The Lords of Discipline (1983)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Franc Roddam

Writers:

Pat Conroy (novel)
Thomas Pope (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 July 1983 (Australia)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

One hundred years of the finest school turning out the finest young men. IT WAS ALL A LIE. One cadet is about to expose the system.

Plot:

Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960's. A black student...

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Racism | Secret Group | Ceremony | Military School

Cast

David Keith	...	Will
Robert Prosky	...	Bear
G.D. Spradlin	...	Gen. Bentley Durrell
Barbara Babcock	...	Abigail
Michael Biehn	...	John Alexander
Rick Rossovich	...	Dante `Pig` Pignetti
John Lavachielli	...	Mark
Mitchell Lichtenstein	...	Tradd
Mark Breland	...	Pearce
Malcolm Danare	...	Poteete
Judge Reinhold	...	Macabbee
Greg Webb	...	Braselton
Bill Paxton	...	Gilbreath (as 'Wild' Bill Paxton)
Dean R. Miller	...	Gooch (as Dean Miller)
Ed Bishop	...	Commerce

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Filming took place in London, and Bill Paxton met his future (and second) wife Louise Newbury on a #37 bus there.

Quotes:

Gilbreath: Do you know what this is, boy?
[Holds up a coin]
Gilbreath: Pop off!
Poteete: It's a quarter, sir.
Gilbreath: Shut up! Open your mouth and stick out your tongue.
[Poteete sticks out his tongue and Gilbreath places the coin on it]
Gilbreath: Swallow it!
[Gilbreath grabs Poteete's throatt, forcing him to swallow the coin]
Gilbreath: That's good boy, that's reeeal good. You're gonna be my little piggy-bank.

Maybe no one can do it justice

Edmund Kean was a very famous Shakespearian actor who played all of the Bard's Greatest roles. He once said maybe no actor can really do the Bard justice. His plays and characters are so masterfully written and beautifully portrayed that no actor can really bring them to life. Maybe this is the case with Pat Conroy's book The Lords Of Discipline. I watched this film on June 14, 1986, it was the night before I left for basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. I watched it and wondered if my basic would be that hard! Whats amazing is this is a film about a Southern Military academy, and yet it was filmed in England. They gave it the old college try and their level best, but this film is really wanting, I say again BADLY wanting, in comparison to Conroy's masterful book. I have read it over and over a pleasure that never tires. This man is like a master magician or a skilled surgeon when it come to the English language and in creating characters that seem so real. Will McLean, Mark Santoro, Dante "Pig" Pignetti, Colonel Bear and the snobby General Durrell all seemed so real to me. I have to admit that in the book I did not like Pig's character at all. He was nothing but a bully and he was stupid and dishonest as well. He deserved to get thrown out of the academy for stealing gas. Will was a fine young man who was so hilariously sarcastic. I thought that General Durrell had to be the biggest blowhard who ever lived. He talked about honor but sure didn't live it. Pat Conroy attended the Citadel in South Carolina and this is what he based his book on. I was appalled when he described the brutal "hazing" that they put young plebes through. I could not believe that upperclassmen could be that sadistic. They were like the Hitler youth. It was terrible. David Keith was in An Officer And A Gentlemen the year before this film was made and gives a fine performance as Will. There are two fine character actors in this film. Robert Prosky (who was so good in Thief) plays the Bear and G. D. Spradlin plays General Durrell.