Educational short about the status of battle tanks and tanker training in the U.S. Army in pre-War 1941, featuring a comical army trainee from the Bronx.Educational short about the status of battle tanks and tanker training in the U.S. Army in pre-War 1941, featuring a comical army trainee from the Bronx.Educational short about the status of battle tanks and tanker training in the U.S. Army in pre-War 1941, featuring a comical army trainee from the Bronx.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 nomination total
Photos
Richard Travis
- Pete
- (as William Travis)
John Litel
- Thomas Jefferson
- (archive footage)
Knox Manning
- Narrator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Self
- (archive footage)
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMost of the tanks shown are M2 Light tanks used sparingly after war was declared. Under-armored, under-powered and under-gunned, it would have performed poorly against enemy armor. It's gasoline engine was far more susceptible to catching on fire than German tanks with Diesel engines. The only combat action the tank saw was on Guadacanal with the Marines in the Pacific Theater. Otherwise, they were used for training only. 698 were made from 1935 to 1942.
- GoofsThe narrator states the M2 Light Tank seen in this film could go 60 mph. Possibly false on purpose to not give any enemy the real statistic, which was 36 mph.
- ConnectionsEdited from The Declaration of Independence (1938)
Featured review
Getting America ready for war...though there still was a long way to go.
When World War II started in September, 1939, the United States stayed out of the fray. The vast majority of Americans wanted the country to stay neutral....and despite the seriousness of the war, the US government did little to prepare for war. Jump ahead two years and some things have changed for the US. The war seemed imminent and the American public, for the first time, was behind our getting involved. The problem was that the American armed forces were woefully inadequate....a tiny fraction of how big and well equipped the military needed to be. So, Hollywood and the government worked together--and began making films that glamorized life in the armed services. Among these film were mostly comedies, such as "Buck Privates", "Caught in the Draft" and "Tanks a Million"...all from 1941. Here with "The Tanks Are Coming" they made a comedy/documentary hybrid...also from 1941.
The film features the US Army's tank corps and follows men through classes at Fort Knox, Kentucky. And, the film stars George Tobias as a recruit from Brooklyn who is comic relief. Most of what you see is modern color footage of the best tanks America had, the awful and outclassed M3 light tank. While it's all very patriotic and makes it sound like America is ready for war, the opposite was actually true and the tanks mostly junk compared to the German tanks of the same era.
Overall, it's educational and probably did its best to help the war effort. Mildly enjoyable.
By the way, the poster IMDB shows for this film is wrong...it is from the 1951 film of the same name but the movies are both very different and have nothing to do with each other other than the names.
The film features the US Army's tank corps and follows men through classes at Fort Knox, Kentucky. And, the film stars George Tobias as a recruit from Brooklyn who is comic relief. Most of what you see is modern color footage of the best tanks America had, the awful and outclassed M3 light tank. While it's all very patriotic and makes it sound like America is ready for war, the opposite was actually true and the tanks mostly junk compared to the German tanks of the same era.
Overall, it's educational and probably did its best to help the war effort. Mildly enjoyable.
By the way, the poster IMDB shows for this film is wrong...it is from the 1951 film of the same name but the movies are both very different and have nothing to do with each other other than the names.
helpful•20
- planktonrules
- May 21, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Technicolor Specials (1941-1942 season) #1: The Tanks Are Coming
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime20 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content