17 Nov Yanks
Yanks, WWII movie starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave
(1979) From early 1942 on, the “Yanks” came over to Britain to fly out of their airfields and then, as portrayed in this movie, as the build-up of troops prior to the Normandy landings. “Hardly a city, town or village remained untouched.”
The story takes place is a small English town and focuses on three romances. Really, it’s a love story that happens to take place during World War II. What is significant to me is that my Dad and his B-17 crewmates were right there, just outside an English village. I can visualize them there, dancing and drinking and flirting with the girls in town. That’s why this is a favorite.
British actor and screenwriter Colin Welland wrote the story, then went on to write 1981’s Chariots of Fire for which he received the Academy Award for best original screenplay.
This was one of Richard Gere’s earliest movies, just two years before Officer and a Gentleman. He was only 30 years old, looked marvelous, and worked in the mess hall! Yanks was Lisa Eichhorn’s first film. Although she was from the U.S. she had studied in the London theater, and when she met English director John Schlesinger, set to direct Yanks, she convinced him that she was British in order to get a screen test.
Vanessa Redgrave, Rachel Roberts and William Devane round out the excellent cast.
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