Friday, December 29, 2023

12 Days: Yanks

Love during wartime

Every New Year's, I try to find a movie for my 12 Days posts.  Thanks to some suggestions from FH readers, I've been fortunate to always find one.  This year I struggled, and almost left it out.  Every time I search for New Year's Eve themed films, the same movies come up over and over.  I've tried to get creative, but I just can't seem to find a way weave When Harry Met Sally into 12 a Days post.


Before giving up, I decided to expand my search.  Instead of looking for New Year's Eve themed movies, I started searching for films with New Year's Eve scenes.  So many came up, but the one that intrigued me the most was Yanks.   In the 1970 war Drama, US soldiers Matt, (Richard Gere) and John, (William Devane) are shipped to the UK in 1942 during WWII.  Both each fall in love with local women, one of whom is married and the other engaged. 

Gere by Herb Ritts

Close to the middle of the romantic drama, the holidays arrive.  There are scenes of Christmas, and a New Year's Eve party at a Yorkshire dancehall. There's a lot of booze being consumed and when everyone grabs hands to sing Auld Lang Syne, drama, and then chaos ensues. 

I also chose to feature Yanks as the film also has the distinction of marking the first on-screen nude scene from actor Richard Gere.  Gere was one of the hottest sex symbols in the 80's and 90's with a long resume of on-screen nudity during the two decades. 

Gere doesn't show much, just a brief glimpse of side butt during a love scene.  The film however, does have a great shower scene featuring Gere with dozens of naked soldiers. It's short, but worth a peek, check it out on the NEXT PAGE HERE:


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