10 Movie Biopics That Lied To Your Face

A stellar starring turn from the incomparable Robin Williams turned 1987's true life drama Good Morning Vietnam into a tragicomic classic.

But the real story behind the film is unfortunately underwhelming, and proof positive that the US army's love of defending free speech doesn't extend into its ranks.

Adrian Cronauer not only never performed any of Williams' inspired comic routines on air, he wasn't even an anti-war activist. In fact, the real Cronauer was a lifelong Republican who worked for right wing presidential candidates such as Bob Dole and George Bush.

The younger George Bush, that is. The one whose invasion of Iraq is frequently compared, as far as bloody US foreign policy quagmires go, to the Vietnam invasion that Cronauer's film equivalent is busy condemning onscreen.

The filmmakers credited Williams' own anti-war politics and his frequent ad-libbing for this huge change, and it may go without mentioning that the real Cronauer was never actually court martialed for his show. Why would he have been? He was just playing rock music for the troops he supported.