Hail, Hero! (1969)

Before he gained fame on television with his role as Inspector Keller on "The Streets of San Francisco", Michael Douglas made appearances in several thought-provoking (if not critically acclaimed) feature films, including ADAM AT 6 A.M., SUMMERTREE, and his first movie, HAIL HERO. In his screen debut, Douglas plays Carl Dixon, a free-spirited young man who abruptly drops out of college and enlists in the army. He's not entirely sure what compelled him to join up, however, so before heading off to Vietnam he comes home to the family ranch in hopes of clearing his mind of self-doubts and old problems. Unfortunately, Carl's long hair and semi-lunatic behavior only serve to create more friction between him and his strait-laced father (nicely played by screen veteran Arthur Kennedy).
Like the other early Douglas films, HAIL HERO attempts to explore some of the major controversies of its day: the generation gap, the questioning of traditional values, and of course the Vietnam war. Ultimately it is only partially successful on these points, because the movie spends too much time on Carl's irreverant antics rather than coming right out and making some pointed statements about the issues it's dealing with. Only once, in an excellent scene in which two visiting politicians are questioned about the reasons for going to war, does the film touch any solid ground about the 60's clash between the old establishment and youthful idealism. The rest of the time it wanders from scene to scene depicting Carl's encounters with various local characters, among them a strange old woman zonked out on marijuana and a man who gives him a sobering tour of a home for senior citizens. These sequences are interesting but don't really lead anywhere. That, in fact, may best sum up this movie: it's like an assortment of well-intentioned but unfinished ideas. One gets the feeling that there was something important trying to be said, but the message was clouded by too many attempts to be hip and "meaningful" with a capital M.