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''F.T.A.'' is a 1972 American
documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
film starring
Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress and activist. Recognized as a film icon, Jane Fonda filmography, Fonda's work spans several genres and over six decades of film and television. She is the recipient of List of a ...
and
Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received List of awards and nominations received by Donald Sutherland, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award ...
and directed by Francine Parker, which follows a 1971
anti-Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1965 with demonstrations against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States in the war. Over the next several years, these demonstrations grew ...
road show for G.I.s, the ''
FTA Show The ''FTA Show'' (or ''FTA Tour'' or ''Free The Army tour''), a play on the common troop expression "Fuck The Army" (which in turn was a play on the army slogan "Fun, Travel and Adventure"), was a 1971 Opposition to the US involvement in the Vietn ...
'', as it stops in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
, The
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
,
Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
, and
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It includes highlights from the show, behind the scenes footage, local performers from the countries visited, and interviews and conversations with GIs "as they discuss what they saw in battle, their anger with the military bureaucracy, and their opposition to America's presence in Indochina." Called by Fonda "a spit and a prayer production" it was far from a big budget
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
movie, or even a well-funded documentary. While the movie "is raw," it "underscores how infectious the movement of the 60s and 70s was", and chronicles both the Tour itself as well as the soldiers who came to see it and "the local talent of organizers, labor unions and artist/activists" in the countries visited.


The FTA Show

The ''
FTA Show The ''FTA Show'' (or ''FTA Tour'' or ''Free The Army tour''), a play on the common troop expression "Fuck The Army" (which in turn was a play on the army slogan "Fun, Travel and Adventure"), was a 1971 Opposition to the US involvement in the Vietn ...
'', the overseas part of which the film documents, was created as a response to
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...
's patriotic and pro-war USO tour. The Bob Hope show was becoming less and less of a hit with G.I.s and by 1970 both ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' and ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' were taking note of U.S. troop "disillusionment with Hope's humor and prowar message". Fonda told reporters that the FTA Show was inspired by "articles in the Washington Post and ''The New York Times'' about soldiers in Vietnam who were dissatisfied with the typical USO shows." She told a reporter from the NY Times that the show would reinforce "what the soldiers already know. ''They'' know that the war is insane. They know what GIs have to contend with better than we do. We're simply saying, 'We know what you're up against and we support you.'" The FTA Show's official statement of purpose was: The show first travelled around the continental U.S. performing for soldiers, sailors and marines at various military bases, including
Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...
,
Fort Ord Fort Ord is a former United States Army post on Monterey Bay on the Pacific Ocean coast in California, which closed in 1994 due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Most of the fort's land now makes up the Fort Ord National Monument, ...
and the naval and marines bases in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
before departing for Hawaii and Asian U.S. bases


The film

The documentary begins with a message in white letters against a black screen which states that it "was made in association with the servicewomen and men stationed on the United States bases of the Pacific Rim". The filmmakers want the viewer to know the film, and tour it documents, were done with GIs and they want the viewer to see the tour from a GIs point of view. The opening message then states the film is also done with the GIs friends "whose lands they presently occupy." So, even more unusually, the filmmakers want the viewer to watch from the perspective of the people in the countries occupied by U.S. military bases. As the film unfolds we see both the FTA Tour itself and we see interviews with GIs and we see footage and interviews with their "friends", the local people in the countries visited. One author described this later element of the film as "explicit solidarity with the fight for economic and political rights by the ordinary peoples of the lands it visits." For example, there is a sequence in Olongapo City,
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
where the U.S. Naval Base at Subic Bay was located. There is footage of Filipino pro-democracy demonstrators "protesting against the U.S. government's desire to keep the Philippines in a perpetually 'semi-feudal' state. One demonstrator explicitly acknowledges a natural 'identity of interests' between Filipinos and the American GI against American imperialism." These demonstration scenes are interspersed with a "vaudeville skit on the FTA stage in which Jane Fonda and Holly Near dance la Folies Bergre to the tune of ''Bomb Another City Today!''


G.I.s speak out

To help the viewer understand the perspective of rank-and-file soldiers, the filmmakers interview active-duty G.I.s. The film only focuses about half its time on the tour itself, while the rest is taken up with GI interviews and footage of local people and events. A marine is shown explaining that he is against the war and talking about writing home to tell his mother. "How can you write your mother and tell her?" he asks, but when he decides to do it he is pleasantly surprised to hear that "she fully understood and she was happy that I felt that way". A black G.I. complains that things are tough at home and asks, "So why should we go over there and put our lives down?" Then a woman in the Air Force describes why she enlisted right after high school: with no job and no money, "the Air Force came along and there I was." Several black marines are also shown talking about the racism in the military and at home and about "their reluctance to fight in Vietnam that arises from their sense of commonality with the Vietnamese as oppressed nonwhite peoples."


The FTA Song

Several of the tour's skits are interspersed with footage of the cast singing the show's theme song, ''The Lifer's Song'' (or ''The FTA Song''). The song is an irreverent ditty written around the common troop expression ''FTA'', which really meant "Fuck The Army" and which, in turn, was a play on the Army recruitment slogan "Fun, Travel and Adventure". During the Vietnam War, FTA was often scrawled on the side of walls and scratched onto bathroom stalls. The song tells the story of a pro-military "lifer" who is trying to figure out what FTA means. He hears it in "Leesville", "Waynesville", "Fayetteville", and "a Texas paradise called Killeen" - all towns with major military bases. Just "three little words" he complains, "but I can't find out what they mean." Is it "Future Teachers of American", "Free The Antarcticans", "Free The Army?" Help me, the singers appeal to the audience. On the tour, when the troupe came to the last line they always hesitated, encouraging the audience to supply the real meaning of FTA, which the GIs invariably did with a thundering "FUCK the Army". "Extra letters and words were added as needed, depending upon the composition of the audience. FTA would become 'FTAF' or 'FTN,' or 'FTM' or all four at once, spelled out in a triumphant, expletive-filled list." In the film we see "the singers exaggeratedly trying to contain themselves" as they reach the first word in the last line. " seems the singers want the audience to understand that they really want to say 'Fuck the Army,' but they perform the pretense that they can't quite or won't, for whatever reason, bring themselves to do it the first time through. The second time, as they are making the long, drawn-out beginning of the word, Len Chandler turns and says quietly (but the mic picks it up) 'say it!' and they do..., they shout 'Fuck the Army.'"


Reaching out to women GIs

During the later parts of the tour, which are those included in the film, new material was added into the show addressing other issues swirling in the political currents of the early 1970s, including women's issues, particularly as they confronted women in the military. One skit has a clearly pregnant soldier's wife being told by the military doctor to "go home and take two APCs n aspirin compoundand come back when the swelling goes down." Another example is the song ''Tired of Bastards Fucking Over Me'' written by Beverley Grant and sung by Fonda, Near, Martinson and Donegan. Sung to "an audience composed in large part of visiting enlisted women in the USAF", it describes experiences of everyday sexism from a woman's point of view, "with each brief narrative punctuated by a chorus":
Now I sing this song in the hope that you won't think it's a joke cause it's time we all awoke to take a stand. We've been victims all our lives, now it's time we organized and to fight we're gonna need each other's hands. They whistle like a dog and makes noises like a hog, heaven knows they sure got problems I agree. But their problems I can't solve 'cause my sanity's involved, and I'm tired of bastards fuckin' over me
A professor of film described this combining of women's issues with GI antiwar sentiment, as positing "a total continuity...between a woman's right to control her body and that of a young male GI to refuse to give his body in a futile war." When these feminist elements were combined with the multi-racial cast and anti-racist message, the tour and film "stood in sharp contrast to Bob Hope's show. Whereas Hope made racist jokes, FTA embraced racial equality and took seriously the grievances of non-whites. While Hope joked about sexual assault and unapologetically objectified the women in his cast, FTA endorsed women's liberation and featured women as full participants in the show without forcing them to don sexually provocative clothing."


Skits

Various sketches or skits from the show are shown throughout the film. Many of them reflected the common dislike of enlisted soldiers for their officers and non-commissioned officers, which became particularly sharp during the Vietnam War. In one sketch a Sergeant (played by Michael Alaimo) tells a soldier, "I think I'm gonna get me a watchdog." "What do you need a watchdog for, Sarge?" replies the GI, "You're surrounded by two hundred armed men." "That's why I'm gonna get me a watchdog," says the Sarge. In Okinawa, we see a performance by a group of Okinawan musicians who have joined the show. The lyrics of their songs (shown in subtitles) "are sharply critical of U.S. presence on the island. The singers stand straight at the microphones, their eyes closed. At the song's conclusion the audience instantly roars with applause."


Pro-Vietnam War hecklers

There is a particularly interesting confrontation shown in the film that occurred the night they performed just outside Yokosuka Naval Base in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. There was, according to spokesperson Steve Jaffe, "an audience of nearly 1,400 included some 500 GIs." Some pro-Vietnam War hecklers tried to disrupt the show and were quoted as saying "they liked to go to Vietnam to kill people because they made $65 extra a month in combat pay." In the film, you can see other members of the audience begin to heckle the hecklers and then
Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received List of awards and nominations received by Donald Sutherland, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award ...
speaks to the crowd, "If you want them to leave, would you tell them?" The audience erupted in "noisy agreement" while a number of sailors from the '' USS Oklahoma City'' "slowly but surely, confidently but peacefully" escort the hecklers out of the auditorium while Len Chandler leads the crowd in shouting "Out! Out! Out!" There has been some speculation that the pro-war hecklers were "undercover agents and provocateurs", which was not an uncommon tactic used by police agencies during the Vietnam War era, but no proof has emerged either way.


Donald Sutherland reads ''Johnny Got His Gun''

The film ends with Donald Sutherland reading from Dalton Trumbo's 1938 novel '' Johnny Got His Gun'':


Release and controversy

F.T.A. was released in July 1972, "within days of Fonda's infamous visit to Hanoi" and seems to have suffered from the political fallout of Fonda's travels. The film "was in theatres barely a week before it was pulled from circulation by its distributor,
American International Pictures American International Pictures, LLC (AIP or American International Productions) is an American film production company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution c ...
." Even more, " st copies were destroyed", which seems to indicate an attempt to prevent any future for the film. Many have suspected the film's disappearance "was the result of government intervention." According to Parker, the film's director, "the film disappeared after Sam Arkoff, head of AIP, received a call from the White House." David Zeiger, who has been involved in resurrecting the original film, has been quoted as saying he believes Parker. "There's no proof, but I can't think of another reasonable explanation for Sam Arkoff, a man who knew how to wring every penny out of a film, yanking one starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland from theaters at a big loss (and, apparently, destroying all of the prints, since none were ever found)."


Remastering and release

In 2009, David Zeiger, the director of '' Sir! No Sir!'', a film about the GI resistance to the Vietnam War, finished resurrecting the original ''F.T.A.'' film. It was shown publicly in Los Angeles in early 2009 at the
American Cinematheque The American Cinematheque is an independent, non-profit cultural organization in Los Angeles, California, United States that represents the public presentation of the moving image in all its forms. It presents festivals and retrospectives that ...
with a panel that included two of the original performers in the show. It was also shown at the IFC Center in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and had its broadcast premiere on the Sundance Channel on February 23, 2009. It is currently available on the
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
streaming service. Footage from the film and discussion of the
FTA Show The ''FTA Show'' (or ''FTA Tour'' or ''Free The Army tour''), a play on the common troop expression "Fuck The Army" (which in turn was a play on the army slogan "Fun, Travel and Adventure"), was a 1971 Opposition to the US involvement in the Vietn ...
is included in Zeiger's 2005 documentary film '' Sir! No Sir!''. In February 2021,
Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art film, art ho ...
acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for a March 5, 2021, release in virtual cinema.


Reception

On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has an approval rating of 84% based on reviews from 25 critics, with an average rating of 7.60/10. "According to a ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reviewer who attended a screening of the film, the black humor in F.T.A. had Vietnam veterans 'laughing harder than anyone.'" Dr. Mark Shiel, Lecturer in Film Studies at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
, commented in a 2007 essay that the film "brought together elements of the Old and New Lefts, radical politics and Hollywood celebrity, in an exceptional, and exceptionally powerful, way." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reviewer said the show itself "must have been very funny", but felt "as presented in the movie, most of the show doesn't seem very funny". He did describe, however, a "striking sequence" when "an anti-American guerrilla theater pageant in the Philippines...momentarily turns revolutionary passion into a romantic gesture of extraordinary beauty." He also praises the "lovely ballad singing of Rita Martinson." A ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' reviewer, after viewing the 2009 remastered version, described the show as a "fascinating documentary" that "mixes protest songs with broad and bawdy skits, taking potshots at military chauvinism and top-brass privilege." He concluded, "what it lacks in finesse, it makes up for with a raucous energy."
The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...
described the film as "bouncing through satiric routines on the bungling authority that got us involved in Vietnam." The reviewer also felt the "routines and the film anticipate that a certain set of opinions will be held by the audience, that the young military people and the young movie-goer will share its anti-military, anti-Vietnam arposition." Michael Atkinson, writing on IFC.com, called the film "a document of disarming anti-authoritarian nerve" and says "the spirit of the thing is infectious and energizing". He also notes that the "film is, in any case, remarkable for how little it is known and how rarely it's been seen".


See also

* Concerned Officers Movement, officers group opposed to the Vietnam War *
Court-martial of Howard Levy The court-martial of Howard Levy occurred in 1967. Howard Levy (born April 10, 1937) was a United States Army doctor who became an early resister to the Vietnam War. In 1967, he was court-martialed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for refusing a ...
, early resister to the Vietnam War * Donald W. Duncan, Master Sergeant U.S. Army Special Forces early register to the Vietnam War * Fort Hood Three, three early resisters to the Vietnam War *
GI Coffeehouses GI coffeehouses were coffeehouses set up as part of the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War era as a method of fostering antiwar and anti-military sentiment within the U.S. military. They were mainly organized by civilian antiwar activists, ...
, antiwar coffeehouses near U.S. military bases * GI Underground Press *
GI's Against Fascism GI's Against Fascism was a small but formative organization formed within the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It ...
, early group of Navy resisters to the Vietnam War *
List of American films of 1972 This is a list of American films released in 1972. Box office The highest-grossing American films released in 1972, by domestic box office gross revenue as estimated by '' The Numbers'', are as follows: January–March April–June is ...
*
Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1965 with demonstrations against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States in the war. Over the next several years, these demonstrations grew ...
* Presidio mutiny, 27 soldiers refused to participate in the military and the war * '' Sir! No Sir!'', a 2005 documentary about the anti-war movement within the ranks of the United States Armed Forces * Soldiers in Revolt: GI Resistance During the Vietnam War, book about soldier & sailor resistance during the Vietnam War * Stop Our Ship (SOS) anti-Vietnam War movement in and around the U.S. Navy * Vietnam Veterans Against the War * Winter Soldier Investigation, investigation of war crimes in the Vietnam War


References


External links

*
F.T.A. - Trailer
on YouTube
''Sir! No Sir!'', a film about GI resistance to the Vietnam WarA Matter of Conscience - GI Resistance During the Vietnam WarWaging Peace in Vietnam - US Soldiers and Veterans Who Opposed the WarRita Martinson sings ''Soldier We Love You'' at the performance in OkinawaLyrics to ''Soldier We Love You'' by Rita Martinson

Country Joe McDonald at Woodstock doing the FUCK Cheer Song

''Trailers From Hell'' hosts David Zeiger reviewing ''F.T.A.''
{{Dalton Trumbo Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War 1972 documentary films 1972 films American documentary films Documentary films about the Vietnam War 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language documentary films