This 1967 color film production follows members of the United States Marine Corps to show tourist luxuries enjoyed by servicemen on R&R in Taipei, Taiwan during the Vietnam War (TRT 26:48). The film glosses over some of the more lurid aspects of the military R&R excursions, and the fact that they tended to promote social ills including prostitution, human trafficking and drug running in countries like Thailand, the Philippines and elsewhere.
Film begins. “Korea, Winter 1952.” US troops climb a snowy hillside in black and white. Smoke on the horizon (0:18). “Vietnam, Spring 1967” title over troops on jungle patrol (0:45). Our host (1:03). Signage: Tan Son Nhat International Airport (1:16). Camp Alpha, Saigon. “A Holiday From Hell” title over a marine dusting his shoes (1:24). Marines at the R&R processing office (1:45). Money is counted out to a G.I. from a cashier’s window (2:22). Visiting a medic for a shot while smoking a cigar (2:43). Interviews reveal R&R plans (3:15). G.I.s leave Tan Son Nhat Airport and board a Pan American airliner (4:30). A female flight attendant speaks into an intercom (5:24). The Grand Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan looks out on a hazy sky (6:10). Pan Am Vice President Tom Flanagan speaks about air travel between 10 R&R centers (6:53). Taiwanese citizens pedal bicycles in a busy Taipei street (10:07). A cinema advertises the films “Cast a Giant Shadow” and “Grand Prix” (10:20). Laundry hangs from clotheslines (10:23). G.I.s deplane and sign paperwork (10:28). A marine sergeant lectures from the front of a bus (10:48). Light shines on a line of Taipei hotel representatives. A G.I. loads into a red taxi and disappears into the night (14:07). Fireworks. Neon signage for “Suzie Wong Bar” (14:54). A permit from the Taipei Police HQ and an English drink menu. Signs “The Mayflower” and “O.K. Bar” (15:03). A hand wearing a watch and a class ring drums on a bar around a cocktail (15:25). A bar hostess smiles at the full counter of men (15:44). A woman and two servicemen make awkward conversation. Zoom in on her cocktail glass and ring (16:02). The bar mirror reveals another young Taiwanese woman. The man with her watches the camera sternly (17:27). Outdoor signage for the “O.K. Bar, Best Place for R&R.” A man in a cardigan smokes a cigarette and walks with a woman in a dress (18:00). Storefronts “Drug Store” and “Tong Tu Hotel” (18:23). Large movie posters for “The Theft of Mona Lisa” aka “Il ladro della Gioconda.” Movie theaters advertise a samurai film, a western, “The Man Called Gringo” (18:34). Two men on ladders paint a billboard for a motor scooter (18:47). A crossing guard in a white helmet watches traffic (18:50). Street vendors sell hot corn on the cob. A black man in sunglasses looks at the camera. A toy vendor blows a plastic whistle (18:56). Longshan Temple. The National Palace Museum (19:53). The Tatun Volcano Group (20:06). A park in Bato, Philippines. Children roller skate (20:12). A sign: “Hot Spring Hotel Shin Fuei Fong” (20:31). A woman in blue walks past the camera, which tilts up to show a high-rise building (20:42). The shoes of one man and two women at the threshold of a doorway (20:50). Two women in robes chat among glass bottles (20:58). Bare feet step into a shower. Two more sets of legs follow (21:10). Two women shampoo a seated man’s head (21:24). A sunset landscape rushes past a moving vehicle. Mountains with lens flare (21:42). Montage of plant life. A posed photograph in silhouette. The sun’s reflection on Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County (22:21). A woman’s face in silhouette. A man wades into the lake (23:33). A rice farmer tills the paddies. A water buffalo plows through mud roads. A woman in a conical hat carries water in buckets (24:36). A water wheel turns. A butterfly. A white bird (24:52). Back on patrol in high jungle grasses (25:20). End credits (25:50).
The film was produced and written by Sterling Seagrave and narrated by Roger Grimsby.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
