The Tanks Are Coming

THE TANKS ARE COMING is a Warner Brothers (WB) short dedicated to military preparedness which in 1941 with the first peace time draft in effect and WWII raging was a major motivator. WB put a lot more into this short then usual. First it was filmed in the expensive Three (3) Strip TechniColor process. Second featured the WB stock company and third had the full cooperation of the U.S. Army and its Armor Training School at Fort Knox Kentucky.

Story in brief is that of recruits being indoctrinated in the then new theories of armored mobile warfare. Learning how to maintain and use their new equipment in a effective manner. Watching it no doubt gave theater goers the feeling that we were in good hands and prepared for the conflict ahead. Unfortunately our future enemies watching this no doubt felt we would be better off sticking to making refrigerators then playing with the big boys.

That is the best lesson in watching this now is how UNPREPARED we (U.S.A.) were at this new warfare and for WWII in general. The equipment that had to be depended upon just was not very good and would certainly not deter our future enemies Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. Nor bring confidence to our future allies. We were fortunate to see this on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Its one (1) of those things that you have to be lucky to catch, but if it was not for TCM would never be seen at all.

This movie short was filmed in June 1941 when the United States was starting to begin the anticipated military build for the upcoming war. The film focuses on the new recruit (George Tobias) as he leaves his civilian job with a New York City Cab company for a 1 year hitch with the United States Army Tank Corps. Filmed on location in a pristine Fort Knox, it shows Tobias going through his standard "dumb best friend" acting method all while learning the ins and outs of the new U.S.Army tank. It is a fun movie to watch as you see a very naive America move towards the mobilization needed eventually for WWII. One other note of interest was the use of the then "secret" blitz buggy. This machine is better known by its other nickname, the Jeep.

This starts with an FDR address and a call to arms. New York cabbie Malowski (George Tobias) is determined to join the Army. He drives his yellow taxi to Fort Knox, Kentucky. He joins the tank core and trained on some light tanks. Malowski's tank accidentally runs over his taxi cab.

It's an Oscar nominated education short. Warner Bros. Is waving the flag. It's pre-Pearl Harbor. It's a recruitment film. It's promoting the idea that America is ready to take on its enemies. It is propaganda. I would like better tanks. I guess the Sherman wasn't ready yet. The broad comedy is fine for what it is.

George Tobias can't take his sweetie to the steamfitters' ball, because he's taking his cab to join the armored cavalry. As Knox Manning drones on pompously, George is going to become a tank driver, learn Morse code and fire a gun accurately. You never know when you're going to run into that cop from 6th Avenue and 53rd Street!

During the Second World, Warner Brothers turned out shorts glorifying several branches and divisions of the armed forces. This one, as you might guess, is abut the tank corps, and played for laughs. It's a bit corny for Warners' resident foreign accent specialist.

Tanks Are Coming, The (1941)

** (out of 4)

Oscar-nominated short has George Tobias playing a new recruit who gives up his taxi cab so that he can join the Army where he soon finds himself driving a tank. This short left me somewhat disappointed but there are still a couple things that make it worth viewing. The first is that it was filmed in three-strip Technicolor and I must say that this is one of the best looking examples of this color. The colors really jump off the screen and it certainly belongs right up there with The Adventures of Robin Hood in terms of its beautiful color. The second reason to watch is because it was actually filmed at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Having grown up fifteen-miles from there, I got an added kick out of how it looked back in the day. With that said, the story itself is a rather weak one and I really didn't get too many kicks out of the comedy style Tobias brought to the film. There were countless pre-WW2 shorts back in the day but this here isn't one of the best.