The Lords of Discipline (1983)

Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960s. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out ... See full summary »

Director:

Franc Roddam

Writers:

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

Stars:

David Keith, Robert Prosky, G.D. Spradlin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Keith	...	Will McLean
Robert Prosky	...	Col. 'Bear' Berrineau
G.D. Spradlin	...	Gen. Bentley Durrell
Barbara Babcock	...	Abigail St. Croix
Michael Biehn	...	John Alexander
Rick Rossovich	...	Dante `Pig` Pignetti
John Lavachielli	...	Mark Santoro
Mitchell Lichtenstein	...	Tradd St. Croix
Mark Breland	...	Tom 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 St. Croix

Storyline

Will arrives for his last year at Military Academy, in the Deep South USA, in the 1960s. A black student, Pearce, has been accepted, for the first time and Will is asked to keep an eye out for the inevitable racism. The racists come in the form of The Ten, a secret group of the elite students. They want Pearce to leave on his own free will, but are prepared to torture him to make it 'his free will'. Will is forced to help Pearce and he is prepared to risk his own career to do so.

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Plot Keywords:

torture | racism | secret group | hazing | friendship | 

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Taglines:

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.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 July 1983 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Guardianes del honor

Filming Locations:

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

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

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Goofs

When Poteete falls and hits the pavement, Will is shown looking away from one angle, then looking forward toward the body when the angle changes.

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Quotes

Dante 'Pig' Pignetti: It's always 'fuck, shit, piss' all the time around here, I mean, if she could hear it, it would embarass her.
[looks at a picture of his girlfriend]
Will: But Pig, this is a photograph.
Dante 'Pig' Pignetti: I know that!
Will: It can't see, smell, hear, taste. Right? Mark... Now Mr. Santoro, if you please, adress a few obscene remarks to this totally inatimate photograph.
Mark: Jesus, would you look at the tits on that bitch!
Will: Pig, how we doin'?
[Pig is trying to control himself]
Will: Tradd?
Tradd: My, would I dearly love to play a little 'hide the...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Bill Paxton is referred to in the closing credits as "Wild" Bill Paxton.

User Reviews

Likable movie but don't expect everything you got in the novel!

I was impressed with how well this movie captured the flavor of time and place. As a viewer I easily felt that it was Charleston, SC in the mid 1960's. The parts were well-cast and convincingly played. I would be comfortable suggesting this movie to others and would not mind seeing it again myself.

Having read Pat Conroy's original novel years ago I found that the characters in the movie looked remarkably like my imagination expected them to. That was another plus.

However......and this is minor......Pat Conroy's novels tend to be sprawling affairs with several plot lines (and the ensuing chaos) running concurrently. They do not condense down into a standard length feature film without editing a good bit of the original novel out. This is the case here......several minor items had to be changed for the movie to cover the fact that one of the major plot elements in the novel were left out entirely.