This color educational/promotional film is about daily life at the Military Academy at West Point, NY. Copyright is 1967.

This color educational and recruiting film is about daily life at the Military Academy at West Point, NY. Copyright is 1967, which means it was released during the Vietnam War.

Opening title: THIS IS THE POINT (:06-:12). Trees on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY. A cannon is fired. Band prepares. Flag flies. A drum is struck. Cadets come down the stairs as another cadet tells them what is going on. An officer scolds a cadet for not having his jacket zipped up (:13-1:30). Rain falls at West Point. Statue of George Washington. Cadets march (1:31-3:13) in formation with their rifles. Quarters of the Superintendent, currently it’s Major General Donald V. Bennett. Bennett sits with cadets, including the captain of the football team, while they eat breakfast (3:14-5:58). Cadets walk to class. A teacher speaks to students in a difficult math class (5:59-7:40). Cadets complete math problems on the chalk board. An African American student discusses the problem. Earth space and graphic sciences (7:41-9:30). Art class. Jefferson Davis made a Roman soldier as a cadet, art by Ulysses S. Grant, and Gladiators by William Tecumsah Sherman. Cullum Hall, younger cadets can meet with family here. Women, children, and couples dance (9:31-11:20). Outdoor instruction. Room inspection (11:21-13:52). Cadets march and ‘walk the area’ as part of punishment. No lying, cheating, or stealing or you are thrown out of West Point. Electrical science school. Swimming. Wrestling matches (13:53-16:51). Hockey game. Fans watch. A goal is scored. Basketball game in progress. A tennis match. A baseball game. Fans clap and applaud. Pole vaulting. Track and field matches (16:52-19:14). At 11:50 a.m. each morning, cadets get ready for lunch. Physics class (19:15-21:14). Nuclear physics is taught. Statue of Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer known as “the Father of West Point,” an early superintendent of West Point and an early advocate of engineering education in the U.S. Students in a history class. Cadets look at their grades on a board. Down the halls as cadets leave class (21:15-23:41). Military arts and sciences class. The instructor is an officer who served in Vietnam. Military justice class. A mock trial is presented (23:42-27:09). Russian class, all cadets must take two years of foreign language. Fluid mechanics class. Students work near a typewriter. Computers at work (28:40) including a tape driven mainframe. Official cadet host teaches social graces. She is in charge of rounding up females to date the cadets. Women walk the grounds with some of the cadets. Women’s pictures on a bulletin board that are available to date, some of the men size them up (27:10-30:18). Cadets in formation. Cadets host visiting dignitaries. Bagpipes are played by the visitors. A cadet and his girlfriend sit near the water, they talk and laugh (30:19-32:28). Graduating class presents a “100 Nights” play. This mocks things but everyone laughs. Men dressed as women / in drag, and even Batman shows up in the play. Batman is almost hanged (32:29-34:16). Tactics class. Boats are unloaded, weapons are fired. An intensive military summer program for the incoming second year class is held each summer. During the eight week program, they are taught many different skills. Men do bootcamp type exercises (34:17-36:54). Recondo Base Camp sign. This camp is run by Army Rangers. Cadets fight one another in the combat pit. Two mile run. A cadet is carried off on a stretcher. Pushups. Cliff rappelling (36:55-38:34). Cadets do down a slide pole into the water. Ranger makes the cadet do sit-ups. Cadets have to do pull ups off a rope over water and then salute, they then fall into the water. A cadet does push-ups (38:35-40:16). The Army Black Knights football team, previously known as the Army Cadets, represents the United States Military Academy in college football. Football game. Pre-game walk for the team with the captain and coach. Band and cadets march (40:17-42:12). Tailgating with families before the game. People come into the stadium. Army football game has begun. The game is in full swing. Touchdown for Army. A cannon is fired. Title: This is the Point (42:13-43:58).

Black space (43:59-44:11)

Military Academy at West Point, NY. A former student returns with his wife to look around. Other younger couples at West Point, a couple walks amongst the trees. The couple kisses (44:12-45:46). Wedding. A man throws the garter belt and it’s caught by a fellow cadet. Cadets march. Cemetery. Headstones of deceased alumni are shown (45:47-47:27). The long grey line of cadets march in formation. Statue of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Cadets in formation on the football field. Cadets salute. Battlefield footage. Damaged tank, helmets with bullet holes in them. Vietnam footage, helicopters, walking through fields on fire. Cadets stand silent (47:28-49:49). Cadets march with their rifles (49:50-50:32). End credits (50:33-51:07).