Gardens of Stone
| Gardens of Stone | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Francis Ford Coppola |
| Produced by |
Francis Ford Coppola Michael I. Levy |
| Screenplay by | Ronald Bass |
| Based on | Gardens of Stone by Nicholas Proffitt |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Carmine Coppola |
| Cinematography | Jordan Cronenweth |
| Edited by | Barry Malkin |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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112 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $13 million |
| Box office | $5,262,050 |
Gardens of Stone is a 1987 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel of the same title by Nicholas Proffitt. It stars James Caan, Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones and D. B. Sweeney.
A hardened Korean and Vietnam War veteran, Sergeant Clell Hazard (James Caan) would rather be an instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, to train soldiers for Vietnam but instead he is assigned by the Army to the 1st battalion 3d Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, Virginia.
The Old Guard is U.S. Army's Honor Guard. It provides the ceremonial honor guard for the funerals of fallen soldiers and guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Hazard calls them the "toy soldiers" and hates his job until Jackie Willow (D. B. Sweeney), the son of an old friend and fellow veteran, is assigned to his platoon and he sees an opportunity to make sure at least one man comes home alive.
Hazard tries to warn Willow about Vietnam but the young man sees it as his duty as a soldier to fight for his country, no matter what kind of war. Hazard hates how the war in Vietnam is being fought and feels that good soldiers are being wounded and killed in the "wrong" war in which the U.S. is not fighting to win.
Among the others in Hazard's life are his longtime friend and superior, Sergeant Major "Goody" Nelson (James Earl Jones), and his girlfriend Samantha Davis (Anjelica Huston), a writer for the Washington Post who is against the Vietnam War for different reasons.
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Wikipedia