The screenplay is based on the 1961 Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, and was adapted for the screen by William Rose. The title alludes to Paul Revere's midnight ride, as does the subplot in which the town drunk (Ben Blue) rides his horse to warn people of the "invasion".
One September morning, the Soviet Navy submarine Sprut[a] draws too close to the New England coast when its captain wants to see North America and runs aground on a sandbar near Gloucester Island,[b] off the New England coast, with a population of about 200 people. Rather than radio for help and risk an embarrassing international incident, the captain sends a nine-man landing party, headed by his zampolit[c] Lieutenant Yuri Rozanov, to find a motor launch to help free the submarine. The men arrive at the house of Walt Whittaker, a vacationing playwright from New York City. Whittaker is eager to get his wife Elspeth and children, Pete and Annie, off the island now that summer is over.
Pete tells his disbelieving dad that armed Russians are near the house, but Walt is soon met by Rozanov and one of his men, Alexei Kolchin, who identify themselves as strangers on the island and ask if there are any boats available. Walt is skeptical and asks if they are armed Russians. Startled, Rozanov admits that they are and pulls a gun on Walt. Rozanov promises no harm to the Whittakers if they surrender their station wagon. Elspeth provides the car keys, but before the Russians depart, Rozanov orders Alexei to prevent the Whittakers from fleeing.
The station wagon quickly runs out of gasoline, forcing the Russians to walk. They steal an old sedan from Muriel Everett, the postmistress; she calls Alice Foss, the gossipy telephone switchboard operator, and soon, rumors about Russian parachutists and an air assault on the airport throw the island into confusion. Police Chief Link Mattocks and his assistant Norman Jonas try to squelch a citizens' militia led by Fendall Hawkins.
Meanwhile, Walt, Elspeth and Pete overpower Alexei when Alison Palmer, an 18-year-old neighbor and Annie's babysitter, arrives for work, giving them an opening. Alexei flees, but when Walt, Elspeth, and Pete leave to find help, he returns to retrieve his weapon from the house, where only Alison and Annie remain. Despite wanting no fighting, Alexei must obey his superiors in guarding the residence. He promises not to harm anyone and offers to surrender his gun as proof. Alison trusts him and does not want his firearm.
Walt is recaptured by the Russians in the telephone central office. After subduing Mrs. Foss, tying Walt and her together, and disabling the island's telephone switchboard, seven Russians appropriate civilian clothes from a dry cleaner's, steal a cabin cruiser, and head to the submarine. Back at the Whittaker house, Alexei and Alison talk, kiss, and fall in love. At the phone exchange, Walt and Mrs. Foss hop outside the office. They are eventually discovered by Elspeth and Pete, who untie them. They return to their house, and Walt shoots at and almost kills Rozanov, who reached there ahead of them. With the misunderstandings cleared up, the Whittakers, Rozanov, and Alexei decide to head into town together to explain to everyone what is happening.
As the tide rises, the sub floats off the sandbar and proceeds on the surface to the island's main harbor. Chief Mattocks, having investigated and debunked the rumor of an aerial assault, returns to town with the civilian militia. With Rozanov acting as translator, the Russian captain threatens to open fire on the town unless the seven missing sailors are returned to him; his crew faces upwards of a hundred armed townspeople. Two small boys eventually climb up to the church steeple to see better and one slips and falls, but his belt catches on a gutter, leaving him hanging 40 feet[d] in the air. The American islanders and the Russian submariners unite to form a human pyramid and rescue him.
Peace is established between the two parties. However, Hawkins contacted the Air Force by radio. In a joint decision, the submarine leaves the harbor with villagers in boats protecting it. Alexei says goodbye to Alison. The stolen boat with the missing Russians meets the sub, which they board, before two Air Force jets arrive. The jets, however, break off after seeing the escorting flotilla of small craft. The Sprut is free to proceed to deep water and safety.
Although set on the fictional "Gloucester Island" off the coast of Massachusetts, the movie was filmed on the coast of Northern California, mainly in Mendocino. The harbor scenes were filmed in Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg, California, about 7 miles (11 km) north of Mendocino. Because of the filming location on the West Coast, the dawn scene at the beginning of the film was actually filmed at dusk through a pink filter.[4]
The submarine used was a fabrication. The United States Navy refused to lend one for the production, so the producers asked the Russian Embassy for a Soviet submarine, which was similarly refused.[5] The Mirisch Company rented a mockup of a submarine that had been used in the 1965 film Morituri.[6]
The title alludes to Paul Revere's midnight ride, as does the subplot in which the town drunk (Ben Blue) rides his horse to warn people of the "invasion".
Pablo Ferro created the main title sequence, using the American flag's red, white, and blue colors and the Soviethammer and sickle as transitional elements, zooming into each to create a montage, which ultimately worked to establish the tone of the film. The music in the sequence alternates between the American "Yankee Doodle" march and a combination of the Russian songs "Polyushko Pole" (Полюшко Поле, usually "Meadowlands" in English) and the "Song of the Volga Boatmen".[8]
Much of the dialog was spoken by the Russian characters, played by American actors at a time when few American actors were adept at Russian accents. Musician and character actor Leon Belasco – who was born in Russia, spoke fluent Russian and specialized in foreign accents during his 60-year career – was the dialog director. Alan Arkin extensively studied Russian in preparation for his role as Lt. Rozanov.[9] As of 2017, he could still remember his Russian lines from the film.[10]Theodore Bikel was able to pronounce Russian so well (he had taken a few classes, but was not at all fluent in the language) that he won the role of the submarine captain.[11]Alex Hassilev, of The Limelighters, also spoke fluent Russian and played the sailor Hrushevsky. John Phillip Law's incorrect pronunciation of difficult English phonemes, most notably in Alison Palmer's name ("ah-LYEE-sown PAHL-myerr"), was unusually authentic by the standards of the day.[citation needed] Brian Keith, who also spoke fluent Russian, did not do so in the film.[citation needed]
The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Johnny Mandel and the soundtrack album was released on the United Artists label in 1966.[14]Film Score Monthly reviewed Mandel's soundtrack in their liner notes for their reissue of the score, noting the presence of Russian folk songs, writing that "These pre-existing melodies mix with original Mandel compositions, including a Russian choral anthem, a humorous march theme for the island residents' quasi-military response to the Soviet incursion, and a tender love theme...".[13][15] "The Shining Sea" was sung on the soundtrack by Irene Kral, although it had featured as an instrumental in the film itself. The lyrics to "The Shining Sea" were written by Peggy Lee, who was contractually bound to Capitol Records, and so unable to appear on the soundtrack album. The line "His hands, his strong brown hands" was believed by Lee's friends to be a reference to Quincy Jones with whom she had a brief affair. Lee herself later recorded "The Shining Sea" with her lyrics on May 21, 1966. Mandel had played the music for "The Shining Sea" to Lee, and had asked her to "paint a word picture" of what she had heard. Lee's lyrics, by coincidence, exactly matched the action on the screen of the two lovers on the beach, which astonished Mandel, who had not shown her the film.[16]
Track listing
All compositions by Johnny Mandel unless otherwise indicated
"The Russians Are Coming...The Russians Are Coming" - 01:37
"Tipperary" (Harry J. Williams, Jack Judge) - 00:32
"The Airport" - 02:14
"The Russians Are Coming...The Russians Are Coming" - 02:09
Reception
Robert Alden of The New York Times called it "a rousingly funny – and perceptive – motion picture about a desperately unfunny world situation."[17] Arthur D. Murphy of Variety declared it "an outstanding cold-war comedy," adding that Jewison "has made expert use of all types of comedy technique, scripted and acted in excellent fashion by both pros and some talented newcomers to pix."[18]
Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Considering that it is made up of variations on a single theme, the picture is astonishingly inventive. And considering that it was never done as a play on the stage (where laughs can be pre-tested and rough spots ironed out) it racks up a high average indeed, though it has its lapses and some of its points are forced—over-milked, as they say in the trade."[19]Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called it "a refreshingly witty topical comedy ... Some exceptionally skilled comics, familiar and unfamiliar, are extremely amusing."[20]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the film "almost falls flat when it indulges in sententious philosophising about the need for Russians and Americans to live peacefully together," but is "considerably helped by an amiable script (by former Ealing writer William Rose) which often manages to invest the film with the high farce of the best of the Ealing comedies."[21]Brendan Gill of The New Yorker called it "an unfunny big farce ... The heavy-handed producer and director of the picture, Norman Jewison, has permitted nearly every moment of it to become twice as brightly colored, twice as noisy, and twice as frantic as it needed to be; this is all the more a pity because the cast includes a number of excellent comic actors."[22]
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 American films of the time to portray the Russians in a positive light. Senator Ernest Gruening mentioned the film in a speech in Congress, and a copy of it was screened in the Kremlin. According to Jewison, when screened at the Soviet film writers' union, Sergei Bondarchuk was moved to tears.[23] Jewison, in an interview, also stated that not only were the Russians thrilled with the movie, they were a little disappointed they hadn't thought of the plot first.
^Bergan, Ronald (July 22, 2015). "Theodore Bikel obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016 – via www.theguardian.com.
