Bless the Beasts & Children

I read the book when I was just 12 years old. I loved it. Then I saw the movie...and loved the movie just as much. This is NOT your standard coming-of-age movie. Anyone who claims otherwise is full of buffalo doo (!) because there is no comparison here. As for statements that troubled kids aren't tender-hearted when it comes to animals, again, buffalo chips! This movie is dead-on when it comes to adolescent worry and the way that young people (and older folks too) treat one another. Swarthout has it right.

I have just now re-read the book and am dying to see the movie again. It's been at least 15 years or more (probably closer to 20) so everything is fresh again. Ironically for me, I now live just down the road from Prescott and Jerome and Flagstaff. All those locations from the movie and from the book are right down the road.

The recent passing of another of the 'great' directors prompted me to look back at Stanley Kramer's career. And that lead me to reflect upon my teenage experience of sitting in one of Melbourne's grand old picture houses one Saturday afternoon and viewing this movie for the first of what has now been many times.

Perhaps it was my age at the time, or my love of the outdoors, or my regular weekend hikes, or my love of animals... whatever it was, that 2 hours looking at the enormous screen was one I can recall with vivid clarity even 30 years on.

I remember how awesome the cinematography was it captured the beauty of the environment in those scenes where the misfit teenagers headed out across the plains to rescue the bison.

The music also evoked the essence of the outdoors for me. For many years after whenever I came up over a hill in the forest the Carpenters' music seemed to play in my head. It is just a shame that someone let the theme be [mis] appropriated to other less noble ends.

I have shown this movie to many teenage groups in the years since it opened. Although time has certainly moved on and much, especially the dress and manners has changed I have rarely found any teenager who has not been able to identify with the movie and the themes it seeks to explore.

Stanley Kramer made some wonderful, no some great movies. And while this may not rank as his greatest, for me it was and 'is' great as it allows this writer to revisit his teen years and relive a truly memorable period of his life.

Many of the comments written about this film do not even recognize the multitude of symbolic layers this movie encompasses. Of course it is clear that the killing of the buffalo and the killing of the human spirit of children is an apparent theme throughout the movie. One is symbolic of the other. We empathize with those who are shunned from society but who triumph against all odds to make a difference in this world. As the title song suggests "they have no choice, they have no voice". I find it especially interesting that this movie came out in 1971. Our country was enmeshed in a political upheaval from our involvement in the Viet Nam war. Well, children were sent to fight and kill whether they liked it or not. They had no choice, they had no voice. I was 5 years old when my brother, Alan, was sent to fight at Viet Nam. He would be there for a year and a half and return a completely different person. I believe Alan's spirit died in Viet Nam along with all the other "children". My other brother, however, would be, "Cotton", the starring role in the movie, "Bless the Beasts and Children". I was 7 when I saw the screening preview for the actors and others who worked on this film. I was so proud of Barry. The end made my mother and I cry every time. I knew it was just a movie (my mother assuring me "it's just ketchup, Elizabeth, not real blood")...but maybe, for me, it was a way to prepare. It was what was to become a reality for me. Only 15 years later, I would watch my brother die. The irony was that what surrounded his death was also that he was an "outcast", "different from others", "a societal reject" - similar to the character he played and the theme of Bless the Beasts. In 1986 Barry died from complications from the AIDS virus. It was pretty early on when people were diagnosed with this, so me and my mother told everyone it was cancer - fearful of their reaction at that time. But the true ending of the movie wasn't just that someone died. It is that he did what he believed in despite all odds. Even at seven I could see the triumph as the buffalo were set free. He did it! He accomplished his goal! And you know what? In my brother's life that ended too soon...he, too, accomplished his goal. He was an amazing actor and an amazing person who touched the lives of everyone who knew him.

My name is Robert Kramer. All I want to say is that I am very proud of this film. I loved working on it and even now I can't believe that I worked with Stanley Kramer. He has worked with most of the biggest stars that ever lived. Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Spencer Tracy, Judy Garland. I'm not as talented as those actors but I am grateful he gave me the chance to be in his film and I guess I did ok. He told me that I did, so I guess it must be so. Bless the Beasts is available on ITunes in HD, and looks great. Also my reading the comments on here about what people thought about the film, I appreciate the kind complimentary ones and the ones who didn't like it. Stanley Kramer was a great Producer, Director. I was lucky to be able to work with him. Also, I am not at all related to Stanley Kramer. It was just an average regular guy, me, who got the job. Also, to find a great copy of the film in HD, go to ITunes, you can buy it or rent it. It looks great. Won't be ever in Dolby Vision but it still looks great.

I saw this film when it was released in 1971 (when I was eight) and it made quite an impression on me. Some really nice acting, great music, and an interesting (yet simple) story. It's amazing how it has stayed with me all these years. But meaningful films tend to do that. I was lucky enough to see this film again tonight. Though I viewed the film through 42 year-old eyes, it still had an impact. I was saddened to hear that Barry Robins (who played "Cotton") passed away in 1986. He was quite an amazing actor. (It's interesting to note that Robins, who played a 16 year-old, was 26 when the film was made!) He reminded me of Sal Mineo, another fine actor who left us far too soon. Anyway, I just wanted to comment on this fine little gem of a film. If you get a chance to rent it, I hope you will...and enjoy.