The Tanks Are Coming

The Tanks Are Coming is a 1941 American Technicolor short film. 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). Premise New York taxicab driver Malowski (George Tobias) and his cab Betsy enlist in the "First Armored Force" and get caught up in large-scale mechanized maneuvers. 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