''Welcome Home, Soldier Boys'' is a 1971 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

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 Tre ...

and starring

Joe Don Baker Joe Don Baker (February 12, 1936 – May 7, 2025) was an American actor, known for playing "tough guy" characters on both sides of the law. He established himself as an action star with supporting roles in the Westerns '' Guns of the Magnificent ...

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 Ki ...

Alan Vint Alan Richard Vint (November 11, 1944 – August 16, 2006) was an American character actor. Vint was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He appeared in a number of supporting roles during the 1970s in films such as '' The McMasters'' (1970), ''Two-Lane Bl ...

, Elliott Street, Jennifer Billingsley and Billy "Green" Bush. 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 December 10, 1971, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

. The website

Letterboxd Letterboxd ( ) is an online social cataloging service for film founded (partially with investment company Tiny since 2023) and owned by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow in 2011, and headquartered in New Zealand. Members can rate and review ...

lists this movie as belonging to the vetsploitation subgenre.

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 soldiers, 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 *

as Kid *Elliott Street as Fatback * Jennifer Billingsley as Broad * Billy "Green" Bush as Sheriff * Geoffrey Lewis as Francis Rapture *

Francine York Francine York (born Francine Yerich; August 26, 1936 – January 6, 2017) was an American actress and model. She also used her birth name Francine Yerich in her occupation. Early life Francine Yerich was born to Frank and Sophie Yerich in the s ...

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 bor ...

as Danny's Mother *Cherie Foster as Gloria *

Beach Dickerson Beach Dickerson ( – 2005) was an American actor known for such films as '' The Trip'' and ''Crazy Mama''. Career Dickerson worked frequently with director Roger Corman. His first appearance was in '' Attack of the Crab Monsters''. He also app ...

as Used Car Salesman *

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

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

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, welcome_home_soldier_boys 1971 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 1971 drama films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language drama films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links