Yanks (1979)

Director:

John Schlesinger

Writers:

Colin Welland (story)
Colin Welland (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

September 1979 (UK)

Genre:

Romance | Drama | War

Tagline:

Love during wartime.

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Male Nudity | WWI | 1940s | Chamber Pot | Condom

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Richard Gere	...	Matt Dyson
Lisa Eichhorn	...	Jean Moreton
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Helen
William Devane	...	John
Chick Vennera	...	Danny Ruffelo
Wendy Morgan	...	Mollie
Rachel Roberts	...	Mrs. Clarrie Moreton
Tony Melody	...	Mr. Jim Moreton
Martin Smith	...	Geoff
Philip Whileman	...	Billy
Derek Thompson	...	Ken
Simon Harrison	...	Tim
Joan Hickson	...	Mrs. Moody
Arlen Dean Snyder	...	Henry
Annie Ross	...	Red Cross lady

Also Known As:

Yanks - Gestern waren wir noch Fremde (West Germany)
Ianquis (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Jankesi (Poland) [pl]
Jenkit (Finland) [fi]
Yankees (Italy) [it]
Yankeii (Romania) [ro]
Yankes Estão Voltando, Os (Brazil) [pt]
Yanks (France) [fr]
Yanquis (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

UK:141 min | USA:139 min

Country:

USA | West Germany | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | Iceland:12 | France:U | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Hyde, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Company:

CIP Filmproduktion GmbH

Trivia:

John Schlesinger originally delivered the film at a length of around 165 minutes. He was forced to cut the film by approximately 25 minutes before the film's premiere engagement. The film stayed at this length and the 165-minute director's cut has never been seen. Among the victims of the cuts was Bill Nighy, whose character Tom was deleted.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The film is set during WW2. But throughout the very first scene we see modern 1970s road markings.

Quotes:

Mollie: Excuse me, please. I'm pregnant!
Woman on train platform: So's half the bloody town, love!

Movie Connections:

References Song of the Islands (1942)

Soundtrack:

I'll Be Seeing You

A classic WWII romance... and a great film!

I love US history. One of my favorite stories of the past is American soldiers in WWII Britain, so I have always had an interest in this movie, and I've seen it several times.

However, I think this movie has always been underrated. It would be great to see one of the classic movie channels like AMC or TCM feature "Yanks," followed by "Saving Private Ryan." Because "Yanks" ends rather abruptly, as the soldiers are on their way to battle (D-Day) and because "Private Ryan" begins with the landing craft approaching the Normandy beaches, these films would be great together.

Another reason I applaud "Yanks" is for featuring Black GIs (unfortunately, "Private Ryan" doesn't do this). Is it necessary every American history movie be "multicultural?" Maybe not, but the truth is that some 5000 African-Americans were a part of the Allied effort that put 156,000 soldiers on the Normandy beaches to begin the process of freeing Europe from Nazi tyranny. These men deserve to be recognized, and I'm glad for any film that does that (I also recommend the HBO Original film "The Affair" on this subject).

As I said, the movie ends suddenly. It would have been nice if the movie had done a "what happened" epilogue, like we see in "American Graffiti" or "Animal House." Do Matt, Danny and John survive the war? Do Jeanie, Mollie, Helen or the Moretons survive, or are any of them killed by the V-1 or V-2 rocket attacks that came after D-Day? Do Matt and Jean marry? The movie leaves you longing for answers.