''The Boys in Company C'' is a 1978
war film
War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...
directed by
Sidney J. Furie about
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 c ...
recruits preparing for duty and their subsequent combat in the
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 ...
. It stars
Stan Shaw
Stan Shaw (born July 14, 1952) is an American actor.
Early life
Born in Chicago, Illinois, he is the son of Bertha Shaw and saxophonist Eddie Shaw, and cousin of the late soul singers Sam Cooke and Tyrone Davis. His brother is Vaan Shaw, ...
,
Andrew Stevens
Herman Andrew Stevens (born June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor.
Early life
Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble Herman Stephens.
Ca ...
,
Craig Wasson
Craig Wasson (born March 15, 1954) is an American actor. He made his film debut in ''Rollercoaster'' (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's ''Body Double'' (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's '' A Nightma ...
and
Michael Lembeck
Michael Lembeck (born June 25, 1948) is an American actor and television and film director. Best known as Max Horvath in '' One Day at a Time'' (1979-1984).
Life and career
Lembeck was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Caroline Dubs and ...
. It was among the first Vietnam War films to appear after the
Vietnam Era
Vietnam Era is a term used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to classify veterans of the Vietnam War. Various departments of federal, state and local governments as well as private employers often give Vietnam Era veterans s ...
, and was also the first role for
R. Lee Ermey
Ronald Lee Ermey (March 24, 1944 – April 15, 2018) was an American actor and U.S. Marine drill instructor. He achieved fame for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in the 1987 film ''Full Metal Jacket'', which earned him a Golden Globe ...
of ''
Full Metal Jacket
''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 novel '' The Short-Timers'' and stars Matt ...
'' fame. It is the first in Furie's Vietnam War motion-picture trilogy, followed by ''
Under Heavy Fire
''Under Heavy Fire'', also known as ''Going Back'', is a 2001 American feature film, feature war film directed by Sidney J. Furie and starring Casper Van Dien, Jaimz Woolvett, Bobby Hosea, Joseph Griffin, Carre Otis, Kenneth Johnson (actor), Kenn ...
'' (2001) and ''
The Veteran'' (2006).
The film was a co-production of
Golden Harvest and
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
, the latter originally handling theatrical distribution. It was filmed in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
.
Wasson plays guitar and sings the theme song "Here I Am", used within the film and over the end credits.
Plot
In August, 1967, a group of boys arrive at the
USMC
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 co ...
induction center. They include
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 ...
and draft dodger Dave Bisbee, who is delivered from Seattle, Washington, in handcuffs by FBI agents. The other inductees include hardened drug dealer Tyrone Washington from Chicago, Illinois; naive and unassuming Billy Ray Pike from Galveston, Texas; streetwise punk Vinnie Fazio from Brooklyn, New York, and mild-mannered aspiring writer Alvin Foster from Emporia, Kansas, who begins writing a journal detailing his experiences.
The five boys go through boot camp together. The training is dehumanizing and brutal, designed to make them think and act in unison. Sergeant Loyce and Staff Sergeant Aqullia use a combination of extreme training, brute force, and their own combat experience to teach the recruits. Washington's leadership skills flourish and he is promoted to squad leader. The five are then assigned to the same unit and shipped to Vietnam, and as their ship docks, the shelling begins. Vietnam is a bewildering chaos: bureaucratic incompetence, callous officers concerned only with monthly "body counts" and the constant threat of death.
The Marines' first firefight occurs while they are taking "vital supplies" to an army outpost. Those supplies turn out to be crates of cigarettes, liquor and furniture being sent to a general for his birthday, and two men die in the fighting. The officers in Company C are mostly incompetents who endanger the lives of their men through blind adherence to rules or timetables; their nervous Marines open fire on anyone and anything at the slightest provocation.
In January 1968, Company C is ordered by its commanding officer to throw a
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
game against a team of South Vietnamese in order to bolster the morale of their ally. The Americans are told that if they lose, they will see no more combat; if they win, they will be sent to
Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh is the district capital of Hướng Hoá District, Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located 63 km west of Đông Hà.
During the Vietnam War, the Khe Sanh Combat Base was located to the north of the city. The Battle of Khe San ...
. Despite everything, the Americans win. The game ends with a
Vietcong
,
, war = the Vietnam War
, image = FNL Flag.svg
, caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green.
, active ...
attack, during which Foster heroically throws himself on a grenade to save some children.
The film concludes with the final entry in Foster's journal, written moments before his death: "I don't know why I should even bother to write in this journal anymore. Because after what happened today, who the hell is ever going to believe it? We actually had a chance to get out of this goddamn war. All we had to do was throw the game and walk away. But for some reason, we just couldn't. For some reason, winning that stupid game was more important than saving our ass. So I guess we'll just keep on walking into one bloody mess after another, until somebody finally figures out that living has got to be more important than winning."
[Hyams, Jay. "War Movies" (1984)]
Before the closing credits, the fates of the remaining principal characters are revealed as follows. It is revealed that Washington was killed in action and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, while Fazio was seriously wounded and as a result of his injuries, was permanently confined to the VA hospital in Los Angeles. Pike deserted from the hospital in Da Nang and returned to the US, eventually moving to Canada, where he now lives with his wife and son.
Cast
*
Stan Shaw
Stan Shaw (born July 14, 1952) is an American actor.
Early life
Born in Chicago, Illinois, he is the son of Bertha Shaw and saxophonist Eddie Shaw, and cousin of the late soul singers Sam Cooke and Tyrone Davis. His brother is Vaan Shaw, ...
as Tyrone Washington
*
Andrew Stevens
Herman Andrew Stevens (born June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor.
Early life
Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble Herman Stephens.
Ca ...
as Billy Ray Pike
* James Canning as Alvin Foster
*
Michael Lembeck
Michael Lembeck (born June 25, 1948) is an American actor and television and film director. Best known as Max Horvath in '' One Day at a Time'' (1979-1984).
Life and career
Lembeck was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Caroline Dubs and ...
as Vinnie Fazio
*
Craig Wasson
Craig Wasson (born March 15, 1954) is an American actor. He made his film debut in ''Rollercoaster'' (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's ''Body Double'' (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's '' A Nightma ...
as Dave Bisbee
*
Scott Hylands
Scott Hylands Douglas (born 1943) is a Canadian actor who has appeared in movies, on television, and on the stage. Because of his longevity and versatility, critics have called him "one of Canada's greatest actors."
Early years
Hylands was born ...
as Captain Collins
*
James Whitmore, Jr.
James Allen Whitmore III (born October 24, 1948), better known as James Whitmore Jr., is an American actor and director, best known for his roles as Captain Jim Gutterman on the television program ''Baa Baa Black Sheep'', Freddie Beamer in ''The ...
as Lieutenant Archer
*
Noble Willingham
Noble Henry Willingham, Jr. (August 31, 1931 – January 17, 2004) was an American television and film actor who appeared in more than thirty films and in many television shows, including a stint opposite Chuck Norris in ''Walker, Texas Ranger ...
as Sergeant Curry
*
Lee Ermey as Staff Sergeant Loyce, junior drill instructor, later promoted to staff sergeant, succeeding Aquilla as senior drill instructor.
*
Vic Diaz
Victor Sunico Diaz'', popularly known as Vic Diaz, (July 29, 1932 – September 15, 2006) was a Filipino character actor who mostly portrayed villains. He was also the father of Teddy Diaz, the founding guitarist of the Filipino Rock band The ...
as Colonel Trang
Nominations
Andrew Stevens was nominated for the
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...
for Best Motion Picture Acting Debut – Male (1979).
Home media
This film has been issued numerous times on video since its theatrical release, first in-house via Columbia Pictures, and later through other companies as certain ancillary rights changed hands (it ended up becoming part of the library of
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes.
History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...
). Today, the major rights are held by independent film company Fortune Star Media, which also now holds the film's copyright, with distribution by Hen's Tooth under license.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boys In Company C, The
1978 films
1970s war comedy-drama films
American satirical films
American war comedy-drama films
Anti-war films about the Vietnam War
Vietnam War films
American association football films
Columbia Pictures films
1970s English-language films
Films directed by Sidney J. Furie
Films set in 1967
Films set in 1968
Films set in San Diego
Films set in Vietnam
Films shot in the Philippines
Hong Kong films
Films about the United States Marine Corps
1970s American films