The Green Berets | |
---|---|
Directed by | |
Screenplay by | James Lee Barrett |
Based on | The Green Berets 1965 novel by Robin Moore |
Produced by | Michael Wayne |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Winton C. Hoch |
Edited by | Otho Lovering |
Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros.-Seven Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 142 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages |
|
Budget | $7 million |
Box office | $32 million[1] |
The Green Berets is a 1968 American war film directed by John Wayne and Ray Kellogg, and starring Wayne, David Janssen and Jim Hutton, based on the 1965 novel by Robin Moore. Much of the film was shot in the summer of 1967. Parts of the screenplay bear little relation to the novel, although the portion in which a woman seduces a North Vietnamese communist general and sets him up to be kidnapped by Americans is from the book.
The Green Berets is strongly anti-communist and pro-South Vietnam. It was released at the height of American involvement in the Vietnam War, the same year as the Tet Offensive against the largest cities in South Vietnam. John Wayne was so concerned by the anti-war sentiment in the United States, he wanted to make this film to present the pro-military position. He requested and obtained full military cooperation and materiel from 36th President Lyndon B. Johnson and the United States Department of Defense. John Wayne bought the film rights to Robin Moore's book for $35,000 and 5% of undefined profits of the film.[2]
The film was a financial success at the box office, but received almost universally negative reviews from critics.[3][4]
ebert
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).adler
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).