Yanks - Plot

Plot

In the build-up to the Normandy landings, thousands of American troops descend upon England. Near a small Lancashire town, a large U.S. Army base is established and soon houses the rambunctious "Yanks" as they are known to the English. On leave in the town, an Arizona man, Sergeant First Class Matt Dyson (Richard Gere), encounters Jean Moreton (Lisa Eichhorn) while out to the cinema. She is the fiancée of a British soldier fighting overseas, and initially rebuffs his advances. He is quite persistent, and she was having her doubts about her relationship with her fiancé anyway. The handsome, brash American sergeant is in stark contrast to the restrained Englishmen she has known. Soon, she is keeping company with Matt, though it is largely platonic at first.

For her part, Helen (Vanessa Redgrave) is a bit more worldly in her affairs. Captain John (William Devane) comes to her estate often, and a relationship develops. They are both married, but her husband is away at sea, and his wife is thousands of miles distant.

Eventually, the kind-hearted Matt Dyson is accepted by the Moreton family, though she is engaged to an English lad. They welcome his visits, when he often brings hard-to-find foods normally on wartime rationing and other presents. But when news of Ken's death in action arrives, Jean's ailing mother (Rachel Roberts) condemns their relationship as a kind of betrayal.

Helen and John travel to a Welsh seaside resort, where they make love. Almost immediately after, the Americans ship out by troop train to southern England to prepare for D-Day. In a mad scene, many of the townswomen, some of them pregnant from liaisons with men they may never see again, scramble to catch one last glimpse of their American boyfriends before the train leaves town. Matt shouts from the train that he will return.