''Welcome Home, Soldier Boys'' is a 1972 American

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 ...

directed by

Richard Compton Richard Compton (March 2, 1938 – August 11, 2007) was an American actor, director and writer, primarily in television. Compton had small parts as an actor in film and television series, including minor roles in two episodes of ''Star Trek ...

and starring

Joe Don Baker Joe Don Baker (born February 12, 1936) is an American character actor and a life member of the Actors Studio. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles as a mysterious cowboy drifter in ''Guns of the Magnificent Seven'' (196 ...

Paul Koslo Paul Koslo (born Manfred Koslowski; June 27, 1944 – January 9, 2019) was a German-born Canadian actor. Career Koslo started his career in such 1970s films as ''Nam's Angels'' a.k.a. ''The Losers'', ''Vanishing Point'' and ''The Stone Kill ...

, Alan Vint, Elliott Street,

Jennifer Billingsley Jennifer Billingsley is a retired American television and film actress. Early years The daughter of Army Col. Claude Augustus Billingsley, she was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and relocated often as an "Army brat", attending schools in Vienna and C ...

and

Billy "Green" Bush William Warren Bush (born November 7, 1935) is an American actor, usually credited as Billy Green Bush and sometimes as Billy Greenbush. Typecast Bush is a character actor, typically projecting in his screen appearances the good-ol'-boy image. ...

. Written by

Guerdon Trueblood Guerdon Saltonstall Trueblood (November 2, 1933 – March 3, 2021) was a Costa Rican-born American screenwriter, Film producer, producer, Film director, director and actor. Early life and education Trueblood was born in San Jose, Costa Rica to E ...

, the film was released on September 8, 1972, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Plot

Danny, Shooter, Kid and Fatback are a group of four veterans returning home from Vietnam who decide to subsequently go on a road trip. They decided to purchase a Cadillac, managing to hustle the price down from $6,200 to $5,500 from the dealer and load the Cadillac with weapons. On their way they pick up a girl who begins to party with the gang, but then Danny gets a hold of her and tries to sexually assault her. As she struggles she is thrown out of the car driving at 65 mph, killing her. The gang decide to visit a bunch of old settlements, meet up in a basketball court inside of a local high school and watching the game, reminiscing on the old times at the school. They meet up in a motel and order a room, where they are accompanied by various women where they play around and start to somewhat discuss about their pasts. Eventually, they leave and try to find another place to stay and crack up a deal with the sheriff in order to allow them to use the cells as a place to stay for the night. He agrees but treats the event almost as if he’s performing a routine arrest in order to keep with policy. Their car breaks down and eventually they must seek repairs culminating in a total of $1,400 which they eventually pay up after an argument, and then get back to driving. The gang eventually meet up in a diner where they apparently have won $50 from a contest although the diner can not pay up, so the gang eventually steal from the cash register and make the owner prepare a bunch of meals in order to recuperate for the cost. They drive off again and eventually stop at a gas pump, although they are completely broke. Danny tries to vandalise a gas-pump in order to steal gas from it, when someone peers out the window with a shotgun and shoots at the gang, before eventually being shot by one of the gang members in retaliation. The rest of the gang eventually arm up and go on a killing spree, killing everybody in the village and subsequently destroying various vehicles and houses. The gang begin to experience intense memories of their time in Vietnam and dress up in uniform taking the village as their own, almost like a compound of their own. Amidst the chaos, the National Guard are called in to dispatch the soldier replete with a convoy of armoured vehicles and a helicopter. The gang manage to shoot the helicopter down with a rocket launcher. The National Guard attempt to dispatch the soldiers by throwing gas bombs down on the area causing the gang to slowly suffocate. A troop of National Guardsmen wearing gas masks slowly march towards the gang each with a rifle in hand, and the gang decide to retaliate against the guardsmen by throwing grenades at them and trying to shoot them, but each of them are shot dead by the guardsmen. The final shot is of an unknown woman walking slowly among the carnage resulting from the massacre, over a voice-over of Danny reading the Oath of Enlistment at the recruitment centre.

Cast

as Danny *

as Shooter * Alan Vint as Kid *Elliott Street as Fatback *

as Broad *

as Sheriff * Geoffrey Lewis as Francis Rapture * Francine York as Lydia * Timothy Scott as Mike *

Lonny Chapman Lon Leonard Chapman (October 1, 1920 – October 12, 2007) was an American actor best known for his numerous guest star appearances on television drama series. Early years Chapman was the son of Elmer and Eunice Chapman, He was born on Oc ...

as Danny's Father *

Florence MacMichael Florence MacMichael (April 26, 1919 – May 28, 1999) was an American character actress of stage, film and television, best known for playing Winnie Kirkwood in the television series ''Mister Ed''. Early life and education MacMichael was born ...

as Danny's Mother *Cherie Foster as Gloria * Beach Dickerson as Used Car Salesman *

Ted Markland Ted Markland (January 15, 1933 – December 18, 2011) was an American character actor. He is best known for the role of Reno in the NBC television series ''The High Chaparral''. He had a small part in the TV Western ''Bat Masterson (TV series) ...

as Hick #1 *Joel Lawrence as Trooper *Luanne Roberts as Charlene *Damienne Oliver as Ruby

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, welcome_home_soldier_boys 1972 films 1970s drama road movies 20th Century Fox films American drama road movies Films about veterans Films directed by Richard Compton Films set in Arkansas Films set in New Mexico Films set in Texas Films shot in New Mexico 1972 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links