BLESS THE BEASTS AND THE CHILDREN

Bill Mumy, Barry Robins, Miles Chapin
Sony; Directed by Stanley Kramer

Rated R; 109 minutes; 1971

A group of misfit teenagers band together and run away from summer camp in this beautifully filmed coming of age movie. Along the way, they take up a crusade to rescue penned-in buffaloes from a rifle club's slaughter. The director of such classics as High Noon, The Defiant Ones, and Inherit the Wind once again brings his deft touch to a story about the underdogs winning out against injustice. Though this film was filmed years before our modern day environmental laws, its message rings true as much today as ever.