Norman Jewison’s Cold War Comedy Classic Returns to Blu-ray

DIRECTED BY NORMAN JEWISON/1966

BLU-RAY STREET DATE: JANUARY 16, 2024/KINO LORBER STUDIO CLASSICS

In the video below, David Blakeslee gives a very brief overview of the career of Norman Jewison (who passed away at age 97 on January 20, 2024, just a few days after this disc was released), leading into a discussion of his hit film from 1966, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! The clip splices snippets from the original theatrical trailer (one of several that are included as bonus supplements on the disc) into David’s comments about the film’s stellar cast (featuring Carl Reiner, Alan Arkin, Eva Marie Saint, Jonathan Winters, and others), its gently satirical send-up of anti-Communist paranoia, and the frenzied response of small-town grandees who fly into a panic when it appears that their long-dreaded worst case scenario of an invasion by the Soviet military has landed in their sleepy oceanside village. 

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! earned widespread critical acclaim, significant box office success, four Academy Award nominations, and even got a well-received screening at the Kremlin soon after it was released despite the distinct frostiness in diplomatic relations between the USA and USSR at the time. The film pulls off a distinctive blend of broad farcical slapstick, smart character development, and a winsomely affirming appeal for mutual understanding between citizens of two societies who were constantly being told by their respective authorities to fear and mistrust each other. 

As a relic of its times, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! functions as a significant pop culture landmark and holds up strongly enough to be enjoyed by viewers not yet born when tensions between East and West were stretched so tight that the film’s plea for us to all just get along felt genuinely risky and provocative to middle-class sensibilities.

KL Studio Classics 2024 Blu-ray Special Features:
• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historians Michael Schlesinger and Mark Evanier
• Making-of Featurette hosted by Norman Jewison
• Theatrical Trailer
• Optional English Subtitles