Lilo Brancato blew me away as Private Donnie Benitez, forced to recite some Shakespeare by Sergeant Cass (Gregory Hines)

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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Renaissance Man

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The Gryphon — 11 years ago(December 18, 2014 02:29 PM)

Lilo Brancato blew me away as Private Donnie Benitez, forced to recite some Shakespeare by Sergeant Cass (Gregory Hines) in the rain. The Sergeant's aim was to embarrass him, and thus, the entire program led by Danny DeVito's character. Brancato's impassioned delivery of 'St. Crispin's Day' remains one of my favorite moments in modern film, even though the rest of the movie is mostly a harmless comedy.

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crazy4beagles — 10 years ago(November 07, 2015 08:02 PM)

I totally agree with you.

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louiseculmer — 10 years ago(December 26, 2015 12:51 PM)

I didn't get the i pression that the sergeant wanted to embarrass anyone particularly. He seemed quite impressed by the recitation.

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Moviefan-Two-Kay-Four — 9 years ago(June 06, 2016 01:19 PM)

He was trying to show Rago that teaching Shakespeare to "squeakers" was pointless, but Benitez proved him wrong. That scene was the turning point for Cass' character.

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OneGettingOlderAndBetter — 9 years ago(September 28, 2016 01:09 PM)

I do not remember the names of the military people, but that scene would give anyone the shivers, good ones, imho.
Shakespeare got the kids out of their bad mood, and earned the the respect of someone that was not, after all, feeling so good himself
Nice tale. If only things like that could come true, even in the military, even when one cannot stand them
Manelle
"to tax and to please, no more to love and to be wise, is not given to men"

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Your_Screen_Name_Here — 9 years ago(December 28, 2016 09:12 AM)

He very clearly intended to embarrass him.

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JohnnyCastle — 10 years ago(March 07, 2016 11:29 PM)

I always LOVED that part as a kid. It's a shame what happened to him. He was a great actor. Great part.