Must see film!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would urge you to check this film out, it is one of the best i have ever seen if you are interested in the 40's era!! I cannot get enough of ww2 films myself, and YANKS is top of my favourites list.
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MovieChat Forums > Yanks (1979) Discussion > Must see film!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This film is brilliant,although it does get a bit sentimental at the end,fine performances from everyone,they dont make them like this anymore!!!!
What is the name of that song they are singing in the church???
Is it "In the cold bleak mid winter"???
Cant praise this film enough!!!!!!!!
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Actually, the hymn they sing isn't "The Bleak Midwinter", which is a Christmas carol. The song (hymn) they sing in the Chruch is "The Day Thou Gavest Now Is Ended!.
shareYanks is one of my favourite films. I wasn't old enough to see it at the cinema when it came out, but have since bought it on video then DVD.
The hymn sung at the funeral is called The Day Thou Gavest Lord.
It is indeed. It tells the truth of the US Soldiers in the UK before D-Day. Plus it shows their blantant racism towards Black troops not just on the dance floor but everywhere else in the UK. Some of those kindly old men at the WWII memorial are also racists who had mistreated Black troops in the European and Pacific theaters.
shareI lived in the area this was filmed at the time, the dance hall scene was filmed at Hyde Town Hall in Cheshire (about 6 miles from Manchester)
Funny one of the other contributors remembering all the soldiers being actually American as my abiding Memory is of talking to one of the G.I.'s and being shocked that he had a strong manchester accent, which seemed very odd.
Ps the song is an old Ebglish standard hymn very common in my childhood.
called "in the bleak midwinter"
In the bleak mid-winter
frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron,
water like a stone:
snow had fallen, snow on snow,
snow on snow,
in the bleak mid-winter,
long ago.
Our God, heaven cannot hold him
nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away
when he comes to reign:
in the bleak mid-winter
a stable-place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.
Enought for him, whom cherubim
worship night and day,
a breastful of milk,
and a mangerful of hay:
enough for him, whom angels
fall down before,
the ox and ass and camel
which adore.
Angels and archangels
may have gathered there,
cherubim and seraphim
thronged the air -
but only his mother
in her maiden bliss
worshipped the beloved
with a kiss.
What can I give him,
poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
if I were a wise man
I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him -
give my heart.
Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-94)
the full history is here
http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/hymns/midwinter.htm
The hymn sung at the funeral is NOT "In the bleak midwinter" (a Christmas carol) but, as an earlier note says, but not quite accurately, "The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended/The darkness falls at Thy behest,/To Thee our morning hymns ascended,/ Thy praise shall sanctify out rest."" It is very often the last hymn in an evening service in British churches, but it is also frequently sung in funeral services
shareSorry yes you are right about the hymn/song sorry I haven't actually seen the film for years and got all misty eyed at the mention of an old favourite song.
However I am right about the dance scene being filmed at Hyde Town Hall. The railway station is Staleybridge like Hyde also in North Cheshire and only a few miles east of Manchester.
follow this link for the song
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/d/a/daythoug.htm
The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at Thy behest;
To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.
We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,
While earth rolls onward into light,
Through all the world her watch is keeping,
And rests not now by day or night.
As o’er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor dies the strain of praise away.
The sun that bids us rest is waking
Our brethren ’neath the western sky,
And hour by hour fresh lips are making
Thy wondrous doings heard on high.
So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud empires, pass away:
Thy kingdom stands, and grows forever,
Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.
The railway station they used in the final scene is actually in Keighley. There is still a steam railroad there and it has been used in many other movies ({Pink Floyd's The Wall and of course The Railway Children was filmed on that rail line it is called the K&WVR
Here is a quote from their website
"Over the years, the Railway has appeared in many TV and film productions including Yanks, Sherlock Holmes, Last of the Summer Wine, Treasure Hunt, Sons and Lovers, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Poirot, Born and Bred, The Royal, Where The Heart Is, A Touch Of Frost, Songs Of Praise, and Pink Floyd's The Wall."
At the end when the woman shouts "let me through, I'm pregnant the woman who then says "So's half the bloody town luv" was a friend of my Moms. I had a chance to also be in the movie but decided to go off to Butlins to work instead.
I know that many other parts of the movie were filmed in the Manchester area but the scene with the train leaving was in Keighley. The area on the other side of the bridge was a large train yard... it is now a Sainsburys supermarket
I have not seen Yanks in many years but I remember thinking it was a good movie at the time. I didn't know that the lead girl was played by an American. She did a great job
The woman who says 'So's half the bloody town, love' is the well-known actress Lynn Perrie, who starred in Coronation Street, the long running UK soap opera.
shareYou should also check out "The Affair" (1995), an early Courtney B. Vance movie about this subject.
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This movie showed up in my TiVo list this week, and I can't believe it's been out nearly 30 years, and I never saw such a wonderful film before.
Highly recommend it for history buffs, romance lovers, and people who appreciate excellent performances. Wow! This film was great.
I can also recommend the book, "Rich Relations: The American Occupation of Britain 1942-1945," by David Reynolds, at the following URL. The cover photo is lovely and reminiscent of this movie.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/184212112X/sr=8-2/qid=1150720269/ref=sr_1_2/002-9050381-3995216?%5Fencoding=UTF8
Even though i have just turned 27 i really did enjoy this movie when it was on tv 5 months ago, i enjoyed it so much i got the dvd!
D'you think i could be a bird in another life?Notebook
www.myspace.com/dreamyallysa
I'm so glad that so many others enjoyed this film - almost as much as did I. I find it all at once deeply romantic, as well as so evocative of the 40's in northern England, and it's sad, and uplifting also. It's understatement is what attracts me to it - I hate having characters or stories or values shoved at me without my permission; this film seeks the permission of the viewer to engage with the story itself.
"That's - just - typical..." Basil Fawlty
I intended to watch it one evening, but it slipped my mind. What a title!!!