Here we are in a colourful and dangerous past. Summer 1966, or are we in the whole of the sixties and seventies? Anyway, we are supposed to be in New England (made in California) or rather a very small part of it named Gloucester Island. The camera watches a well picked cast and plenty of fancy extras and a Russian (I recognize a red star) submarine commanded by Fatso Theodore Bickel, while having fun and chasing and threatening each other to death. Canadian director Norman Jewison (MOONSTRUCK, Jesus CRIST SUPERSTAR, THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR) at that time 40 years of age (the Khrushchev era with its freezing cold war fund shortly after J.F.K.s Cuba confrontation) tells in good humour the story of a Russian submarine, that collides with a fishermen island, gets stuck and can't get off the shore again.
Good for the story: About 20 Russian sailors face 50 or more (including beautiful Eva Marie Saint) strangely behaving American New England locals. Of cause the island people at first don't see much of the vessel and the daring aliens. But somehow people get to know of the arrival of almost the whole of Russia and gather to defend America. Between rumours and facts Jewison present us some strange local characters, good and almost evil, not so clever and stupid, tough and lovely - not necessarily like anywhere in the world. There is an old foolish fellow (Paul Ford), who tries to form a citizen guard and carries around a sword of former times and does and says some of the stupid things of the third kind. He just doesn't know better and strangely enough survives as well as the rest of the cast (and the crew).
Generally underrated Brian Keith is sheriff Link Mattocks. He knows much better and tries to find out, who at all has seen just one example of the alleged strangers. His great scene is at the harbour edge when he is trying to arrest Captain Bickel, and lieutenant (Alan Arkin) Rozanov translates into Russia and back into something like English they understand in New England. Captain Bickel is facing about 79 or probably even 92 different weapons of the less (?) dangerous kind, while he has directed a huge canon of the grey and very long type toward Chief Brian Keith and his xenophobe fellow men and women gathering behind him.
Not getting anywhere questioning fat man Bickel Chief Link Mattocks just wants to know and put it in his book, what the name of the captain is. We do not learn his name, the captain is a very quiet man, so that is why he doesn't even carries a name in the cast overview at IMDb.
In the meantime blond Andrea Dromm and (at that time) black haired John Phillip Law look at each other and this time we catch the names: She is Alison and he is Alexei. Great and good to know, but what for ? They kiss and part, I'm afraid for ever. He takes his love and not the girl across the ocean, but sure soon will forget her, because he is young and she is an American bore. And who after all wants to live in Russia, wherever that country may be.
Since the whole matter is of cause a fairy tale, the confrontation doesn't move into a bloodshed (Just imagine one Russian canon ball would blow off about 15 to 20 American fishermen and fisherwomen, while out of about 98 small American bullets definitely 3 or 5 will find the broad chest of captain Bickel and many of the rest will push the Russian sailors next to him into the harbour more or less wounded, more or less dead.)
They all come together trying (successfully) to save the life of a little boy, who hangs on a church tower hook, where the script (not good old deus/Lord) put him purposely to interrupt the confrontation. Now really everybody participates in saving the American island boy by building a circus pyramid of people - of cause a Russian American mixed life pyramid.
We leave the cinema or our place in front of the goggle box and have watched a very inspired and entertainingly written, fast moving, qualified directed and played peace satire (at the very end of the picture the sub is escorted to the open sea by the American fishing boats to shelter the Russians from the alarmed Air Force) with little but well calculated slapstick and some jolly surrealistic dialog.
We once more realize that time goes by. The lead actors are either dead or round about their 80ies. Some are still active, for instance director Norman Jewison himself. Eva Marie Saint is in her 80ies today, here on Gloucester Island she still looks like heading North by North West.
Cary Grant dropped making pictures the same year. In earlier OPERATION PETTICOAT he was head of a pink painted Submarine. And don't forget the fabulous Yellow Submarine....
Michael Zabel, Offenbach/Rodenbach
Good for the story: About 20 Russian sailors face 50 or more (including beautiful Eva Marie Saint) strangely behaving American New England locals. Of cause the island people at first don't see much of the vessel and the daring aliens. But somehow people get to know of the arrival of almost the whole of Russia and gather to defend America. Between rumours and facts Jewison present us some strange local characters, good and almost evil, not so clever and stupid, tough and lovely - not necessarily like anywhere in the world. There is an old foolish fellow (Paul Ford), who tries to form a citizen guard and carries around a sword of former times and does and says some of the stupid things of the third kind. He just doesn't know better and strangely enough survives as well as the rest of the cast (and the crew).
Generally underrated Brian Keith is sheriff Link Mattocks. He knows much better and tries to find out, who at all has seen just one example of the alleged strangers. His great scene is at the harbour edge when he is trying to arrest Captain Bickel, and lieutenant (Alan Arkin) Rozanov translates into Russia and back into something like English they understand in New England. Captain Bickel is facing about 79 or probably even 92 different weapons of the less (?) dangerous kind, while he has directed a huge canon of the grey and very long type toward Chief Brian Keith and his xenophobe fellow men and women gathering behind him.
Not getting anywhere questioning fat man Bickel Chief Link Mattocks just wants to know and put it in his book, what the name of the captain is. We do not learn his name, the captain is a very quiet man, so that is why he doesn't even carries a name in the cast overview at IMDb.
In the meantime blond Andrea Dromm and (at that time) black haired John Phillip Law look at each other and this time we catch the names: She is Alison and he is Alexei. Great and good to know, but what for ? They kiss and part, I'm afraid for ever. He takes his love and not the girl across the ocean, but sure soon will forget her, because he is young and she is an American bore. And who after all wants to live in Russia, wherever that country may be.
Since the whole matter is of cause a fairy tale, the confrontation doesn't move into a bloodshed (Just imagine one Russian canon ball would blow off about 15 to 20 American fishermen and fisherwomen, while out of about 98 small American bullets definitely 3 or 5 will find the broad chest of captain Bickel and many of the rest will push the Russian sailors next to him into the harbour more or less wounded, more or less dead.)
They all come together trying (successfully) to save the life of a little boy, who hangs on a church tower hook, where the script (not good old deus/Lord) put him purposely to interrupt the confrontation. Now really everybody participates in saving the American island boy by building a circus pyramid of people - of cause a Russian American mixed life pyramid.
We leave the cinema or our place in front of the goggle box and have watched a very inspired and entertainingly written, fast moving, qualified directed and played peace satire (at the very end of the picture the sub is escorted to the open sea by the American fishing boats to shelter the Russians from the alarmed Air Force) with little but well calculated slapstick and some jolly surrealistic dialog.
We once more realize that time goes by. The lead actors are either dead or round about their 80ies. Some are still active, for instance director Norman Jewison himself. Eva Marie Saint is in her 80ies today, here on Gloucester Island she still looks like heading North by North West.
Cary Grant dropped making pictures the same year. In earlier OPERATION PETTICOAT he was head of a pink painted Submarine. And don't forget the fabulous Yellow Submarine....
Michael Zabel, Offenbach/Rodenbach