolchin does NOT take them hostage! He is gallant from the first, refusing to threaten Alison and in fact offers her his rifle, which she does not accept].

Trying to find the Russians on his own, playwright Walt is re-captured by them. After subduing Mrs. Foss and disabling the island's telephone switchboard, seven of the Russians manage to steal a motorboat and head back to their sub, which is still high and dry. Back at the Whittaker house, Kolchin is by now falling in love with Alison. Walt manages to free himself, and he and Elspeth return to the house and almost shoot Rozanov who arrives there just after they do. With the misunderstandings cleared up, the Whittakers, Rozanov and Kolchin decide to head into town together to clear the air with everyone over just what is going on.

With the rising tide, the submarine frees itself, and the Russian captain (Theodore Bikel) sets out in search of his missing men. He finds Rozanov and Kolchin in the harbor and threatens to blow up the town unless the other seven are returned to him. Chief Mattocks arrives with the rest of the armed villagers who threaten action against the sub's crew on deck with rifles and pistols. As tension mounts, a small boy (Johnny Whitaker) falls from his perch on the church steeple and hangs perilously from a gutter. Forgetting their differences, islanders and Russians unite to form a human pyramid and rescue the child.

With peace and harmony established, the submarine heads out of the harbor with a convoy of villagers in small boats protecting it. The boat with the seven Russians reaches the group shortly thereafter, and the seven board the submarine, just before two U.S. Air Force F-101B Voodoo jets arrive. They break off after seeing the convoy, and the submarine is free to sail to safe waters.[2]

Primary cast

• Alan Arkin  : Lt. Rozanov
• Carl Reiner  : Walt Whittaker (aka "Whittaker Walt")
• Eva Marie Saint  : Elspeth Whittaker
• Brian Keith  : Police Chief Link Mattocks
• Jonathan Winters  : Officer Norman Jonas
• Paul Ford  : Fendall Hawkins
• Theodore Bikel  : The Russian Captain
• Tessie O'Shea  : Alice Foss (telephone operator)
• John Phillip Law  : Alexei Kolchin
• Ben Blue  : Luther Grilk
• Don Keefer : Irving Christiansen

Other first-billed cast

• Andrea Dromm : Alison Palmer
• Sheldon Collins  : Pete Whittaker (as Sheldon Golomb)
• Guy Raymond  : Lester Tilly
• Cliff Norton  : Charlie Hinkson
• Michael J. Pollard : Stanley, the airplane mechanic
• Richard Schaal  : Oscar Maxwell

Production

Despite being set on the fictional "Gloucester Island" off the coast of Massachusetts, the movie was filmed on the coast of California, mainly in Mendocino. The harbor scenes were filmed in Noyo Harbor, a small town south of Fort Bragg. Because of the filming location on the West Coast, the dawn scene at the beginning of the movie was actually filmed at dusk through a pink filter.

The submarine used in the movie was a fabrication. The United States Navy refused to loan one for the production and barred the studio from bringing a real Russian submarine, forcing the studio to create their own. It was segmented into four parts, each having its own motor to power it. Upon close inspection while watching the film, the viewer may notice the separate parts as the "sub" floats in the water.

The planes were actually from the 84th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, located at the nearby Hamilton Air Force Base. They were the only Air Force planes that were based near the location of the supposed island.

The title alludes to Paul Revere's Ride, as does the subplot in which the town drunk (Ben Blue) rides his horse to warn people of the 'invasion'.

According to Norman Jewison, the film — released at the height of the Cold War — had considerable impact in both Washington and Moscow. It was one of the few films to portray the Russians in a positive light. Senator Ernest Gruening mentioned the film in a speech in Congress, and a copy of the film was screened in the Kremlin.[3]

Awards

Awards (wins):

• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Alan Arkin)
• Writers Guild of America, East - Best Written American Comedy (William Rose)

Awards (nominations):

• Academy Award for Best Picture
• Directors Guild of America - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Norman Jewison)
• Academy Award for Best Actor (Alan Arkin)
• Academy Award for Film Editing (Hal Ashby & J. Terry Williams)
• Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay (William Rose)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay (William Rose)

Audio clip

• "Emergency, everybody to get from street." (Alan Arkin as Lt. Rozanov)

See also

• The Russians are coming
• Whiskey on the rocks

References

External links

• The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming at the Internet Movie Database

Films directed by Norman Jewison
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy