Opiniones de usuarios

Was sad to see the passing of Tony Melody this summer. He was such a good yet under sung character actor. His performance in Yanks was excellent and the mischievous smile he cracked when he said there would be 'no danger' of the bottle of whisky remaining unopened was brilliant as oppose to his wife's refusal to eat the cake that Geres character had prepared.

I wonder if the picture of his character he showed Gere when he was talking about his war service was actually his real father as he had served in the Guards during the first world war - just a thought.

Lisa Eichorn had me fooled for many a year - that Lancashire accent is spot on.

Just watched this film again for at least the tenth time since it's release and never fail to be impressed by the accuracy of its portrayal of Northern England. In fact this is the England I remember growing up in in the 1960s and it really only started to change around the 1970s when we finally seemed to recover from post war austerity. Shops looked like that when I was a kid in suburbs of Newcastle. Several people mention the power station mistakenly suggesting it was out of place as it was nuclear. Most power stations in the UK are coal powered and still look exactly like this and as the film was made in and around Stalybridge and the pennine towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire it may well have been Stalybridge which was built in 1926 and definitely never a nuclear plant. Lovely film and exactly as wartime was described in countless family discussions with our mams and dads. This was often the only adventure in their lives so it came up over and over again.

This is a beautifully judged and paced 1979 film by John Schlesinger, which explores wartime romance and a unique culture clash, with sensitivity, wit and an affectionate eye for the period in which it is set. The time, 1943/4; the place, a small town in the north of England; the parties, the US Army gathering for the invasion of mainland Europe, and the locals grateful for the military assistance but watchful for the virtue of their wives and daughters.

Richard Gere's Sergeant-Cook, Matt, is surely still one of his best and certainly most sympathetic roles. His love affair with shopkeeper's daughter Jean (Lisa Eichhorn) - together with another on/off romance further up the social scale between William Devane's Captain and Vanessa Redgrave's upper class lady - highlight the painful choice between love and loyalty which war often presents. Meanwhile, the sunnier, trouble-free pairing and marriage of boxer Danny (Chick Vennera) and happy-go-lucky Mollie (Wendy Morgan) demonstrates that war can offer fresh starts as well as tragic ends.

Though Schlesinger bases most of the film on the moral (and cinematic) values of the time in which it is set, he reminds us in one sequence of the segregation and race problems in the US Army, which would not be resolved until after the war (and of wider race problems in the US generally, which are still not resolved). Rightly, the movie makes no attempt to avoid emotion; and the ending with the troops, including Matt, Danny and the Captain, moving south to an uncertain future with the invasion force is genuinely moving.

This is not a perfect film, but it was made at the end of an era when films about World War II were made for veteran audiences. Movies like Tora Tora Tora and the Battle of Britain were about battles and almost completely ignored the human stories. Yanks is a pioneer in the genre of wartime humanism. Without Yanks we would not have films like: Hope & Glory, Swing Shift, The Pianist, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Bon Voyage, Charlotte Grey, Radio Days, Das Boot, Rosenstasse, Downfall, Black Book, and even Schindler's List.

Adding to the strength of the new genre is a certain authenticity the film maintains. From the unabashed male nudity in the showers to the grimy black Victorian buildings of pre Thatcher Britain. Perhaps it's because the film was made when any Brit over the age of 45 would remember the era very clearly, so it wasn't as much of a history film when it was made as it is now.

Despite its authentic feel, the period details are not always correct. The men's hairstyles are too long for servicemen and there are other little flaws in the costuming, hairstyles, and props. However, the film's worst problem is the editing. The movie looks like it was a much longer film that was cut down - and that is exactly what happened. The half hour that was removed from the final cut made every story choppy and incomplete. The romance is on again/off again without explanation, and some scenes seem to be thrown in that are unrelated to the storyline, like the black soldiers at the dance hall. Either a different edit or director's cut would improve the film considerably. Despite these issues, the film is still an important one, and worthy of watching.

That was the attitude in England to the veritable flood of US Servicemen prior to D-Day. England, like the US, had suffered during the Great Depression, and was then thrust into WWII years ahead of the US. During that time they struggled, pretty much alone, against the Nazi's. They lost thousands of their sons to the war, thousands of civilians to German bombing and they all lived through strict rationing.

When the American troops arrived they were for the most part young men with young men's appetites, far away from home, with ample supplies of Chocolate and Liquor and other goods in short supply in the UK. The troops were receiving steady paychecks (many for the first time in their lives) and were very willing to take advantage of the wartime shortage of able-bodied young men

This film accurately depicts the time and gives a fair and balanced account of that period. It is recommended viewing for those that wish to understand attitudes that continue even today in the older generation. I particularly enjoyed the scenes at New Years dealing with the racism of the US soldiers and the reaction of the Brits.

Unfortunately, historical accuracy doesn't always make for a great movie and the major romantic plot lines seemed tepid. I am not sure why. The elements were all there. A lonely young British woman has a beau in the British Army who is away. An attractive young American who is sensitive enough to appreciate her view and feels alone and out of touch in the foreign country. The girl's family who are pulling for the local lad but are forced to admit that the Yank is an OK sort. Yet even with all of these plot elements, like the American in the story, I was unable to muster sufficient enthusiasm at the key time to get the most out of the experience.

Good film of Schlesinger. It shows well the differences in behavior of Americans and British people, the first quite liberal while the second conservatives. This is true, but the film showed a scene of racism organized by the Yanks and repudiated by the "pommes". So the director masterfully was putting things in one way and another and showing the problems and differences realistically. The performance of Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, Wiliam Devane and Vanessa Redgrave is really good. The loneliness of a person is presented here and the need to overcome it even if the method used ethically may not always be accepted by the society. This is the case of Jean having a compromise with another guy already in the front while in his absence she started the relationship with Matt (R. Gere).

"From early 1942 until the invasion of Europe over a million Americans landed in Britain. They came to serve on other battle fronts or to man the vast U.S. bases in England. Hardly a city, town or village remained untouched," reads the film's introduction. What this comes to mean is that the American G.I.s you see riding in on their USA tanks will have affairs with the local women, which is certainly no surprise. Director John Schlesinger finds three representative couples. While this is a war story, the focus is on making love, not war. Both love and war make for very exciting films, but this really isn't one of them.

"Yanks" is fine in places, but disappointing overall. The affairs are structurally uninteresting and evoke little passion - even the participants seem bored. This is all despite a fine cast headed by Richard Gere (as Matt), Vanessa Redgrave (as Helen), and William Devane (as John). In an early role, lovely Lisa Eichhorn (as Jean) received "Golden Globe" consideration, and motherly Rachel Roberts won a late career "British Academy" award. The "National Board" placed it at #2 and gave their "Best Director" of the year award to Mr. Schlesinger. Though bland, the film is good-looking and richly detailed.

****** Yanks (9/19/79) John Schlesinger ~ Richard Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, Vanessa Redgrave, William Devane

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.

An epic-scale but uneventful drama about the American Army in England during WWII and their impact -mostly sexual and love affair- on the staid Britons. IIs 1943 and streams of American soldiers are billeted in England awaiting orders for the D-Day Invasion, the end of World War II. Three soldiers and their involvement with three English women of different social classes metaphorically represent the larger relationship between England and America. The main story is about American Sgt. Matt Dyson (Richard Gere), and British girl Jean Moreton (Lisa Eichhorn). Dyson is a cook whose ambition is to return to America and establish a chain of Motels, whereas Jean seems satisfied to wait for her childhood boyfriend Ken (Derek Thompson) to go back so they can begin a family and a life together. The second romance is between Dyson's friend, Sergeant Danny Ruffelo (Chick Vennera), who falls in love for Mollie (Wendy Morgan). The third love story regards Officer John (William Devane) and his extramarital affair with Helen (Vanessa Redgrave), a socialite with an absent husband and troubled young son in boarding school. Love during wartime !. We'll meet again. Don't know where don't know when !.

From the arrrival of a platoon of GIs in Northern England to their departure for D-Day, this chronicles three wartime love stories: Richard Gere- Lisa Eichhorn; Chick Vennera-Wendy Morgan; and Vanessa Redgrave-William Devane, including many affecting moments and supposedly illuminating the tensions and fears that riddled the Anglo-American alliance. Schlesinger shoots with great affection for time and place in the North of England and keen eye and ear for the right sounds and sights. There are many pleasurable things in this John Schlesinger film, depicting flawlessly the life of a English town in 1943 . Consistent cast, scrupulous period reconstruction and sentimentality, but it doesn't do much to redeem Schelinger from other much better works. Scenes of a ballroom dance, a children's party and mass farewell on a station are reminiscent of other others films of that time. Along with four main protagonists: Richard Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, William Devane, Vanessa Redgrave, giving splendid acting; there's a large number of secondaries , a familiar support cast providing good interpretions, such as: Chick Vennera, Wendy Morgan, Rachel Roberts, Derek Thompson, Tony Melody Annie Ross, Joan Hickson, Tom Nolan, John Ratzenberger Everett McGill, Al Matthews, Eugene Lipinski

Schlesinger is geatly helped by notorious cameraman Dick Bush who provides a colorful and evocative cinematography. As well as a sensitive , emottive musical score by Richard Rodney Bennett. The motion picture was well directed by John Schlesinger who has preserved the moment in time to perfection. At his starts John was one the main creators of the British Free Cinema . His first one was a 1960 documentary, Terminus (1961), which was sponsored by British-Transport, won him a British Academy Award and the Gold Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He made the transition to feature films in 1962, with the "kitchen sink" drama A kind of loving (1962), which got him noticed on both sides of the Atlantic. His next film, the Northern comedy Billy, liar (1963), was a success and began his association with actress Julie Christie, who had a memorable turn in the film. Christie won the Best Actress Academy Award and international superstardom and Schlesinger his first Oscar nomination as Best Director with his next film, the watershed Darling (1965), which dissected Swinging London. Subsequently, Schlesinger and Christie collaborated on Far from the madding crowd (1967), an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel, in 1967. The movie was not a success with critics or at the box office at the time, though its stature has grown over time. Schelinger was espert on dramas (Far from the madding crowd , Day of Locust, Yanks, Midnight cowboy) and suspense (Believers , Eye for eye , The innocents , Falcon and snowman) movies. Yanks (1979) rating : 6.5/10. The film will appeal to Richard Gere fans and completists of Schlesinger's fruitful career.

I remember being disappointed by "Yanks" when it was first released in 1979. Now I have seen it again nearly 35 years later, and my opinion has not changed.

First, the positive news. The staging, editing, and photography are top notch, with a keen eye for period detail. Some of the acting is quite good too, especially Lisa Eichhorn (as Jean Moreton) and Tony Melody (as her dad, Jim Moreton).

But the negatives dominate. The script (by Colin Wellan and Walter Bernstein) is inferior in every way, with a predictable story and far too many stereotypes for my liking. Most of the Americans are loudmouthed braggarts, and I was just waiting for the inevitable scenes of racial bigotry that seem to infest all such tales of Yanks in Britain. It should have had no part in this story. Indeed, if the script had stuck to a love triangle among Jean, Matt, and Ken, all would have been much better -- instead of trying to tackle the whole of WWII in a single bite.

Dialogue is laughably clichéd throughout, and I cannot understand why Richard Gere is considered to be a capable actor. Neither is William Devane much good here. Score big points for the superiority of British acting over the Americans. Worst of all, and a lethal weakness, I sensed absolutely no chemistry whatsoever between Mr. Gere and Ms. Eichhorn. How anyone could fail to fall madly in love with Lisa Eichhorn, in person or on screen, is beyond me, but Gere somehow managed to do it. What a dud performance. Too bad because his character could have been rather likable. Instead, all he ever talked about was Arizona, and I could not see any reason for Jean to have become interested in him.

Don't waste your time on "Yanks" unless you want to enjoy a nice performance by the sweet, lovely Lisa Eichhorn. I wish the movie could have been about Jean and Ken (Derek Thompson). Now, that would have been worth watching -- though of course the title would have to be changed!

John Schlesinger returns to the land of his early, wonderful "A Kind Of Loving" and "Billy Liar" for a cross-cultural love story with a critical but undoubtedly affectionate eye. Richard Gere, pre-"American Gigolo" is terrific as Matt, the cook who falls for Jean, the local English rose played beautifully by the splendid American actress, Lisa Eichhorn. The Americans posted in the North of England felt truly abroad, they could hardly understand the lingo. For the locals it was a different story, they understood the American GI's because after all, they spoke like Gary Cooper. The elders look at the abrasive newcomers with politeness but also with a tinge of suspicion. There was a catch phrase at the time to describe the American troops: "They're overpaid, oversexed and over here" The cultural differences go beyond language and in a masterful writing stroke tells us why. Richard Gere tells Lisa Eichhorn about his dreams for the future - building a chain of Motels across America - while her British boyfriend dreams of getting married and building their home above his parents shop. Lisa Eichhorn's Jane is the perfect "man in the middle" attached to her parents (the wonderful Rachel Roberts and Tony Melody)world, and at the same time, she is fascinated by Richard Gere's look at the American dream - the "everything is possible" mentality. The film is a gem. Unfairly overlooked in its day but now on its 30th anniversary risks to be rediscovered and and re-evaluated. It certainly deserves another life.

I gave 6 stars but I'm sure the first hour would be worth another 3. That's right I missed the first hour! I have not been to war but did 18 month of military service in 1962 and also seen many war movies. And I appreciated very much this movie. What caught my attention as I turned on the TV was someone looking much like Richard Gere... In such a movie? I had no idea so kept on watching and enjoyed every minutes of it. Yes I like Gere's effort both he and his "girl" gave an excellent and very believable performance. I won't repeat some of the previous comments already said about some very impressive scenes but it's all there. Oh I did not say, yes I'm a fan of Richard Gere and thanks to IMDb I know a lot more about him now. I'd like him to make a movie call "the day of the gerbil" It could be very entertaining and be use as a counter pay-back. Well It's really 9 stars for me

That said and out of the way, parts were good too. The cinematography for one, highly evocative of the era, sometimes in wonderful sepia tones. Richard Gere is woefully miscast, his one-note slow eye-blink performance quickly irritates, you just want to kick him into some kind of action. Here he is almost asleep, can barely finish a sentence and when he does one is left with a "huh?" He needs to be in stark contrast to the character of Jean played by Lisa Eichhorn and he seems to fade into her skirt in most scenes. I found the actor, Tony Melody, playing Jean's father creepy in the extreme, as if he was plotting a serial killer rampage. Most of the time he looked as if he wandered in mistakenly from the set of another movie. Unsettling. Rachel Roberts shines in her last part, full of nuance and repression. As does Vanessa Redgrave, sparking against the character played by the Kennedyesque William Devane, all teeth. A lot of the movie rang so false, the cake being delivered to Jean (a cake? in the middle of war? with a mother dying?)The trip to Ireland with not one square inch of Ireland shown, just the inside of a U.S. canteen. Even the ending is hollow and empty and not worth the amount of time invested in it at all. 5 out of 10.

This has something of the mini-series to it, and try as I did - I just couldn't get the "over paid, over sexed and over here" mantra from my mind as it rather predictably plodded along some melodramatic lines for a rather lengthy 2½ hours. There are two prongs to the story with the dashing "Matt" (Richard Gere) probably having the more prominent as he rather respectfully courts grocer's daughter "Jean" (Lisa Eichhorn) - who is supposedly engaged to "Ken" (Derek Thompson) who is away fighting. Meantime the married lady "Helen" (Vanessa Redgrave) is drawn to captain "John" (William Devane) but let's say their requirements from any relationship are maybe a little more cerebral. Back to "Jean" though and she has to convince her suspicious mother (Rachel Roberts) and father (Tony Melody) that he isn't just after one thing. Can he mount an effective charm offensive and win the heart of his lady before the rumoured mobilisation makes their decisions for them. To be fair, it looks good with plenty of attention to the detail of the production and that helps it on the authenticity front, but that's about the only front that delivers here as the plot meanders rather aimlessly without really bringing home just how perilous wartime living in southern England was and at how just how the local population dealt with the privations of wartime rationing whilst their visitors did their trading in stockings and chocolate. Gere is undoubtedly easy on the eye and his character has a general decency to him, but maybe that's the problem - he, like the thing is general, is just too nice. Indeed, with exception of Roberts none of the characters here really resonate. It's ok, but that's about all that can be said for it.

"Yanks" tells of a peaceful invasion in wartime. In preparation for the Second Front, the closing phase of World War II, more than a million American military personnel were stationed in Britain. The film studies the effect of this invasion on one community in Northern England. Let me say at the outset that I have long regarded this largely forgotten film as one of the most important cinematic works of the '70's. The not inconsiderable director, John Schlesinger (he already had to his credit "A Kind of Loving", one of the least dated films of the British '60's "New Wave"), looks back from the vantage point of 35 years of history to a specific place in time to study attitudes of xenophobia that are still prevalent in Britain today. In doing so he always strives after balance so that neither culture is wholly right or wrong. There is a remarkable scene where the shopkeeper's daughter (Lisa Eichhorn) who has been dated by a GI (Richard Gere) cannot understand why he stands by and does nothing when a fellow GI turns on a black soldier for dancing with a white girl. Her response, which he equally cannot comprehend, is to dance with a black guy once order has been restored. It has to be admitted that the quest for balance is very nearly the film's undoing. On paper it may have seemed fine to have two affairs running simultaneously to represent class differences, that of the shopgirl and the army chef and that of the lady-of-the-manor figure (Vanessa Redgrave) and an American officer (William Devane). Both women have to square their consciences with their existing attachments, a fiance on active service at the front and a naval officer husband away at sea. The problem is that the Redgrave/Devane sequences rather border on cliche - son forced to attend a public school he detests but must endure because of family tradition, mother dividing her energies through playing the 'cello in an amateur orchestra and serving newly arrived GI's with refreshments. The Eichhorn/Gere scenes on the other hand work wonderfully. Both play their parts with tremendous sensitivity. There is a marvellous scene where the mother (another fine part by Rachel Roberts) finally agrees to Gere being invited to Sunday tea. Her transformation from suspicious bigotry to what is almost warm understanding of Gere's unforced politeness has a moving quality that reminds me of some of the great moments in "The Best Years of our Lives". There is a beautifully orchestrated grand finale where the Yanks depart that is the very stuff of great epic cinema. Here Richard Rodney Bennett's marvellous score melts into Anne Shelton singing "I'll Be Seeing You Again" as backing to the credits. John Schlesinger's singular achievement in "Yanks" is to recreate the type of experience we so often got from America in the '40's and add to it that element of reflective wisdom that is the most perceptive byproduct of nostalgia.

I can't believe, after all the work done for authenticity in this film that was set in WWII, the director would include not ONE but at least FOUR shots showing modern Three-Mile-Island style nuclear power plant cooling towers!!! They walk up a hill with them in the background, then the GI's set up camp, with them in the background. Then the GI's tear down the camp, and there they are!! There's a fourth shot of folks walking down a road and the cooling towers are letting off steam in the background!! The film just went in the toilet for that reason, because then I started looking for other things that weren't correct. Most that I spotted would only be noticeable by a 'purist', so I'll let them slide. But I just find it hard to believe that those shots were allowed in a film that was based on a period of our time where nuclear power was unheard of by 99% of the populace. The atomic bomb was still being developed in secret!!

My children were just babies when I saw this movie at the theater in 1979. I really loved it and have all these years. I guess the romance and the finality of goodbyes, not knowing what could happen made it all the more intense. The racism scene was hard to watch, very hard. I am sure things like that went on though. It is a treasure in my huge movie collection. I hope someday to visit England and be able to see some of the towns that were in this movie.Richard Gere is a wonderful Actor and this was the very first time I had heard about him or had ever seen him in a movie.He brought a realism to this part, he was a perfect guy to play an American soldier! Talking about it has made me want to look at it tonight!!

Made in 1979, YANKS is a throwback to the love stories of the 1940s. Directed by John Schlesinger, YANKS is a timeless tale of war-time romances. Starring Richard Gere as Matt, a U.S. Army Sargent, looking for a friend and finding true-love with the threat of the invasion of Europe looming ahead. Gere is in his prime element here, a hero's hero. A rugged, yet gentle soul, seeking his place in life. It stands out as one of his most outstanding screen performances. Lisa Eichhorn as his love interest, plays it low-key, catching the innocence of the 1940s. An out-standing supporting cast by William DeVane, Vanessa Redgrave, Chick Vennera, and Rachel Roberts, makes YANKS a must-see film. Outstanding!

Those of us who have seen some of the more recent wartime romance movies (e.g., Pearl Harbor) will be eternally grateful for this well-done picture with its ensemble cast. I liked it so much that I bought a copy on DVD.

This was the first time that I had seen William Devane and Lisa Eichorn in a movie, and I believe their performances were excellent. When William Devane, as the Captain, busts the NCOs for their conduct, it was the height of wartime realism at a human level.

I loved the little nuances ... the mother wrapping the string around her hand after she receives the gift of a cake from Richard Gere ... the little boy and the bicycle ... the steam rising up around the train at the end ... excellent touches ...