1966 film by Norman Jewison
The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming is a 1966 American comedy film directed and produced by Norman Jewison for United Artists. The satirical story depicts the chaos following the grounding of the Soviet submarine СпруT ("SpruT", pronounced "sproot" and meaning "octopus") off a small New England island. The film stars Alan Arkin in his first major film role, Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Keith, Theodore Bikel, Jonathan Winters, John Phillip Law, Tessie O'Shea, and Paul Ford.
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".
The film premiered on May 25, 1966, and was a widespread critical and commercial success. At the 39th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Alan Arkin. It also won two Golden Globes, for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Arkin.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.