The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966)

At the height of the Cold War, a Soviet submarine runs aground on a sandbar off the coast of a sparsely populated island off the coast of Massachusetts. When a small party of the sub's sailors set foot on the island looking for a boat that could pull the submarine free of the sandbar, the island assumes it is under attack by the Russians and hysteria reigns ... on both sides. Over 45 years later and with the Cold War long over, this frantic farce transcends topicality and remains as funny today as it was in 1966. This is mostly due to William Rose's clever Oscar nominated screenplay (based on Nathaniel Benchley's novel THE OFF ISLANDERS), Norman Jewison's adroit direction and the expert comic timing of its ensemble cast. It's only flaw is that it's a bit long and threatens to run out of steam at any moment. The picturesque community of Fort Bragg in Northern California (handsomely shot by Joseph L. Biroc) stands in for Massachusetts and the nimble score is by Johnny Mandel. The large cast, all of them excellent, includes Alan Arkin (in an Oscar nominated performance) in his film debut, Eva Marie Saint, Carl Reiner, Brian Keith, Jonathan Winters, Theodore Bikel, John Phillip Law, Paul Ford, Tessie O'Shea, Andrea Dromm, Vaughn Taylor and the talented child actor Sheldon Collins (now a dentist!).