Taps

Taps is a 1981 American thriller drama film starring George C. Scott and Timothy Hutton, with Ronny Cox, Tom Cruise, Sean Penn, and Evan Handler in supporting roles. Hutton was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1982. The film was directed by Harold Becker from a screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, James Lineberger, and Darryl Ponicsan, based on Devery Freeman's 1979 novel Father Sky. The original music score was composed by Maurice Jarre. It was filmed at Valley Forge Military Academy and College. The film follows a group of military school students who decide to take over their school to save it from closing. It was Penn's first film role, and Cruise's second and his first major role following a brief appearance in Endless Love a few months earlier. Plot Cadet Brian Moreland meets privately with Bunker Hill Military Academy commander General Harlan Bache, who promotes him to Cadet Major, the highest cadet rank. The next day Bache announces that the school's board of trustees will sell the school to real estate developers but that they will remain open for one more year to allow the seniors to graduate and the underclassmen to find other schools. Bache and the cadets hope this will be a chance to save the school. A dance is held at the academy after commencement. Local teenagers outside the gates harass some cadets and a brawl breaks out. When Bache attempts to end the fight, his service pistol is seized by one of the local boys and the weapon discharges, killing one of the local boys. Although the magazine was removed, a round was still in the chamber. Bache is held responsible and after he is arrested has a heart attack which leaves him in critical condition at the hospital. The board decides to close the school immediately.