The Yanks Are Coming (1942)

Director:

Alexis Thurn-Taxis

Writers:

Tony Stern (story) and
Lew Pollack (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

9 November 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

Those Yanks are on the way... in a patriotic musical to stir your blood!

Plot Keywords:

Low Budget Film | Bandleader | Mother Daughter Relationship | Singing | Nightclub Singer

Cast

Henry King	...	Gil Whitney
Mary Healy	...	Rita Edwards
Jack Heller	...	Sammy Winkle (as Little Jackie Heller)
Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom	...	Butch (as 'Slapsie' Maxie Rosenbloom)
William Roberts	...	Bob Reynolds
Harry Parke	...	Parky (as Parkyarkarkus)
Dorothy Dare	...	Peggy
Lynn Starr	...	Vicki
Jane Novak	...	Flora
Charles Purcell	...	Cpl. Jenks
Forrest Taylor	...	Capt. Brown
Dave O'Brien	...	Sgt. Callahan
Lew Pollack	...	Himself
Henry King's Orchestra	...	Gil's Orchestra
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Anson Bond	...	Narrator (uncredited) (voice)
'Snub' Pollard	...	Canteen Soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Alexis Thurn-Taxis

Writing credits
Tony Stern		(story) and
Lew Pollack		(story) and
Edward E. Kaye		(story)
Arthur St. Claire		(screen adaptation) and
Sherman L. Lowe		(screen adaptation) (as Sherman Lowe)
Edith Watkins		(additional dialogue)

Produced by
Chris Beute	....	associate producer (as C.A. Beute)
Lester Cutler	....	producer

Cinematography by
Marcel Le Picard		(photography)

Film Editing by
Frederick Bain		(as Fred Bain)

Production Management
Leon Fromkess	....	executive in charge of production

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Donald Verk	....	assistant director (as Don Verk)

Sound Department
Ben Winkler	....	sound engineer

Music Department
Lee Zahler	....	musical director

Other crew
Edith Watkins	....	dialogue director

Production Companies

• Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)

Distributors

• Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Madison Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC)

Soundtrack:

There Will Be No Blackout Of Democracy

This is made by PRC...'nuff said!

Hollywood musicals were usually the domain of studios like MGM and Twentieth-Century Fox, occasionally studios like RKO or Warner Brothers made one. However, the so-called 'Poverty Row Studios' rarely tried this genre--mostly because this was way outside their usual range of pictures. Usually these ultra-low budget studios specialized in B-movies--westerns, comedies, mysteries and adventure stories. However, this is an odd case where a Poverty Row movie studio (PRC) tried to make a musical--an idea that was doomed from the start not only because it was outside their scope but because PRC made many, many god-awful films! So, the fact this film stank came as no surprise to me! The film starts on a very false note. A famed celebrity talks about quitting the business and enlisting in the military now that the US was involved in WWII. In fact, this was VERY common among the Hollywood elite--tons of them joined at that time. So, when the guy talks about joining and one of those he tells openly derides this and calls him stupid for joining, you know this is ridiculous. Such anti-patriotic sentiments may have existed at the time, but frankly, saying them so loudly might have gotten your teeth kicked in at this those around you!! NO ONE would have said anything so overtly anti-war at that time...no way. This scene was obviously meant as propaganda and came off as fake...and stupid, as WWII was very popular at home. It simply was the thing to do...period and this guy's anti-American effort routine throughout the film was just dumb.

The rest of the film is a bit like "Buck Privates"--except with a lot more singing and no comedy. I think they DID intend for it to be a musical-comedy...but it wasn't funny. The closest to this was when one soldier said that the other looked like Maxie Rosenbloom--at which case the other got angry like it was an insult--insisted he didn't--yet this guy really was Maxie! Overall, the film featured adequate acting (and no better), a poor script and bad songs (though a couple of them COULD sing well). It's the sort of schmaltzy patriotic stuff that audiences ate up at the time but plays rather poorly today.