Welcome Home, Johnny Bristol (TV 1972)

An American soldier manages to endure his captivity in a Vietnamese POW camp by keeping alive the memories of life in his home town. When he is finally released from the camp, and is ... See full summary »

Director:

George McCowan

Writer:

Stanley R. Greenberg

Stars:

Martin Landau, Jane Alexander, Brock Peters

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martin Landau	...	Johnny Bristol
Jane Alexander	...	Anne Palmer
Brock Peters	...	Berdahl
Martin Sheen	...	Graytak
Pat O'Brien	...	Sgt. McGll
Forrest Tucker	...	Harry McMartin
Mona Freeman	...	Mrs. Bristol
Jane Elliot	...	Sister Theresa
Simon Scott	...	Col. Anderson
Alan Bergmann	...	Shusler
James McEachin	...	Loughton
John Hoyt	...	Minister
Richard Evans	...	Franks
Jean-Michel Michenaud	...	Young Johnny (as Gerald Michenaud)
Mark Roberts	...	Mr. Bristol

Storyline

An American soldier manages to endure his captivity in a Vietnamese POW camp by keeping alive the memories of life in his home town. When he is finally released from the camp, and is discharged from the military, he goes back to his town - but he can find no trace whatsoever of it.

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Plot Keywords:

memory | vermont | vietnam | prisoner of war

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Willkommen daheim, Johnny Bristol

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Center 100 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Extremely underrated

I saw it when it was first on in 1972, and it made a huge impression on me - if I'd never seen it again, the name "Charles, Vermont" would still have stayed with me, and the ending (which I'm not about to give away here). As one person here said, it was one of a wave of weird TV movies from those years, which I made a point of seeing. Any weird TV production from the early ' 70s seems to make me think of "Night Gallery" because of my attachment to that show, but almost none as much as this one. You'd think that it was made by Rod Serling and Jack Laird (or at least one of them), especially that ending. It was like the endings of some apparent fantasy stories (including a few of the Twilight Zones) that explain away the fantasy, but DON'T make you feel CHEATED by their doing that. Martin Landau deserved an Emmy award for his part in it, especially in those last few scenes, with "Virginia" and "Dr. Birdall." And one of the best actors in it was Brock Peters, who (as far as I know) is remembered in a lopsided way, as the defendant in To Kill A Mockingbird. He was very believable as Birdall the psychiatrist, who tries to convince Johnny that he's deluded (withuut being sure of that HIMSELF, since it's partly a "conspiracy story"). And everyone else in it was fine - Jane Alexander, Martin Sheen, Forrest Tucker (another underrated actor, as far as I know).