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The Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming
Studio: MGM
Year: 1966
Rated: NR
Film Length: 126 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (2.35:1)
Subtitles: Englis, French, Spanish
For those of you who know how much I love It's A
Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, you can truly see why
I am very excited about MGM's DVD release of The
Russians Are Coming..., a comedic farce with
an all-star cast that allowed us to laugh at the
distrust existing between Americans and Russians
The time is the cold war. A submarine filled with
a small group of Russian sailors makes a wrong turn
and runs aground on an island off the New England
coast. The landing party headed by Lieutenant Rozanov
(Alan Arkin) makes its way to the nearest home it
can find. They hold Walt Whittaker (Carl Reiner)
and his family at gunpoint while the rest of the
group search for a motorboat to tow their vessel
off of the sand barge.
The Russians are tense. Their quest must be
accomplished as quickly as possible since they
don't want to be captured and imprisoned as spies.
They are observed, however, by an early rising
old biddy who manages to report the incident to
an unbelieving Chief of Police (Brian Keith) before
the phone line is cut.
As gossip start to spread, a torrent of escalating
rumors begins as the hastily armed locals become
convinced that their island is the beachhead of a
full scale Russian invasion of America. The Police
Chief tries to keep his hysterical assistant (Jonathan
Winters) under control as the Russians try to
avoid detection, avoid capture, and avoid the start
of a small war.
This is an easy film to recommend for anyone that
loves terrific slapstick comedy with a truly great
all-star cast. It's one of the last films of its
kind that reminds you how good a comedy can be
without resulting to today's toilet humor standards.
As in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, the
humor comes mostly through its talented cast rather
than what was happening in the film. You can't
help but laugh at Alan Arkin bumbling his way through
the English language, or watch Carl Reiner's face
as he continually is goaded by his young son who
thinks he is a traitor to his country, or as he
tries to escape from being tied face to face with
telephone operator, Alice Foss. Then there's
Brian Keith, who walks through this entire madcap
adventure as if he was John Wayne, never flinching
for a single moment. How about Paul Ford, one of
film's most recognizable comedic supporting actors
who is just hilarious as the hawkish right-wing
head of the American legion.
Yes, folks, they don't make comedies like this
anymore...and even if they did....there aren't
comics today who could equally fill the shoes
of these greats.
How is the transfer?
This transfer was everything I could hope for
but yet never expected. I would never have
thought that MGM would have given priority to
this film's transfer. Obviously they did, as
this transfer nearly looks like a brand new
print. Nothing looks dated here. What you will
immediately notice after the film's opening credits
is the natural warmth of this film. Picture is
a little soft, but nicely detailed with solid
blacks and stable colors that probably have never
looked this good on any format. Film blemishes
are minimal, and the only problem I see with the
transfer is the usual noise that shows up in shots
of blue sky. A truly beautiful transfer.
The mono soundtrack lacks any real dynamic range,
though it comes across quite strongly with no
audible background hiss. The sound is a little
too much in the high end, causing the vocals of
the Russian chorals to slightly overmodulate at
times.
Special Features
The supplements on this DVD are very small, but great
things come in small packages.
Director Norman Jewison hosts a wonderful new
documentary called The Russians Are Coming To
Hollywood in which he describes the timing of
this film's release. It's the height of the Cold
War, and both Americans and Russians are deeply
paranoid of attacks from either side. Here comes
William Rose, one of the best screenwriters of
the '60 and 70's, who put together an incredible
screenplay that gave insight into human behavior
under chaotic conditions. Norman describes that
as a Canadian, he felt he was making a film for
both Americans and Russians. Hollywood and the
United States Navy, on the other hand, were
absolutely shocked at the film's premise and
offered little initial support for the film.
It's kind of cool to learn that the film was
shot on the California coast as opposed to the
film's East Coast setting, because it was just
too cold. Some interesting photographic tricks
were used to simulate the sun rising on the opposite
coast. It's also interesting to learn that this
was Alan Arkin's big film debut, and as a result,
it was difficult to sell him to the studios as an
actor. We learn how Jewison managed to pull it off.
We also learn how the Director pulled together a
cast of greats, including nabbing silent film star
Ben Blue as a village drunk forever trying to catch
a horse. There's some brief credit given to the
film's cinematography and musical score. This
entire documentary rests firmly on the shoulders
of Norman Jewison. With absolutely no cast
interviews, nor behind-the-camera footage, this
documentary succeeds where most others wouldn't
just because we get to watch a wonderful and
talented Director tell a story about film he made.
(length: approx. 23 minutes)
This is an absolute gem! The film's original
theatrical trailer turns out to be a terrific
promotional piece that features Carl Reiner
interviewing Russian Lieutenant Rozanov, who
invites you to come to his apartment to watch the
film. You'll love this trailer!
Final Thoughts
Watching The Russians are Coming, The Russians
Are Coming takes me back to a time when comedy
was truly golden. In these times, it's hard to
imagine just how funny a film could be with no sex,
objectionable profanity, and little violence. This
is one of the last films of its kind, and its one
that you'll savor through lots of laughter. It's
a film that dared to suggest that Americans and
Russians could have a peaceful coexistence. Imagine
that!
Not to be missed! Buy it blindly!
Release Date: October 15, 2002
