EFL Movie Study Guide for:
The Russians are Coming--the
Russians are Coming
Story: A comedy from the tense days
of the Cold War, this film shows us the effects of national pride and
international fear, as well as what universal compassion can do to help us
overcome our differences. Panic spreads when a Russian submarine gets stuck
near a small US island. Will this accident start a war? This movie will make
you laugh AND think! (1965, starring Alan Arkin, Brian Keith, Carl Reiner,
Jonathan Winters; a Norman Jewison MGM production; comedy; 2:05 hours)
Setting: mid 1960s; Gloucester Island (Massachusetts); a small
American island
Note 1: From the end of World
War 2 until the early 1990s, the USA and the Soviet Union (Russia) were in
what was called "The Cold War"—a tense time when both sides were afraid that
the other would start World War 3, and "end life as we know it" due to
nuclear weapons through "Mutually Assured Destruction" (appropriately
nicknamed MAD). This movie was made during that time, and perhaps played a
part in helping people get over their irrational fear of people they had
never met.
Note 2: To stress that they were not Americans, the
filmmakers show the Russians speaking non-standard English. The fact that
native speakers have no trouble understanding them should help you see that
English-learners can make many mistakes and still communicate! (See
"non-standard English" below)
People & proper nouns:
Walt Wittaker: the main character, a NY writer on a "working
vacation" with his family. His wife is Elspeth, son Pete (9), daughter Annie
(4)
Alison: the Wittaker's babysitter (around 18 years old)
Rozanov: Russian officer in charge of the shore patrol
Alexei Kolchin: young Russian sailor, told to watch/guard the
Wittaker family
Chief Link Mattocks: the head of the island's 4-man police
force
Alice Foss: the island's phone operator (they didn't have
direct dial—all calls went through Alice)
Fendall: an elderly man who thinks of himself as the
"civilian leader" of the town's men in this crisis.
Luther Grilk: the town "drunk," who spends most of the show
trying to catch his horse Beatrice
A few terms (vocabulary):
aground (went aground on a sandbar): to run aground is when a
ship gets stuck in water that is not deep
animosity: hatred (usually it is not countable, but the
Russian added "-ies")
arrested (he is under arrest): refers to someone the police
think has done something wrong (i.e., a crime); if a court or judge agrees,
then this person is “convicted” of the crime and then punished
to capture: to catch someone (or an animal) against his/her
will
creepin': (that is, creeping—an apostrophe is often used to
show that the final "g" is missing from a spoken word) moving in a quiet way
so that others won't notice you
damp: wet, especially caused by humidity such as you would
have at the beach
delinquent: a young person who breaks the law or does
socially unacceptable things
deputy: a police office, under the head (chief or sheriff) of
a police force
escort: to go with someone, esp. to protect them ("We can
escort them. Our escort would be like a convoy.")
firearms: hand-held guns of all sizes
flatfoot: an informal (and often insulting) nickname for a
police officer
foot, "my foot": an expression used to show that you don't
believe what someone just said ("Suppose they've really landed? 'Suppose' my
foot! There aren't any Russians!")
to foul up (a foul-up): to do something wrong, especially by
making mistakes, or the situation caused by such mistakes ("Your foul-up is
going to foul up the whole detail!")
hostages: innocent people held by an enemy, in the hope that
the other side will do something they don't want to do in order to get these
innocent people set free
military: the branch of government responsible for defending
one's country or international interests; in the US, this is broken into
five parts: army (ground forces), navy (sea forces), air force (planes),
marines (special ground forces who come by sea), coast guard (responsible
for ports and the US coastline)
to open fire: to start shooting guns or other weapons
panic: a situation caused by fear and/or the lack of accurate
information (They heard rumors that caused them to panic, which caused a
panic in the community.)
parachutists: people who jump from an airplane and then open
a cloth-like umbrella that lets them float safely to the ground
police constabulary: a formal term for the police
(law-enforcement personnel) in an area
prison: jail; place where the police keep someone who breaks
a law
pyramid: a structure with triangle sides, or people who are
on each others' shoulders like a triangle or pyramid (e.g.: In ancient
Egypt, kings were buried under pyramids.)
steeple: a pointed tower, especially above a church (since
this is a high place, the steeple offers a good view of the area around it)
submarine: a navy ship that travels under water
to supersede: to replace something with sth that has more
authority, is more modern, etc. (see sentence #4 below)
tortured: to be hurt on purpose, usually so that you will
give information you don't want to give
traitor: someone who acts in a disloyal way, especially if
disloyal to his government or other leaders (which is called treason)
treason: see "traitor" (to insult the police officer, Fendall
calls him "you traitorous fink!")
witnesses: someone who sees an event and can truthfully tell
others details about it
Non-standard English sentences (examples from this film):
1. First, is necessary to make borrowings of automobile.
(i.e.: First, we need to
borrow your car.)
2. All are most sinceriously terrified of what will happen
now. (i.e.: Everyone is seriously terrified of what will happen now/next.)
3. See #5 & 6 below
Sentences or conversations from the movie:
1. Chief Mattocks: "Wanna gimme that again?" (i.e.: "Do you
want to give me that again?" meaning "Please repeat what you said.")
2. Deputy's wife: "Clear out where? The ferry isn't even
running. This is Sunday!" (i.e., "Where should we go? The boat off the
island is not running because this is Sunday"!)
3. Citizen: "We need a leader. You do it Fendall! You've got
the sword."
4. Chief: "Unless you've got a federal warrant that
supersedes the laws of the Commonwealth [this state], you can keep your big
fat mouth shut, or I'll throw you in the can [jail] for disorderly conduct!"
5. Walt: "Give yourselves up or you might start a war.
"Rozanov: "You help us get boat quickly,
otherwise there is World War 3 and everybody is blaming you!"
Walt: "If you disguised yourself, like
with those clothes downstairs at the cleaners, you could sneak through town
and no one would notice."
Operator: "Mr. Wittaker, are you really
trying to help them? Are you on their side?"
Walt: "Of course I'm not! I just think it
would be a whole lot pleasanter [more pleasant] if a lot of people didn't
get killed. They're pretty desperate. All they're trying to do is borrow a
motorboat."
6. Alexei: "In Union of Soviet, when I am only young boy,
many are saying Americans are bad people. They will attack Russians. So, all
mistrust American. But I think that I do not mistrust American. Not really
sinceriously. I wish not to hate anybody."
Alison: "It doesn't make sense to hate
people. It's such a waste of time."
7. Chief: "Tell the captain he is under arrest. Let's have
your name and address."
Captain: "You stupid idiot; I will blow up
the town."
Chief (to translator): "Tell him this and
get it straight. He's under arrest. You come in here, scaring people half to
death. You steal cars and motorboats. You cause damage to private property.
Then you threaten the whole community with grievous bodily harm and maybe
murder. Now, we ain't gonna take no more of that.* See? We may be scared. I
am, anyway. But maybe we ain't as scared as you think we are. Now you say
you're gonna blow up the town? Well, I say, you start shootin' and see what
happens."
The progression of the rumors that leads to panic:
1. Postmistress (Muriel): "The Russians have landed and I'm
being attacked."
2. Operator: "They were probably parachutists."
3. Neighbor: "Parachutists have captured the airport."
4. Man: "They said Muriel was dead."
5. Man: "It's not just parachutists, the Russian navy's
landed, too."
Discussion:
1. With your partner, fix the "non-standard English"
sentences above.
2. As they passed a church, Russian sailors mentioned two
music composers: Handel and Tchaikovsky. Why? What "point" do you think the
film-writers were trying to make?
3. When Walt told the deputy police officer "the truth" about
the Russians (who were trying to borrow a boat to get off a sand bar), why
didn't anyone listen to him?
4. At one point, the American citizens started fighting each
other (and the police chief broke Fendall's sword). Why did this fight
start, and why do you think it is in the movie?
5. When there was a standoff beside the submarine, one
accidental push of a gun trigger could have started World War 3! Tell your
partner what could have been done to prevent this standoff.
6. Tell your partner what you think "bravery" is. What is the
difference between being "brave" and being "foolish"? Tell each other about
examples of bravery in the movie.
Footnote:
*"gonna" is the spoken form of "going
to"; English learners should never write "gonna." The chief is also
using poor grammar here, probably to show his anger. Correct: "We aren't
going to take any more of that." Shootin' is an abbreviation for
"shooting"—an apostrophe is often used to show that the final "g" is missing
from a spoken word.
Partial answer to discussion #6: when Walt took away Alexei's
gun (though his wife thought this was foolish, not brave); when the men went
through town to create a diversion; Alexei's decision to go back to the
house; when the chief stood up to the captain; when Alexei climbed out on
the gutter on the steeple; the escort)
