Tribes (1970) (TV)

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Marvin Schwartz (writer)
Tracy Keenan Wynn (writer)

Release Date:

10 November 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

WANTED by the US Marines: for AWOL, insubordination . . . and doing his thing!

Plot:

A Marine Corps drill instructor who is disgusted by the fact that the Corps now accepts draftees finds himself pitted against a hippie who has been drafted but refuses to accept the military's way of doing things.

Plot Keywords:

Drill Instructor | Recruit | Military | Hippie | Sergeant

Awards:

Won 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Darren McGavin	...	Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Drake
Earl Holliman	...	Sgt. Frank DePayster
Jan-Michael Vincent	...	Adrian
John Gruber	...	Quentin
Danny Goldman	...	Sidney
Richard Yniguez	...	Sanchez
Antone Curtis	...	Marchelus
Peter Hooten	...	Scrunch
David Buchanan	...	Armstrong
Ric Weaver	...	Morton

Also Known As:

The Soldier Who Declared Peace (UK) (theatrical title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:G

Filming Locations:

Marine Corps Recruiting Depot, San Diego, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Continuity: In an early scene in his office, Drake's pencil drawing of the dove is smooth in one shot, then suddenly appears crumpled in the very next shot.

Quotes:

DePayster: You hear about those boys in 'Nam, smokin' marijuana? Any of my boys do that, I'll kill 'em!
Drake: What? What are you talking about, you don't have any "boys."
DePayster: Aw, I'll kill 'em anyway.

Very good portrayal of boot camp

As an ex-Marine, I was keenly interested in seeing this movie of the week rerun when it aired, I think at 2 am, but what the heck I was on night shift anyway.

First off, I liked it, I really liked it and not because it "took sides" because frankly I don't think it did. A VERY young Jan-Michael Vincent played the part of a spacy draftee quite well and Darren McGavin was his usual excellent self. Parts of the film were filmed at MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) in San Diego, with real recruits going through drill training on the grinder. Even though it was filmed at the height of the Vietnam war, politics was left out of the film, but they did manage to show the conflict between the hippie and the more conventional recruits.

The best performance though was from Earl Holliman in my opinion. He played the hard-ass DI to the hilt and provided the strongest contrast to the hippie's live-and-let-live anarchy, even stronger than McGavin's character.

The movie didn't offer answers, nor did it preach about who was right and who wasn't (maybe that was the point anyway, nobody is really 100% "right" in any conflict).