Yanks

Yanks (1979) is perhaps director John Schlesinger’s most tender film, a lovely evocation of life on the northern English home front during World War II. Colin Welland and Walter Bernstein’s screenplay focuses on three couples in a small town “invaded” by American troops in the run-up to D-Day: an Arizona boy (Richard Gere) who pursues an already engaged shopkeeper’s daughter (Lisa Eichhorn); an aristocratic married lady (Vanessa Redgrave) who develops a warm friendship with a sympathetic troop leader (William Devane); and a girl-crazy city kid (Chick Vennera) who falls for a cheeky bus conductress (Wendy Morgan). Beautifully shot by Dick Bush and featuring a score from the singular Richard Rodney Bennett.