Adrian (Jan Michael Vincent) is a long-haired hippie, all decked out in flowing robes, bangles and beads. He relaxes by standing on his head and contemplating his navel.
Then he is drafted into the rough, tough US Marine Corps.
The poor, peace-loving recruit is mercilessly hounded around the parade ground by the barking drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Drake (Darren McGavin) – the epitome of everything a US Marine should be – but he soaks up the punishment so happily – with a serene smile on his face, in fact – that his guru antics inspires the other recruits.
When Drake drills the recruits, he has them hold out buckets of sand at arm’s length until they drop – all but Adrian and a tough football player named Scrunch (Peter Hooten).
Eventualy, Scrunch too drops the bucket, leaving Adrian alone.
Sidney (Danny Goldman), a slight youth, asks Adrian how he managed to do it and how he could go through the rest of the drill in the boiling sun while smiling the whole time.
Adrian replies that he does it by filling his mind with an image he loves: himself and a beautiful girl frolicking on a grassy hillside. He teaches the others how to think of whatever they like best and soon he has the whole dormitory sitting cross-legged in the lotus position with smiles on their faces.
Soon, more than half of them are defeating Drake’s torture session by holding the buckets of sand until he tells them to put them down. Even Sgt Drake’s iron heart is softened by his hippie happiness.
But the battle of wills continues with chief drill instructor Master Sergeant Frank DePayster (Earl Holliman) ever ready to deride both Drake and Adrian. This is the Marine Corps, after all, and the message is “The system will beat you in the end”.
This made-for-TV movie won critical acclaim when it aired in the US on 10 November 1970, receiving the highest rating of any ABC Movie of the Week that season, and the second-highest rating of all television shows for the week. As a result, Tribes was released to certain cinemas.
The film was released in Europe as The Soldier Who Declared Peace.
Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Drake
Darren McGavin
Adrian
Jan Michael Vincent
Master Sergeant Frank DePayster
Earl Holliman
Scrunch
Peter Hooten
Sidney
Danny Goldman
Quentin
John Gruber
Sanchez
Richard Yniguez
Marcellus
Antone Curtis
Armstrong
David Buchanan
Morton
Ric Weaver
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