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AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES SPECIAL FEATURE July 10, 107;! UNDERGROUND "F.T.A." FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BY STEVE JAFFE "F.T.A.": THE SHOW THE PENTAGON COULDN'T STOP t The "F.T.A." Show was a problem to the Brass in the Pentagon. In all it's wit and anger, it's explosive satire, and powerful attack on racism, and all the other ills of the military, the show was something that had to be dealt with.. So the Pentagon said, "No." No, they couldn't perform on base. No,GI's couldn't go off base; to see it. No, ships could not go into port if the show was playing there. No, the troupe would not be permitted in Vietnam. NO, NO, NO, NO. Inequities aside (considering the hospitality shown the USO shows by the Pentagon,) "F.T.A." would not let that stop them. "F.T.A. is one of the most relevant kind of theater in existence today," says Jane Fonda, who, with actor Donald Sutherland and director Francine Parker produced the successful show which performed for thousands of GI's, servicewomen and men, near bases in the Pacific Rim (Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan and Okinawa.) "The Material for the show was taken from the more than 75 GI newspapers published by GI projects outside of U.S. Military bases all over America and around the world," Ms. Fonda continued. "We felt a film was the only way to bring tho show back to the American people but more importantly, to bring back the true feelings expressed by the GI's themselves." "What the soldiers wanted to communicate to the American people -continued- UNDERGROUND FEATURE - "F.T.A." - PAGE 2 is a .1.1 there in the film," Ms. Fonda continued, "It's their film as it was their show.- We were there because we supported their struggle and the GI Movement." "F.T.A.",the show which toured more than 15 cities, performed 21 shows to more than 6'!,000 GI's, which took a crew of 15 with three cameras more than 78 hours of film to record, comes to the screen as "F.T.A.", a Free Theatre Associates Presentation of a Duque Films Production to be distributed In July by American Inter­ national Pictures. ••;-.. "It's a total, cross-section of theatre, variety, drama, humor, satirical sketches, music and song. Most importantly, it was a show which reached the distant, lost, sometimes forgotten GI's," says Francine Parker, the show's director. "It was the most meaningful experience as an actor I have ever participated in," Donald Sutherland commented, "and the audience of servicewomen and men was the most responsive, enthusiastic, I have ever seen." • -._.. One of the "F.T.A." casts' four black performers, singer Rita Martinson, said, "It will be a very successful film because no one will expect anything like it. It's got the truth and it's part of one of the most contemporary forms of theatre to come along in our time. The GI's created it -- they asked for something new. They gave us the basis and we did our thing." It is "The Show the Pentagon Couldn't Stop", as its billing pro­ claims , referring to the insurmountable difficulties encountered by producers Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, and Francine Parker, who -continued- UNDERGROUND FEATURE - "E.T.A." - PAGE 3 planned the now famous troupe's tour of U.S. Military Rases in the Pacific. "At every turn there were obstacles put in our path by the Pentagon," Ms. Fonda reports. "We were denied permission to perform for soldiers in Vietnam, the Pentagon was silent to our request. The Japanese Immigration officials tried to deny us entry to Japan even though their own consulate in Los Angeles had issued us our visas. "We were the first entertainers not to be permitted by the military on any bases," she continues. "Even though we had come thousands of miles, at our own expense, to perform for the soldiers. Leaves were cancelled, GI's were restricted to base, two GI's were -even given discharges (honorable) • and sent home after appearing at a press conference with our cast in Manila. U.S. Naval vessels were held out at sea even though they had been scheduled to dock for shore leave. And a special Pentagon order was sent to the General in command on Okinawa directing him to restrict all military personel to base so that they couldn't see our show. That was after his own top officer crawled through a window at the auditorium to see our show in Koza, Okinawa, the night before I There were GI's rock bands who played in our show, and some of them were beaten when they re­ turned to base," Ms. Fonda said. Fifteen actors and crew, armed with some of the most powerful material ever performed in a revue, termed "Political Vaudeville" by director-producer Francine Parker, began the tour with a fundraiser at New York's Lincoln Center which eventually qualified and won an -continued- UNDERGROUND EEATURE - "F.T.A." - PAGE 'I Ohio, the Off Broadway prize for legitimate theatre. Then to Honolulu where they entertained the courageous sailors of the U.S.S. Coral Sea, an attack aircraft carrier from Alameda Naval Air Station, California, from which raids are launched on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. 1300 of the '1000 men on the Coral Sea signed a petition as Brother; of the Coral. Sea which told Congress they refused to go to Vietnam (their orders were to leave San Francisco for the Guld of Tonkin) and supported the S.O.S. Movement (Stop Our Ship.) They went anyway, and in Honolulu they got some very important support the the "F.T.A." While performers Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Michael Alaimo, • Len Chandler, Pamala Donegan, Rita Martinson, Paul Mooney, Holly Near, Yale Zimmei'man and director, Francine Parker, looked on, two of the servicemen from the Coral Sea articulated their struggle to the 2500 people in the audience at the Honolulu Civic Auditorium. "When you're busting your ass, 16 to 20 hours a day, you get to wondering why. You're sure not doing it for yourself," the seaman said, rapping it down straight, nervous in his attempt to make contact with so many people via the podium and the stage." "It seems you're doing it for an awful stupid cause. One time in the Tonkin Gulf they had a show on closed circuit T.V., put on by Flight Ops. They explained everything they do over there -- like how many bombs they dropped and where they dropped them. This guy, he really seemed to get into that, really enjoyed telling about people they destroyed. The dude got up to show a point on the map and when he turned around, in big block letters on his back was written, "Murder -continued- UNDERGROUND FEATURE - "F.T.A." - PAGE 5 Inc.' When he did that, man a lot of people wen.» really uptight. He wasn't there 30 seconds before the captain came running in and threw - him out. lie was afraid that people would, all of a sudden, think about what was going on. And it worked because everybody oil that ship did. "When I came in three and a half years ago, we thought, 'well this is gonna be a bum trip but we'll take it.' ,' "Originally, 12 of us started the petition. Within a day we had 300 signatures. I was ripped off by the executive officer. We came back from San Francisco and flooded the ship with petitions. We thought that order was illegal because it was our constitutional right to petition Congress. That night we did pass around petitions and we got busted. The next day, in protest of that, we took more petitions around from one end of the hangar bay to the other, passing out all this literature right underneath the captain's nose. The captain came over, busted us, and sent us up to his cabin. On the way, we all walked with clenched fists. The youthful sailor then addressed the F.T.A. troupe. "When the news came over of you people coming here, I couldn't believe it. But it got through, and the message was signed F.T.N. I couldn't believe my eyes. That came over a Navy circuit! You never saw a message handled so fast in your life," he concluded, sighting one example of the effectiveness of the powerful resistencc within the service itself otherwise known as the G.I. Movement. "People have always said: not now, not me. Well, now people are starting to say: yes, now, and it's gonna be me. I won't fight your -continued- UNDERGROUND FEATURE - "F.T.A." - PAGE G war. I don't want to take orders. I don't want anyone over me, I don't need anyone under me." That was just one important moment in the tour. The GI's have spoken out with the help and the platform of the "F.T.A." Show and now their comments, the truth as it has never been disseminated to the American people, has an outlet. It's a film .-- called "F.T.A." * * * .
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