Baby Blue Marine

Staying up late one night, I accidentally caught this movie on TV. I had been looking for it since I'm a Richard Gere fan but hadn't had any luck. Good thing I didn't buy it or anything.

That said, it's not bad. But it certainly isn't very good. Vincent is sent home from the army and once he arrives in a small town, folks there mistake him for some sort of war hero. And he goes along for the ride, for a while anyway. Gere plays a soldier who at one point steals Vincent's clothes.

Harmless, that's probably the best word I can think of for this movie. I wasn't bored and I wasn't thrilled either. It went by easily (very short film), and I've mostly forgotten about it now, but I guess I wouldn't mind watching it again someday. If I couldn't think of anything else, that is.

One advice; don't watch it for Gere alone. His role is very short, but he's got blond hair here, very funny.

Jan-Michael Vincent plays a "Baby Blue Marine" (i.e., a Marine boot camp failure) during World War II. He's initially sent home in disgrace after just five weeks--wearing baby blue fatigues--until he's knocked unconscious (by a white-haired Richard Gere), forcing him into a different uniform: that of a Raider Marine. Original screenplay by Stanford Whitmore opens with a hilarious loser's outfit overseen by an incredulous drill instructor (Michael Conrad, who's terrific). The rest of the film isn't quite so good, especially with Whitmore's overripe narrative playing out like a Preston Sturges wannabe accented with barracks talk, introspective drama, and curlicues of wobbly comedy. Vincent (laying on the sensitive soul routine) isn't the recruit I wanted to follow, anyway; that honor would go to Bruno Kirby (B. Kirby Jr.) as a fake bed-wetter who just wants to get home to his lonely wife. **1/2 from ****

The first time I saw this film I was working as the projectionist of the multi-plex theater where it first opened in 1976. It played for two or more weeks and did good business. I must have checked my watch and looked out at the same few scenes a hundred times. The actors were so talented and the scenery so real as if it was a real 1944 town. I am 60 now and just saw it again on cable. I was about 23 or 4 when it was released. It has been hard for me to understand why Jan Michael Vincent never became a huge box office star like DeNiro or Warren Beaty. I didn't like his TV series "Airwolf" He was so talented but his feature-length movies just were swept under the rug so to speak. I guess some make it while some don't. If you see this playing on cable or in a DVD discount bin watch it un-cut by commercials. Have some tissues nearby.

I first saw this film while stationed in Germany, and I especially enjoyed the scenery, music, and the plot. The timeless standard, "I'll be seeing you", added greatly to the mood. A very imaginative, and sensitive kind of movie for all to enjoy.

Very appealing stateside WWII drama stars then-hot Jan-Michael Vincent as Marion "Hedge" Hedgepeth, who, before long, flunks out of his basic training as a Marine, and is sent home in a baby blue uniform in disgrace. During the journey, he encounters an actual young veteran (Richard Gere, in a memorable bit) who's desperate to avoid being sent back into battle. So the vet mugs Hedge (well, so to speak...he actually LEAVES him a few dollars), and all Hedge has to wear is the vets' uniform. On his way back home, he stops in a small Colorado town, and is naturally thought to be a war hero by the locals. He's so endearing to them, and they to him, that he can't bring himself to tell them the truth.

Written by Stanford Whitmore ("Hammersmith Is Out", "The Dark"), and directed by John D. Hancock ("Let's Scare Jessica to Death", "Bang the Drum Slowly"), this is an enjoyable little film worth rediscovering. While not altogether believable (for some reason, there's a Japanese internment camp right in the woods near this town), it gets by on a certain amount of charm, just like its lead character. In fact, a citizen named Hudkins (Bert Remsen), with whose daughter Rose (Glynnis O'Connor) Hedge falls in love, surmises that he's too *nice* and *innocent* to seem like a hardened killer.

Overall, the film does get pretty dramatic, and takes on the tone of a fable, but it never veers too far into unpleasantness. Excellent location shooting in & near the California towns of Weed and McCloud gives it atmosphere and a fine feeling of Americana, and the score by Fred Karlin is excellent.

Vincent was then at the peak of his career as a leading man in film, and he couldn't be more likable. O'Connor is adorable as the romantic interest, and Katherine Helmond, Dana Elcar, Bert Remsen, Bruno Kirby, Gere (sporting shocking bleach blonde hair), Art Lund, Michael Conrad, Allan Miller, Kenneth Tobey, Lelia Goldoni, Marshall Efron, and Barton Heyman comprise a rock solid supporting cast. Adam Arkin has one of his earliest big screen roles as a boy named "Rupe".

Well worth a look, especially if you like cinema set during this period, or are a fan of Vincent.

Seven out of 10.