La ballata di Andy Crocker

i first saw this movie as a child in the early 70s,and saw it again for the first time since recently on tape,it is as relevant to a new generation and war today as it was to the "Nam"generation over 30 years ago.lee majors is excellent as the disaffected veteran who returns to a crumbled former life back home and has trouble adjusting to civilian life.also look for Marvin Gaye in a rare acting role.this low budget TV movie is as good as other returning vet movies that came later in the 70s-the deer hunter and coming home,i like this movie it shows the problems of the returning war veterans and the obstacle's that they faced.even more surprising is that this movie was released as a TV movie while the united states was still deeply involved militarily in southeast Asia.this film deserves a fresh look today with veterans returning home from a new war-to the same old problems.

"When a Vietnam veteran returns from serving his country in the war, his homecoming is hardly a hero's welcome. In fact, things couldn't get much worse: his girlfriend is now married to another man and his cycle repair shop is on the verge of bankruptcy. He is now left with putting the scattered pieces of his life back together," according to the DVD sleeve description, "He was supposed to return as a hero!" This ABC-TV Tuesday "Movie of the Week" stars handsome Lee Majors (late of "The Big Valley").

To his credit, Mr. Majors and his "Andy Crocker" character seem way to smart for the story. We are led to believe Majors would come home from Vietnam after over ten years and immediately take up with Peter Haskell's sitar-strained hippies, then expect sexy Jill Haworth to accompany him on a motorcycle trip home to Texas, where curvy girlfriend Joey Heatherton (as Lisa) would have been waiting for them with open arms. Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Farrah Fawcett was dating Tommy Smothers.

And, Majors left his "Used Bikes" shop, acquired when he was a teenager, in the hands of ditzy Jimmy Dean (as Mack), a singer without a song. Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield (as Joe Bob) and Motown's Marvin Gaye (as David Owens) are other singers appearing without a note, and Agnes Moorehead (from the popular "Bewitched" series) has a cameo. After Majors beats up Mr. Dean, his father asks, "Son, when are you going to grow up?" Good question. Stay tuned for "Marcus Welby, M.D."

*** The Ballad of Andy Crocker (11/18/69) George McCowan ~ Lee Majors, Joey Heatherton, Jimmy Dean, Bobby Hatfield

Released to TV in 1969, "The Ballad of Andy Crocker" is presumably the first movie to tackle the topic of a Vietnam vet coming home from the war, which didn't become popular until almost a decade later with films like "Coming Home" (1978).

Lee majors stars as the title character, right after his successes in Charlton Heston's "Will Penny" (1967) and, of course, The Big Valley. Unfortunately, this flick's nowhere near as good as "Coming Home." It's a sad sack drama highlighted by the late 60's setting and jaw-dropping beauty of curvy Joey Heatherton (as Lisa). Cutie Jill Haworth is also on hand as a hippie chick in the opening act.

The rest of the cast is also interesting: Motown's Marvin Gaye plays a fellow soldier, Jimmy Dean a dubious business partner and Pat Hingle the dad. Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield and Agnes Moorehead (Endora from Bewitched) even show up.

The film runs 1 hour, 13 minutes and looks like it was shot in California.

GRADE: C+

irritating music at beginning and throughout film finds fiancé is married, business gone and friends hard to find

Lee Major is Andy Crocker--a guy who is coming home from the Vietnam War with all sorts of plans...plans that turn to crap! First, he sees that the public is NOT happy to see him and there is a lot of anger towards Vietnam vets. Second, his fiancée married someone else...without telling him. Third, his business is in ruins! Fourth, Andy really does a lot to alienate himself from his family. Obviously making his transition to civilian life is going to be rough!

I rarely say this but the music from this movie is so irritating and painful to listen to that I had to fast-forward through these hellish montage sequences. They were a sort of folk/pop tunes that sounded very whiny and made my brain scream for relief! Yes, they were that bad!! It's a shame as it really had a major impact on the film.

So is the rest of this any good? Well, I appreciate how the film did talk about the mistreatment of returning vets and even went so far as to have one character talk about how she thought the US was going to lose the war!! This is pretty radical stuff considering this was the middle of the war back in 1969. Interesting but many of the features made a few years later were 1000 times better, such as "Coming Home" and "The Deer Hunter".

By the way, if you DO watch...look at Andy's friend from Vietnam...that's Marvin Gaye...yes, THAT Marvin Gaye!!

Made for tv movies used to have the stigma of being-made for tv. And for the most part it was deserved. Much like Japanese products were once dismissed as-made in Japan. Remember that? Well this is an early made for tv movie that is an exception to the rule. It deserves inclusion with the better films of the returning vet genre. I highly recommend it.