Welcome to the Club
Cast & Crew
Walter Shenson
Brian Foley
Jack Warden
Marsha Hunt
Joyce Wilford
Lon Satton
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Near the end of World War II, at a post in Hiroshima, Japan, naïve, young American Lt. Andrew Oxblood, is in charge of a morale unit. Oxblood, a Quaker, is troubled by the racial prejudice he sees exhibited by his fellow soldiers. Although he advises a black friend not to date his sister, Oxblood is offended by the bigoted way his roommates, Robert E. Lee Fairfax and Harrison W. Morve, act toward their Japanese housekeeper, whom they have nicknamed Hogan. When Oxblood learns that a touring USO singing group composed of three black performers has been denied a place to stay in the officers' quarters, he becomes indignant. He gains token support from his commanding officer, General Strapp, but bigoted Col. Ames insists that the singers be kept segregated. After the group performs to great acclaim for the soldiers, Oxblood takes them to the officers club, where he forces an introduction between Fairfax and a female in the group, Leah Wheat. Fairfax sleeps with Leah and later finds a message written in lipstick on his mirror stating that he has been infected with gonorrhea. Upset by the incident, Oxblood gets drunk, which makes him oblivious to the attentions of Hogan, who is in love with him. Feeling rejected, she sleeps with Marshall Bowles, one of the singers. When Oxblood learns about Hogan's tryst with Bowles, he punches the singer. Vindictively, Morve schemes to get Oxblood discredited and demoted, which also results in Oxblood being transferred. Before leaving, Oxblood receives a cable from his black friend, who calls him a hypocrite, causing Oxblood to realize that he, too, is as bigoted as those around him. Upset, Oxblood denounces everyone in the mess hall as being afflicted with the "clap" of prejudice.
Director
Walter Shenson
Cast
Brian Foley
Jack Warden
Marsha Hunt
Joyce Wilford
Lon Satton
Andy Jarrell
Kevin O'connor
Art Wallace
Louis Quinn
Lionel Murton
Francisca Tu
David Toguri
Al Mancini
Christopher Malcolm
John Dunne-hill
Lee Meredith
Jeanne Darville
Anisha
Claus Ersbak
Ueda
Robert Kidd
Oliver Norman
Eva Marie Petryshen
Crew
Leon Becker
Jim Connock
Brian Foley
Maurice Fowler
Charles Guerin
Niels Hoeje
Frank Law
Lillian Lee
Sam Lomberg
Vernon Messenger
Lene Ravn
Nolan Roberts
Mikael Salomon
Walter Shenson
George Stephenson
Ken Thorne
Svein Toreg
Clement Biddle Wood
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Credits are based on the cutting continuity deposited in the film's copyright record. Opening and closing credits differ in order. In both opening and closing credits, only Jack Warden's character name is given. Other character names were found in Filmfacts. Actor Christopher Malcolm's name was misspelled Malcom in the closing credits, but was spelled correctly in the opening credits.
Filmfacts, Hollywood Reporter production charts and news items reported that the Columbia film was shot in and around Copenhagen, Denmark and that interiors were shot at ASA Studios in Copenhagen.
Welcome to the Club marked producer Walter Shenson's directoral debut. It also marked the first feature film made by Brian Foley, who portrayed "Lt. Andrew Oxblood," although the 1971 Von Richhofen and Brown, which was shot after Welcome to the Club, was released first. African-American singer-actress Marsha Hunt (1946-) made her motion picture debut in Welcome to the Club. Some sources list her as Marsha A. Hunt, possibly to distinguish her from the more prominent actress Marsha Hunt (1917-), who was onscreen from the mid-1930s.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1971
American film debut for cinematographer Mikael Salomon.
Released in United States 1971
