The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

film by Jewison [1966]

Written by Lee Pfeiffer

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The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, American screwball comedy film, released in 1966, that parodies the fears of the Cold War.

The film begins with a Soviet submarine accidentally running aground on a sandbank near a tiny New England town in the United States. A group of crewmen led by Lieut. Rozanov (played by Alan Arkin) go ashore in search of a motorboat to tow the submarine. They arrive at the house of a vacationing writer (Carl Reiner) and his wife (Eva Marie Saint), but the Soviets’ plans quickly go awry. Panic descends on the town, and the local police chief (Brian Keith) and his bumbling assistant (Jonathan Winters) struggle to maintain order. However, after putting aside their rivalry to rescue a child, the townspeople and the Soviets work together to free the submarine.

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming was based on Nathaniel Benchley’s novel The Off-Islanders (1961). The film marked the big-screen debut of Arkin, and he earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance. The score received praise for its imaginative blend of American and Russian patriotic themes.