The satirical story depicts the chaos following the grounding of the Soviet submarine СпруT (“SpruT”, pronounced "sproot" and meaning "octopus") off a small New England island.

Pete tells his disbelieving dad that armed Russians are near the house, but Walt is soon met by Rozanov and one of his men, Alexei Kolchin, who identify themselves as strangers on the island and ask if there are any boats available.

They steal an old sedan from Muriel Everett, the postmistress; she calls Alice Foss, the gossipy telephone switchboard operator, and soon, rumors about Russian parachutists and an air assault on the airport throw the island into confusion.

Police Chief Link Mattocks and his assistant Norman Jonas try to squelch a citizens' militia led by Fendall Hawkins.

Meanwhile, Walt, Elspeth and Pete overpower Alexei when Alison Palmer, an 18-year-old neighbor and Annie's babysitter, arrives for work, giving them an opening.

Alexei flees, but when Walt, Elspeth, and Pete leave to find help, he returns to retrieve his weapon from the house, where only Alison and Annie remain.

After subduing Mrs. Foss, tying Walt and her together, and disabling the island's telephone switchboard, seven Russians appropriate civilian clothes from a dry cleaner's, steal a cabin cruiser, and head to the submarine.

With Rozanov acting as translator, the Russian captain threatens to open fire on the town unless the seven missing sailors are returned to him; his crew faces upwards of a hundred armed townspeople.

Two small boys eventually climb up to the church steeple to see better and one slips and falls, but his belt catches on a gutter, leaving him hanging 40 feet[d] in the air.

Musician and character actor Leon Belasco — who was born in Russia, spoke fluent Russian and specialized in foreign accents during his 60-year career — was the dialog director.

John Phillip Law's incorrect pronunciation of difficult English phonemes, most notably in Alison Palmer's name ("ah-LYEE-sown PAHL-myerr"), was unusually authentic by the standards of the day.

[citation needed] The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Johnny Mandel and the soundtrack album was released on the United Artists label in 1966.

[14] Film Score Monthly reviewed Mandel's soundtrack in their liner notes for their reissue of the score, noting the presence of Russian folk songs, writing that "These pre-existing melodies mix with original Mandel compositions, including a Russian choral anthem, a humorous march theme for the island residents' quasi-military response to the Soviet incursion, and a tender love theme...".

[16] All compositions by Johnny Mandel unless otherwise indicated Robert Alden of The New York Times called it "a rousingly funny – and perceptive – motion picture about a desperately unfunny world situation.

"[18] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Considering that it is made up of variations on a single theme, the picture is astonishingly inventive.

And considering that it was never done as a play on the stage (where laughs can be pre-tested and rough spots ironed out) it racks up a high average indeed, though it has its lapses and some of its points are forced—over-milked, as they say in the trade.

The heavy-handed producer and director of the picture, Norman Jewison, has permitted nearly every moment of it to become twice as brightly colored, twice as noisy, and twice as frantic as it needed to be; this is all the more a pity, because the cast includes a number of excellent comic actors.