Gardens of Stone (1987)

A Sergeant must deal with his desires to save the lives of young soldiers being sent to Viet Nam. Continuously denied the chance to teach the soldiers about his experiences, he settles for trying to help the son of an old Army buddy.

Director:

Francis Ford Coppola (as Francis Coppola)

Writers:

Nicholas Proffitt (novel), Ronald Bass (screenplay)

Stars:

James Caan, Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Caan	...	Sgt. Clell Hazard
Anjelica Huston	...	Samantha Davis
James Earl Jones	...	'Goody' Nelson
D.B. Sweeney	...	Jackie Willow
Dean Stockwell	...	Homer Thomas
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Rachel Feld
Dick Anthony Williams	...	Slasher Williams
Lonette McKee	...	Betty Rae
Sam Bottoms	...	Lt. Webber
Elias Koteas	...	Pete Deveber
Laurence Fishburne	...	Sgt. Flanagan (as Larry Fishburne)
Casey Siemaszko	...	Wildman
Peter Masterson	...	Col. Feld
Carlin Glynn	...	Mrs. Feld
Erik Holland	...	Col. Godwin

Storyline

In the late 60s, during the Vietnam War, the idealistic soldier Jackie Willow arrives at Fort Meyer expecting to go to the Academy and then to the Vietnam War. Jackie is the son of a veteran sergeant and soon he becomes the protégé of the former friends of his father, Sergeant Clell Hazard and Sergeant Major 'Goody' Nelson. Jackie is promoted and gets married with his childhood friend Rachel Feld, to recommend Jackie to the Academy. He is promoted to lieutenant and asks to go to the Vietnam, returning to the Arlington National Cemetery.

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Plot Keywords:

vietnam | sergeant | soldier | vietnam war | arlington national cemetery | 

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Taglines:

The story of the war at home, and the people who lived through it.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 May 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jardines de piedra

Filming Locations:

Fort Myer, Arlington, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$5,262,047

Company Credits

Production Co:

ML Delphi Premier Productions, TriStar Pictures, Zoetrope Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the parade field ceremony sequence, the announcer says, "The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps is led today by Drum Major Phipps." When this movie was shot, one of the actual Drum Majors of the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps at the time, was Sergeant First Class Steven Phipps, and he was leading the Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps for that scene in the movie.

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Goofs

The name tags on uniforms are white US Army changed to subdued (black letters on olive drab tabs) in 1967, but in 1969 all soldiers are still wearing the old style.

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Quotes

Clell Hazard: I am not a "peacenik", Captain; I just don't agree with the reasons behind this particular war, and I feel if we're gonna fight it we oughtta goddamn fight it right.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood Vietnam (2005)

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Soundtracks

I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
Performed by Marvin Gaye
Courtesy of Motown Record Corporation

User Reviews

Coppola revisits Vietnam

It's the military funeral of Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney) as he recounts his journey. It returns to Jackie's first day at Fort Myer which provides soldiers for Arlington National Cemetery and he's gungho to fight in Vietnam. He's the son of a friend of Sgt. Clell Hazard (James Caan) who tries to talk him out of Vietnam. He helps screw-up Wildman (Casey Siemaszko) from platoon Sgt. Flanagan (Laurence Fishburne). Sergeant Major Goody Nelson (James Earl Jones) and wife Betty Rae set up Hazard with anti-war Washington Post reporter Samantha Davis (Anjelica Huston). Pete Deveber (Elias Koteas) is a clerk and Homer Thomas (Dean Stockwell) is the commander. Jackie marries Rachel Feld (Mary Stuart Masterson), the daughter of a colonel.

Francis Ford Coppola revisits Vietnam with something less epic and more traditional. There are great actors. The thing I remember most is the story of the Vietcons fighting helicopters with arrows. This is certainly not as iconic as Apocalypse Now. It doesn't mean that it's not a worthwhile watch. For a war movie, this surprisingly has little war action. That's probably what throws most people off.