''Tribes'', also known as ''The Soldier Who Declared Peace'' (UK), is a 1970 American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

broadcast as an '' ABC Movie of the Week'' directed by

Joseph Sargent Joseph Sargent (born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente; July 22, 1925 – December 22, 2014) was an American film director. Though he directed many television movies, his best known feature-length works were arguably the action movie '' White Ligh ...

. A big ratings success when it first aired November 10, 1970 (which happened to be the Marine Corps' 195th birthday), ''Tribes'' was later released theatrically in Britain and Europe under the title ''The Soldier Who Declared Peace''. ''Tribes'' has been released on VHS, but has not been released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Plot

Private Adrian, a young

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Vietnam war The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

-era draftee who, despite being an anti-war

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

, reluctantly reports to boot camp to fulfill his duty as an American. Adrian excels as a leader, though his

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

ideology presents continuing conflicts between himself and his superiors. Adrian's

drill instructor A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces, fire department, or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. Foot drill, military step, and marching are typically taught by drill instructors. Australia Austr ...

, Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Drake quickly recognizes Adrian's leadership qualities, but is conflicted as he grows to respect Adrian while also realizing that he represents everything Adrian opposes. At one point, Adrian points out that his love of

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

is similar to Drake's drawing to relax, indicating a sketch of a flying bird. Both are ways of finding freedom. Drake responds angrily, denying that he had drawn the picture. Throughout the training, Drake's superior, Chief Drill Instructor Master Sergeant Frank DePayster, takes an instant dislike to Adrian. Disciplinary problems with the platoon begin to arise as Adrian's influence on fellow recruits begins to have an impact on the effectiveness of Drake's instruction. DePayster repeatedly argues with Drake about Adrian, claiming that the fact that the man is performing all of his assigned tasks is not enough. He considers Adrian's

attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a pro ...

grounds enough for him to be set back and placed in the Motivational Platoon, a disciplinary unit for problem recruits. Drake disagrees and allows Adrian to continue training. However, during a weekend pass in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, Adrian becomes disenchanted with military life and exchanges his dress uniform for civilian clothes at an Army-Navy store. Drake tracks him down and brings him back to the base to continue training. DePayster, at odds with Drake's attitude toward Adrian, goes behind Drake's back and files a complaint against both Drake and Adrian with the

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

. Without Drake's approval, the Commanding Officer drops Adrian from the platoon and places him in the Motivational Platoon under DePayster, where he will effectively be "recycled" for an extended period of training time. Drake accuses DePayster of carrying out a personal vendetta, to which DePayster replies "I'll forget I heard that." Drake takes the drawing of the bird from his desk drawer and hangs it up, thus signifying his own method of rebellion and freedom. The platoon graduates without Adrian. As Drake awaits a new batch of recruits, DePayster informs him that Adrian went "over the hill" during the night.

Cast

Darren McGavin Darren is a masculine given name of uncertain etymological origins. Some theories state that it originated from an Anglicisation of the Irish first name Darragh or Dáire, meaning "Oak Tree". According to other sources, it is thought to come from ...

as Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Drake *

Earl Holliman Henry Earl Holliman (born September 11, 1928) is an American actor, animal-rights activist, and singer known for his many character roles in films, mostly Westerns and dramas, in the 1950s and 1960s. He won a Golden Globe Award for the film '' ...

as Master Sgt. Frank DePayster * Jan-Michael Vincent as Adrian * John Gruber as Quentin *

Danny Goldman Daniel Goldman (October 30, 1939 – April 12, 2020) was an American actor and casting director. He was most widely recognized as the voice of Brainy Smurf in Hanna-Barbera's ''The Smurfs'' (1981–1989). Early life Goldman graduated from Far R ...

as Sidney * Richard Yniguez as Sanchez * Antone Curtis as Marcellus *

Peter Hooten John Peter Hooten (born November 29, 1950) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the television film '' Dr. Strange'' (1978). Career Hooten started acting in 1968 at the age of 17. He appeared as an uncredited ...

as Scrunch * David Buchanan as Armstrong * Ric Weaver as Morton

Awards

''Tribes'' received three

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for Sound Editing ( Don Hall, Jack Jackson, Bob Weatherford and Dick Jensen, sound editors), Film Sound Mixing ( Theodore Soderberg, mixer) and Original

Teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or an ...

(

Marvin John Schwartz Marvin John Schwartz (January 10, 1928 – September 3, 1997) was an American film producer and publicist. He began producing by optioning the novel ''Blindfold (1966 film), Blindfold'', which became a 1966 film. Schwartz was born in the Bronx, Ne ...

and

Tracy Keenan Wynn Tracy Keenan Wynn (born February 28, 1945) is an American screenwriter and producer, whose credits include '' The Longest Yard'', ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' (both 1974), and '' The Deep'' (1977). Early and personal life Wynn was ...

, writers). It was also nominated for Directorial Achievement in Drama (

). Tribes was ranked the 8th best boot camp movie by Screenjunkies

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tribes (film) 1970 television films 1970 films 1970 drama films Films about the United States Marine Corps Vietnam War films ABC Movie of the Week Films directed by Joseph Sargent 20th Century Fox Television films 1970s English-language films