The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming – Original Soundtrack (1966) CD

Music Composed & Conducted By;
Johnny Mandel

01. The Russians Are Coming…The Russians Are Coming (Main Title)
Mandel’s main title combines “Yankee Doodle” with the “Song of the Volga Boatmen” over animated credits depicting battling U.S. and Soviet flags. The latter wins out—temporarily—as “Meadowlands” takes over, then the first two melodies return; the remainder of the credit sequence plays without music.
02. The Shining Sea (Vocal Added)
Irene Kral sings the vocal version of Mandel’s love theme (not heard in the film).
03. Hop Along
Whittaker and Mrs. Foss (Tessie O’Shea), a rather amply proportioned island matron, have been bound, gagged and tied together by the Russians; they hop up and down in an attempt to free themselves. Mandel’s cue begins with comically suggestive strains as the unlikely couple is forced to face each other at close quarters, then segues to dance-like music for their humorous calisthenics. A low-key rendition of the “Volga Boatmen” tune intervenes as the film cuts to a scene aboard the sub. The dance theme then alternates with mock-dramatic episodes as the film cuts back and forth between the captive duo, Russians in hiding, and island residents hot on their trail.
04. Volga Boat Song (adaptation by J. Mandel)
Having dislodged their sub, the Russians still aboard the vessel sail away; Whittaker drives Rozanov and Kolchin to meet them. This setting of the Russian folk tune plays over scene.
05. Escorts Away (The Russians Are Coming)
The sub commander and the townspeople have reached a stalemate and are about to open fire on each other when a young boy (Johnny Whitaker) slips from his observation perch on a church steeple and hangs precariously; Kolchin and his fellow sailors help rescue the boy to the delight of Americans and Russians alike. Unfortunately the Air Force has been alerted and fighters dispatched to intercept the submarine. Mrs. Whittaker suggests using all of the small boats in the marina to give the sub an escort—Mandel’s march theme is given a full presentation as they do so. This crossfades to the “Meadlowands” melody as the missing Russians approach on a boat they have borrowed and rejoin the sub.
06. The Shining Sea (Instrumental)
This album version of the love theme is similar to music heard in a handful of cues as Kolchin romances Alison near the Whittaker beach house.
07. Sailors Chorus
A brief quotation of “America the Beautiful” (for the arrival of the Soviet sub off the U.S. coast) yields to a men’s chorus singing an original Mandel composition, crafted in the manner of a Russian folk song (the Russian lyrics are credited to Bonia Shur on the film’s legal cue sheet) as the Soviet submariners row ashore and march along the beach.
08. Tipperary
Lt. Rozanov and his crew commandeer the Whittakers’ station wagon, but it runs out of gas. This WWI-era song, “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” by Harry J. Williams and Jack Judge, plays as they are forced to proceed on foot, the lyrics segueing from English to Russian.
09. The Airport
In the first of two cues that make up this track (“Don’t Be Afraid”) Kolchin returns to the Whittaker residence and surprises Allison, offering her a gun to show he is not afraid; she surprises him by not being frightened and then tends to his head wound. Mandel provides quietly suspenseful music with Russian-flavored orchestration. On the album this music crossfades to the next cue heard in the film (“The Airport”), which features a brief statement of Mandel’s Colonel Bogey-style march associated with the townsfolk’s attempts to mount a defense against the perceived threat.
10. The Russians Are Coming…The Russians Are Coming (End Title)
The march theme strikes up as the all clear is sounded—the Air Force pilots head back to their base. Mandel’s Russian anthem is sung in celebratory fashion as Rozanov bids goodbye to the Whittakers and the Soviet vessel submerges. “Yankee Doodle” and the “Volga Boatmen” song return over end cast.