The Tanks Are Coming is a 1941 American Technicolor short film directed by B. Reeves Eason and written by Owen Crump. It is primarily a recruitment film, but can also be regarded as a propaganda film or a documentary with some light relief. Like Dive Bomber (of the same year) it is a pre-Pearl Harbor film, made with the co-operation of the relevant branch of the US armed forces, showing off US military material to the US public, in lavish Technicolor. This material is shown in motion, both on the road and in the field; training equipment and methods are also featured.

It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 14th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).^[1]

Premise

New York taxicab driver Malowski (George Tobias) enlists in the "First Armored Force", bringing his beloved taxi cab "Betsy" with him. He participates in large-scale mechanized maneuvers, during which the taxi is run over and crushed. The tanks featured in the short were the U.S Army's M2A4 light tank and the M2A1 medium tank.

Credited cast

• George Tobias as Malowski
• William Travis (i.e. Richard Travis) as Pete
• Byron Barr [later known as Gig Young] as Jim Allen
• Frank Wilcox as Colonel

Production

A young Richard Egan appears uncredited in a few scenes and has a few lines. He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and achieved the rank of captain. He started his actual film career in 1949.^[2]