''Tracks'' is a 1976 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written and directed by Henry Jaglom and starring

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in '' Giant'' (1956). In the next ten year ...

Taryn Power Taryn Stephanie Power (September 13, 1953 – June 26, 2020) was an American actress. Biography Early life Taryn was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1953, to actors Tyrone Power and Linda Christian.Deutsch, Linda (Associated Press)(2 Janua ...

and

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including ''Anchors A ...

. The story involves a returned

Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is a person who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and ot ...

escorting a fellow soldier's coffin across the United States for burial.

Plot

In 1973, 1st Sgt. Jack Falen (Hopper) returns from the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

to the United States to escort a friend's body for a hometown burial. Once in the US, Jack travels across the country via

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...

(hence the film's title), where he meets the mysterious Mark (Stockwell) and the alluring

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

student Stephanie (Power). During the trip, Jack falls in love with Stephanie, but destroys the relationship through constant flashbacks to combat.

Cast

as 1st Sgt. Jack Falen *

as Stephanie *

as Mark * Topo Swope as Chloe * Alfred Ryder as The Man *

Zack Norman Zack Norman (born ''Howard Jerrold Zuker''; May 27, 1940) is an American actor, director, producer, writer, comedian, musician, film financier, painter, art collector and real estate developer. Born in Boston and raised in nearby Revere, at the ...

as Gene *Michael Emil as Emile *Barbara Flood as The Lady *

Frank McRae Frank McRae (March 18, 1941 – April 29, 2021) was an American film and television actor, and a professional football player. Early life McRae was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from Tennessee State University with a double major ...

as Train Coachman * James Frawley as Train Passenger *

Sally Kirkland Sally Kirkland (born October 31, 1941) is an American film, television and stage actress and producer. A former member of Andy Warhol's The Factory and an active member in 1960s New York avant-garde theater, she has appeared in more than 250 fi ...

as Train Passenger

Production

Following the production of ''

A Safe Place ''A Safe Place'' is a 1971 American drama film written and directed by Henry Jaglom and starring Tuesday Weld, Orson Welles, and Jack Nicholson. Plot A young woman, named Noah, lives alone in a small apartment New York City. She is a mentally di ...

'', Jaglom spent five years putting together $1 million to shoot ''Tracks''.

References

External links

* * * 1976 films 1976 drama films American drama films Films about veterans Films set on trains Vietnam War films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Henry Jaglom 1970s American films {{1970s-drama-film-stub