Gardens of Stone

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Gardens of Stone
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Produced by Francis Ford Coppola,
Michael I. Levy
Written by Ronald Bass
Starring James Caan
Anjelica Huston
James Earl Jones
D.B. Sweeney
Dean Stockwell
Mary Stuart Masterson
Distributed by Tri-Star Pictures
Release date(s) May 8, 1987
Running time 112 min.
Language English
IMDb profile

Gardens of Stone is a 1987 film by Francis Ford Coppola. It tells the story of a hardened Korean and Vietnam War veteran Sgt. Clell Hazard (James Caan); he longs to train soldiers for Vietnam but is instead put in the 1st battalion 3rd infantry regiment (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, Virginia. The Old Guard does the funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. Hazard calls them the "toy soldiers" and hates his job until Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney), the son of an old friend and fellow veteran, turns up in his company and he sees an opportunity to make sure at least one man comes home alive. He tries to warn Willow about Vietnam but the young man sees it as his duty as a soldier to fight for his country, no matter what kind of war.

James Earl Jones plays Hazard's longtime friend, Sergeant Major "Goody" Nelson. Anjelica Huston portrays Hazard's girlfriend, Samantha Davis, a writer for the Washington Post who is against the Vietnam War for different reasons than Hazard.Later in the film Jackie marries a Colonel's daughter Rachel.

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