''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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Henry Jaglom Henry David Jaglom (born January 26, 1938) is an English-born American actor, film director and playwright. Life and career Jaglom was born to a Jewish family in London, England, the son of Marie (née Stadthagen) and Simon M. Jaglom, who wor ...

and starring

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He was considered one of the key figures of New Hollywood. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Internatio ...

, Taryn Power and

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he appeared in '' Anchors Aweigh'' (1945), '' ...

. The story involves a returned

Vietnam veteran A Vietnam veteran is an individual who performed active Army, ground, Navy, naval, or Air force, air service in the South Vietnam, Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed fo ...

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 (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

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 A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

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

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

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 * Taryn Power as Stephanie *

as Mark * Topo Swope as Chloe *

Alfred Ryder Alfred Ryder (born Alfred Jacob Corn; January 5, 1916 – April 16, 1995) was an American television, stage, radio, and film actor and director, who appeared in over one hundred television shows. Career Ryder began to act at age eight and later ...

as The Man * Zack Norman 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 James Joseph Frawley (September 29, 1936 – January 22, 2019) was an American director and actor. He was a member of the Actors Studio since around 1961. He was best known for directing '' The Muppet Movie'' (1979), and '' The Monkees'' telev ...

as Train Passenger *

Sally Kirkland Sally Kirkland Jr. (born October 31, 1941) is an American 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 film and television produ ...

as Train Passenger

Production

Following the production of '' A Safe Place'', 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-US-film-stub