Interesting background of Cold War comedy

"The Russians Are Coming to Hollywood" is a documentary short made in 2002. That was years after the 1966 film was made – "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming." This short is an interview with the film's producer/director, Norman Jewison. It has some very interesting details about the making of the movie. 

The time was at the height of the Cold War. Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev had pounded his shoe on the podium at the United Nations (Oct. 12, 1960). The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba on April 17, 1961 had failed. It was the work of a paramilitary group that included many Cubans who had fled Cuba after Fidel Castro came to power. By this time, the Soviet Union had erected a fence along the Iron Curtain that divided eastern and Western Europe. In August 1961, the Soviets began building the Berlin Wall. In October 1962, Kruschev sent nuclear missiles to Cuba to be installed and aimed at the U.S. President Kennedy established a naval blockade and the Soviets withdrew. Tension between the Soviets and America was at the breaking point in the mid-1960s. 

As Jewison says in this short film, Americans were afraid that the Russians were going to attack, and the Russians were afraid that the Americans were going to attack. As a Canadian, he said, he might be able to make a film that wouldn't offend either side and that both sides would like. Jewison says one incorrect thing in this short – that "Dr. Strangelove" had not been made yet. That classic Cold War satire came out in January 1964. It clearly beat "The Russians Are Coming" to the silver screen by nearly a year and a half. 

Considering the spoofing of the military and satire of the government in "Dr. Strangelove," one can understand the reticence of the U.S. Navy for cooperating on any film about the U.S. and U.S.S.R. Jewison said the Navy wouldn't lend a submarine or have anything to do with the film. He said the Navy said it was impossible for a Soviet sub to go aground off the American coast because they would know about it. He said he mentioned a Russian sub that sailed into San Francisco Bay for a crew member who had appendicitis. He said it was in the newspapers. I don't recall that – ostensibly it would have been before 1966, and I couldn't' find any reference to it on the Internet in 2017. Since this documentary is dated 2002, its possible that Jewison's memory had some things mixed up in time and place. He did in the case of "Dr. Strangelove" not yet having been made – when it was released a couple years before "The Russians Are Coming."

Anyway, Jewison said they contacted the Soviet Union, which agreed to provide a submarine, but the U.S. said it couldn't come within 12 miles of the American coastline. So, they built a model for this film. Jewison said the producers sent a finished film to Moscow and it was screened several times in the Kremlin. 

The movie had to be shot in California because it was too cold and rough at that time of year on the Atlantic Coast. So, they used the town of Mendocino and the harbor and seashore near Fort Bragg, California. Jewison said the people of Mendocino were the extras for the movie. Each evening they would show the daily shootings in the local theater, and the whole town would turn out to watch the dailies. This is an interesting recollection of the making of a movie by the producer-director. Even with some errors of recollection from decades before, it has very interesting details about the making of a very good satire about the Cold War.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

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The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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