Go Tell the Spartans
A unit of American military advisors in Vietnam prior to the major U.S. involvement find similarities…
- Director: Ted Post
- Genre:Drama / War
- Runtime:114 minutes
Cast
Burt Lancaster : Maj. Asa Barker
Craig Wasson : Cpl. Courcey
Jonathan Goldsmith: Sgt. Oleonowski
Marc Singer : Capt. Alfred Olivetti
Joe Unger : Lt. Hamilton
It’s 1964 in the period when American troops were euphemistically termed “military advisors” in Vietnam. Major Asa Barker (Burt Lancaster) has been given his current command: a poorly-manned outpost in rural Vietnam somewhere near the Da Nang to Phnom Penh (Cambodia) highway that was, a decade earlier, the scene of a massacre of French soldiers during the First Indochina War – named Muc Wa.
Barker, as a seasoned officer, knows that he cannot defend his position due to his lack of both the numbers and the quality of the local troops under his command. But he is still obliged to carry out the orders of his superior, Colonel Harnitz, who sends Barker US re-enforcements to appease him. His command consists of a handful of US soldiers (encompassing the inexperienced, unhappy, idealistic and glory-seeking) and some reluctant former Vietnamese paddy farmers turned militiamen. Barker is a capable commander who has stymied his career by having an affair with a senior officer’s wife. He argues that the Hamlet is deserted and has no importance, but sends a detachment from his command, which includes veteran sergeant Oleonowski, who is suffering from battle fatigue, and which is commanded by the brash but nervous Lt. Hamilton. The detachment also includes a drug-addicted medic (Lincoln) and a young draftee (Courcey) who quickly befriends an elderly native volunteer (Old Man).
On their way to Muc Wa the column is ambushed, resulting in ARVN Cpl. Cowboy beheading the Viet Cong attacker. On reaching the Hamlet, Hamilton sets up his defences in a triangular formation and receives supplies brought in by helicopter. At the rear of the hamlet is a graveyard, and while he is investigatating it, Courcey spots a one-eyed Viet Cong soldier. Back at Barker’s base, he receives a Psy-ops officer who claims the he will predict which one of Barker’s out posts the Viet Cong will attack next. Read more
