Screening of: The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!

Set during the “Cold War” era of nuclear hair-trigger brinkmanship, without hostile intent, a Soviet sub runs aground on a sandbar off of a fictional New England town close to Gloucester Island in Massachusetts. The inept Captain, played by Theodore Bickel, just wanted to get a closer look at America. A team of 9 Soviet military men commanded by Lieutenant Rozanov (Alan Arkin) are sent ashore to hijack a motorboat, which they intend to use to pull their vessel free. This sends many American villagers go into a complete and farcical panic, risking bloodshed.

The Russians arrive at the summer house of New York musical comedy writer Walt Whittaker (Carl Reiner) who is spending the weekend with his family in Gloucester. When he realizes that home invaders are Russians, he believes that it’s a military invasion. The Russians hold the Whittakers at gunpoint and steal their car, which they drive to the nearest harbor with the right kind of boats to use to pull their stranded nuclear submarine off of the sandbar.

Along the way, they cut phone lines, and leave just enough evidence of their presence to cause a panic in the locals. Soon the information leaks, leading to hysteria and paranoia among the inhabitants of the small Massachusetts island village.

The 1966 film had a profound impact on both American and Soviet leaders. It is one of the few films actually mentioned in the Congressional record. Norman Jewison was also personally invited to Moscow, where he reported that the Russian crowd was transfixed by the scene featuring the little boy who falls from the bell tower, and the Soviets and Americans cooperate to save him.

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