Edith Hobbart That's what the local British people thought of the American troops stationed in the North of England during War World II: They are over paid, over sexed and over here. Divided by a common language and a very different view of the world. John Schlesinger is a director I adore - Midnight Cowboy, Darling, Sunday Bloody Sunday, just to mention three titles. The actors in a Schlesinger film, from Alan Bates to Dustin Hoffman to Peter Finch are at their best but never as compellingly than Richard Gere in Yanks. A performance of such beauty that one wonders why we haven't seen more of this Richard Gere. Enthralling, romantic and truthful, profoundly so. Lisa Eichhorn is also a stand out. Her English rose (Lisa Eichhorn is an American) is a throwback to the best English actresses of the 1940's. Vanessa Redgrave and Rachel Roberts also provide a unique glimpse into the Britishness of the story. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

SimonJack "Yanks" is a welcome addition to World War II movies that focus on the home front. In this case though, the home front is England, not the U.S. or Canada. Other films were made about the people on the home front on this side of the pond. Those about the people at home in England had a more precarious feel because the war exploded over them most nights as German bombs and then rockets burst on the civilian population. This film is unique in its exclusive focus on the American GIs and the English women. We follow three men and three women for several months from late 1943 until the GIs' departure for the Normandy invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944. "Yanks" just skirts the seedy side of mass relocation of men in uniform away from home. Instead, it looks at the close relations developed between some Yanks and British women. So, these are more than trysts, or romantic interludes. They are three stories of love. In all three of these relationships, the Americans mostly behave and respect the local women. They learn something about England and the English. And, the women, their families and other Brits meet some Americans who mostly are gentlemen. At one point, after Jean Moreton (played by Lisa Eichhorn) has brought Matt (played by Richard Gere) home for dinner, her mother (played by Rachel Roberts) comments to Jean that she could see what Jean sees in him – he's kind and respectful. Part of the love stories involve the families, the British people and the country. The American GIs began arriving in Great Britain in 1942. The first were there primarily to build air bases in the eastern part of England. By Christmas 1942, there were about 60,000 American servicemen in England. That number would swell to more than two million in little more than a year. Many Brits were initially suspicious of the Americans. One reason was because the pay for the GIs was five times more than British troops received. The GIs bore gifts of food and niceties that the English were having to ration or do without. But, by Christmas that year, the British brass and the American commanders urged the Americans to spend Christmas at home, with a British family. The GIs were to sit in the place of sons and brothers who were off at war themselves. According to a December 2013 article in the Daily Mail, "Families issued so many invitations there were 50 for each GI." The GIs were given ration packs to share with their hosts.When three million men from somewhere else spend time in one's country, there surely will be some problems. But the Americans were tough on their own who got into drunken brawls or who caused fights or disruptions with the local people. More often, GIs became friends with pub owners, host families and others they met. That's what this movie is about. In some areas, Brits opened their homes to GIs where there wasn't sufficient base housing. In an email letter to the editor after the Daily Mail article, a former civilian employee of a military paper said that 10 years earlier he had taken a call from an elderly British man who was hoping to find the six men he and his wife had housed over a two-year period. The emailer said she ran a story on it in the military publication. "About two months later I received a huge bouquet of flowers. The accompanying letter thanked me and except for one who had passed away all the soldiers got in contact with them. They had a genuine affection for those men."The Daily Mail article said there were "9,000 babies born out of wedlock as a result of GI liaisons. And, about 70,000 British women became GI war brides. After the war, the U.S. Army provided free passage for the war brides to start their new lives in America. Some reviewers build up a phrase that had become known around England during the war. The Yanks were said to be "overpaid, oversexed, and over here." Historian Juliet Gardiner wrote a book that used that in its title in 1992. It looked at the ongoing social impact from the massive movement of three million men from one culture to another, where the native population of same-age men was gone. In 2004, she wrote another book, "Wartime: Britain 1939-1945." It looked at all the many different influences and effects of England's war experiences at home. In her research Gardiner found that that expression seldom appeared anywhere in writing or other media after the war. Yet everyone who was 10 years old at the end of the war would have known and heard it. So, she concluded it was a short-term catch phrase that wasn't taken too seriously and that was soon forgotten. When one reads all the other problems and difficulties the English had – constant rocket bombings, relocated children, orphaned children, rationing, and so much more, it's easy to see how the catch phrase about the Yanks was just a fad or phase by some folks who were soon to forget it. I highly recommend this movie. It's a nice look at some good GIs. And it's an empathetic look at the resilient and solid British people who endured six years of real hardship, worry and loss.

ianlouisiana Back in his old stamping ground of Northern England,Mr Schlesinger reverts to what he knows best - the portrayal of working - class English people,bloody - minded,loyal,funny,kind,often angry and raging at the machine. Yes "Yanks" is ostensibly about the impact on a small English town of large numbers of American soldiers prior to the invasion of Europe in 1944,but it is the native population who make the greatest impression on the viewer. All the more ironic then that the female lead,Miss Eichhorn should be an American,albeit one with a totally convincing accent...far more so than many who grace our TV screens and seem to think that a RADA all - purpose "Northern" is anything more than derisory and even insulting. Mr.Gere has a boyish charm as an army baker(possibly the least warlike job in the military)who falls for Miss Eichhorn despite her being seriously involved with a long - term boyfriend presently in the British Army(the splendid Mr Thompson). Scacely surprisingly this does not meet with the approval of the girl's mother(the tragic Miss Roberts)and much of the tension of "Yanks" is in the conflict between mother and daughter. Much less convincing is the middle - class romance between Miss Redgrave and Mr Devane which lacks passion(although not lust) and neither character is in any way lifelike. The film was not much liked on its release in 1979,but distance has led to a certain enchantment as the period fades further into history and the fashion amongst certain British classes to affect disdain for Americans in general and the American military in particular has grown in inverse proportion to the average Brits dogged determination to,perhaps grudgingly like the outgoing,generous,amiable,and well - meaning Yanks.As in 1944 so in 2013. There is not so much love about that we can afford to discard it. That was the message of "A kind of loving" set in peacetime England,and it is the message of "Yanks",set in a time of hatred.

dimplet Yanks is a "slice of life" movie. I mention this partly as a warning, partly because some people have never heard of this genre. For people looking for action, drama, excitement, look elsewhere. But if you are looking for great, naturalistic acting, Yanks excels. The focus of a slice of life movie is usually the everyday events of people's lives, presented as naturally as possible. And so the acting needs to be as lifelike as possible. In some examples of this genre, such as Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, there is virtually no plot, but great acting. Others, such as Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, show us a side of life, such as the heartwarming events of childhood on a farm. In Yanks, we see the lives of three couples unfold during a lull in the action of World War II, at least for them. Before seeing the film, when I read the capsule description, I had a sense of dread that I was in for some romantic sturm und drang manipulation, and was prepared to turn it off if that were the case. Instead, I saw American men behaving as gentlemen with British women of good morals, though less than perfect due to the abnormal situation of the war. Their good intentions gradual succumb to the unfolding of genuine affection. And then it is time for the men to go to war.Are we yawning yet? This movie is not for everyone, especially for the younger generation weaned on action flicks. However, I suspect it would make a good chick flick, as it has soap opera elements.As I watched Yanks, I couldn't help thinking of Memphis Belle, the story of a bomber crew deployed over Germany during the war. The movie shows the crew being selected for a documentary, and follows them through run after run. What many viewers don't know is that there was a real Memphis Belle that was the subject of a live documentary by the great director Frank Capra. Of course, Capra didn't know how the story would end, whether the crew would live or die. Real life can be pretty dramatic. The problem with the movie Memphis Belle is that the acting was pretty hammy, even though the events and the dialog were generally true to life. So it dropped the ball as a slice of life movie. In Yanks, the acting is exceptional and very natural. William Devane delivered his best performance I've seen. If you watch enough movies, eventually you may forget what really great, natural acting looks like. Yanks is a reminder. But it is short on drama. There is some conflict between the British and Americans, mainly in the form of British resentment due to a variety of reasons. But the movie avoids generalizing or moralizing about who is right or wrong. It could have played up the pat idea that the British were sometimes jealous of the Americans, and yet the young ladies were all too interested in using the GIs to go to America -- but that was not the message. Instead, the movie is about individual romances, attractions not because they were American or British but because they simply liked each other. I can imagine that this is how it really was like during the war for many people. And you don't see the loose sexual morals of today transposed onto the 1940s, and instead see some real restraint, which I suspect was also realistic. So why should you watch this movie? What is interesting is seeing the clash of the two cultures, the British and Americans, played out in the individual relationships, and seeing those relationships unfold. This is primarily a British movie, with a British director, producer, writer, composer, cinematographer, etc., filmed in a British studio by a German production company, CIP Filmproduktion GmbH, with a mostly British cast, and first released in Britain. Yet a French professor posting here dismisses Yanks as a bit of pathetic American propaganda to "erase the humiliation of 1975" when the Vietnam War ended -- a war caused by the French to keep their pre-WWII colony! Why is it so many foreigners assume that movies about America are made at the direction of some secret U.S. government ministry of patriotic propaganda? And that everything in America is one vast nationalistic conspiracy? Is that how it works in France?EXCEPT, YANKS IS NOT AN American MOVIE, DR. IDIOT! The opinions expressed by the British are hardly pro-American. And there are no scenes of battle glory of the Americans (and British) saving Vichy France from Nazi occupation during the invasion of Normandy on D Day, the reason the Yanks were in Britain. Talk about erasing the humiliation of 1945!The weak link in Yanks is the script. While we see the couples behaving romantically, we don't hear much discussion about America versus Britain, and how they would feel about living in one or the other country. Yet they consider marriage without much serious talk. I suppose this can happen with young people, but given the subject of the movie, there should have been more meat to these conversations. I notice this a lot in otherwise good romances these days: they behave romantically, and voilà, they are in love, yet there is no appropriate dialog. Cold Mountain is a good example.You can watch dozens of documentaries about World War II to learn about history, but it helps to supplement them with movies such as Yanks (or Mrs. Miniver) that give you a real feel for daily life during that time. Yanks was made more than 30 years ago, but doesn't feel dated, and I suspect it will be just as interesting to viewers, if not more so, 30 years from now.