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''Gentle Giant'' is a 1967 American drama film about a young boy's friendship with an American black bear, based on the 1965 book ''Gentle Ben'' by Walt Morey. It was produced by Ivan Tors, directed by James Neilson and written by Edward J. Lakso and Andy White. The film stars Clint Howard, Dennis Weaver, Vera Miles, Ralph Meeker, Huntz Hall, and Bruno the Bear.〔Munden, Kenneth White, ed. (''American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films 1961-1970''. ) Univ. of Calif. Press, 1976, p. 392. ISBN 0-520-20970-2.〕〔(Gentle Giant (1967) - Overview ), TCM.com. Retrieved June 23, 2015.〕〔Thompson, Howard, ("Movie Review - Gentle Giant - Screen: Unstartling Adventures in the Everglades:' Gentle Giant' Starts Matinee Engagement: Story of Boy and Bear Sparked TV Series", ) ''The New York Times'', Apr. 20, 1968, archived online at NYTimes.com. Retrieved June 23, 2015.〕 The film was released on November 15, 1967, by Paramount Pictures.〔 The film was also the pilot for the CBS TV series, ''Gentle Ben'' (1967–69), based on the same characters and also starring Clint Howard, Dennis Weaver, and Bruno.〔Hollis, Tim. (''Glass Bottom Boats and Mermaid Tails: Florida's Tourist Springs.'' ) Stackpole Books, 2006, p. 130-131. ISBN 0811732665.〕〔UPI, "Gentle Ben," ''Independent Press-Telegram'' (Long Beach, California), Apr. 30, 1967, Tele Vues section, p. 9.〕 The film is a prequel to the TV series, providing the backstory of how the boy Mark Wedloe met Ben the bear, tamed him and adopted him as a companion. Originally, the film was scheduled for release before the TV series began to air, but the film's release date was changed to be closer to Thanksgiving 1967, meaning that the film came out after the TV series had already been running for about two months.〔("Making the Scene: Movies and TV", ) ''Boys' Life'', Sept. 1967, p. 4.〕 ''Gentle Giant'' therefore served as additional promotion for the ''Gentle Ben'' TV series rather than introducing it.〔Mavis, Paul, ("Gentle Ben: Season One" (DVD review) ), DVDtalk.com, Oct. 15, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2015.〕 ==Plot== Tom (Dennis Weaver) and Ellen Wedloe (Vera Miles) live with their young son Mark (Clint Howard) near a Florida game reserve. Tom is a pilot who works as a spotter to locate schools of fish for the local fishermen to catch, but recently fish have been scarce, causing economic hardship for the local fishermen and Tom. Young Mark loves animals of all kinds. One day Mark is exploring the reserve when he encounters a black bear cub, and starts to make friends with it, only to have the protective mother bear appear and chase Mark up a tree. While still hidden in the tree, Mark watches, horrified, as a gang of poachers, led by local fisherman and bully Fog Hanson (Ralph Meeker), illegally shoot the mother bear and capture the cub. Mark reports the poaching to the local wildlife officer, who fines Fog. The angry Fog and his buddies try to beat up Tom in retaliation for Mark's reporting and because they blame Tom for not spotting any fish for them lately, but Tom and his friend (the local justice of the peace) win the fight and throw Fog and his gang off the pier. Fog inhumanely chains the captured cub in a dark shack with inadequate food or exercise. Despite his parents' warnings to stay away from Fog's property, Mark sneaks onto Fog's property repeatedly to feed and exercise the cub, whom he names Ben. As Ben grows bigger, he and Mark become close friends. Eventually, Fog catches Mark trespassing. Tom forbids Mark from ever visiting Ben again, while Fog plans to kill Ben and sell him for meat. Mark disregards his father's warning to rescue Ben, taking him into the wilderness to set him free. However, Ben refuses to leave Mark, and the pair are caught. Tom finally buys Ben from Fog to save Ben's life. Mark and Ben are happy for a time, but when walking with Ben one day, Fog and his gang show up and threaten Mark and Ben. Ben finally fights back and mauls Fog. Because Ben has now attacked a person, even though Mark argues it was justified, the Wedloes are forced to give Ben away to a zoo. Mark sadly says goodbye to Ben as his cage is loaded onto a boat for the trip to the zoo. En route to the zoo, Ben breaks out of his cage and swims ashore, escaping into the woods. Meanwhile, Tom's plane crashes, leading him to accept a job as a wildlife officer in the Everglades. While searching for poachers, Tom is charged by a large bear and recognizes the bear as Ben. Mark is excited to hear that Ben is nearby and insists Ben wouldn't do any harm, but Tom disagrees, stating that Ben has become dangerous and must be killed. Tom hunts for Ben with his rifle, and Mark follows, trying to save Ben. Tom finally spots Ben and is about to fire when a tree suddenly falls on Tom and pins him to the ground. At Mark's direction, Ben gently rolls the tree off Tom. Ben then leads Tom and Mark to his new "family" — a female bear and newborn cubs that he was protecting when he first charged Tom. In view of circumstances, Tom spares Ben's life, and Ben and Mark renew their friendship. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gentle Giant (film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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