Be Good, Smile Pretty

Director: Tracy Droz Tragos
Writers: Eric Martin (writer), Charlie Pearson (writer)
TV Series: "Independent Lens" (1999)
Original Air Date: 11 June 2003 (Season 5, Episode 5)
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 56:00


A powerfully moving, personal exploration of a grief for the father she never knew, this award-winning film chronicles Tracy Droz Tragos' heart-wrenching quest to understand and cope with a loss shared by the estimated 20,000 Americans whose fathers were killed in Vietnam.


Weaving emotionally compelling interviews with home movies, stock footage, and family photos, Tragos travels from Selma, Alabama, to the U.S. Senate in search of her fathers Naval Academy roommates and war buddies, each of whom has been silently mourning his death and remembers her fathers life in his own way.


Along her journey, Tragos uncovers a 30-year-old mystery, as she comes to know her father as a man, untangled from the memory of a war that wounded a nation. And while some discoveries are almost too difficult to bear, it is ultimately the truth that allows her, and her entire family, to understand and move forward.