***SPOILERS**** At a coming of age 17th birthday party at a neighborhood bar young George La Main, Drew Barrymore, is shocked to see his father Andrew, Preston Forster, meekly allow himself to be whipped black and blue in front all the shocked costumers by crippled sportswriter Al Judge, Howard St. John, without as much as raising a finger in his defense. Seeking revenge against Judge for what he did to his father George gets a .38 revolver from his room and goes out into the night looking for him and planning to blow Judge away in an act of revenge.
This all has George later find Judge in his pad writing a story about a fight that he and George witnessed at the garden arena who seems not at all surprised to see him even with a gun pointed at his head. It's then that Judge gives George the lowdown to why he so brutally beat his father and why he being far bigger and much stronger the the crippled and old Judge that he took the beating almost willingly! Soon a fight erupts between George and Judge with Judge enduing up on the floor from a bullet wound with George fleeing from the oncoming, who were alerted by the neighbors, police!
***SPOILERS***Back home with his dad and waiting to be arrested for the murder of Mr. Judge George finds out that his dad is taking the rap for what he just did. It also turns out that despite George being more then willing to take the blame for shooting Judge everything is soon to turn out to be find with Judge alive and well suffering only powder burns and Judge willing to drop all charges against George or his dad who's taking the rap for him. We and George then learn from his dad that he more then deserved what he got from Judge by driving his sister to suicide by refusing to marry her. We also find out that George's dad is still married to his wife whom he told his son has died soon after he was born! Which is the reason he couldn't marry Judge's sister that drove her to kill herself!
So as we and George found out his dad really got off light in what he did and even in taking responsibility for shooting Judge, who dropped all the charges against him, it was his actions that lead his son George to try to blast Judge! Who as it turned out was the real injured party in this strange and baffling case.
This all has George later find Judge in his pad writing a story about a fight that he and George witnessed at the garden arena who seems not at all surprised to see him even with a gun pointed at his head. It's then that Judge gives George the lowdown to why he so brutally beat his father and why he being far bigger and much stronger the the crippled and old Judge that he took the beating almost willingly! Soon a fight erupts between George and Judge with Judge enduing up on the floor from a bullet wound with George fleeing from the oncoming, who were alerted by the neighbors, police!
***SPOILERS***Back home with his dad and waiting to be arrested for the murder of Mr. Judge George finds out that his dad is taking the rap for what he just did. It also turns out that despite George being more then willing to take the blame for shooting Judge everything is soon to turn out to be find with Judge alive and well suffering only powder burns and Judge willing to drop all charges against George or his dad who's taking the rap for him. We and George then learn from his dad that he more then deserved what he got from Judge by driving his sister to suicide by refusing to marry her. We also find out that George's dad is still married to his wife whom he told his son has died soon after he was born! Which is the reason he couldn't marry Judge's sister that drove her to kill herself!
So as we and George found out his dad really got off light in what he did and even in taking responsibility for shooting Judge, who dropped all the charges against him, it was his actions that lead his son George to try to blast Judge! Who as it turned out was the real injured party in this strange and baffling case.