Set in and filmed near Florida's Everglades, this motion picture, made essentially for children, stars Clint Howard, younger brother of Ron, as seven-year-old Mark Wedlow who, along with his father Tom (Dennis Weaver, a wildlife officer, and mother Ellen (Vera Miles) becomes involved in a series of emergency-based adventures concerning Ben, a young black bear. Mark's first contact with Ben takes place when the latter is a cub, as the boy watches from hiding as three poachers, played by veteran tough guy Ralph Meeker, ex-Bowery Boy Huntz Hall, and Clint's real-life father Rance, hunt down Ben's dam with Meeker's character killing her with a rifle shot, then capturing her offspring for future use as a source of lucrative bear meat. Based on the novel Gentle Ben by Walt Morey, this work inspired a spin-off popular late 1960's television series of the same name, also starring young Clint and Weaver, and features a series of incidents which showcases the remarkably uninhibited fondness which Mark displays toward one of the largest imaginable pets, seven feet and 750 pounds. Portrayed by an exceedingly well-trained animal, Bruno, big Ben is shipped to a zoo after an unfortunate occurrence, but escapes into the Everglades, and subsequent events, replete with family oriented scenes focussing upon a needed rapport between the youngster and animals, most non-ursine, presents cliches a-plenty but gives an opportunity to enjoy another solid performance from the fetching Miles.
