| | As cadets escorts their dates to a school dance, Cadet Major Moreland confronts a group of unruly town boys, foolishly letting them provoke him into a fight, instead of simply notifying school staff or calling the police himself. The headmaster, General Bache, who had absent-mindedly loaded his pistorl while dressing for the dance, gets into the scuffle which erupts - also instead of simply ordering his cadets inside the gates and calling the police. One of the town boys grabs the general's pistol and it discharges, killing a boy. The ringleader of the boys blames the general, who accepts the blame, is arrested, and ultimately dies of a heart attack. | | As cadets escorts their dates to a school dance, Cadet Major Moreland confronts a group of unruly town boys, foolishly letting them provoke him into a fight, instead of simply notifying school staff or calling the police himself. The headmaster, General Bache, who had absent-mindedly loaded his pistorl while dressing for the dance, gets into the scuffle which erupts - also instead of simply ordering his cadets inside the gates and calling the police. One of the town boys grabs the general's pistol and it discharges, killing a boy. The ringleader of the boys blames the general, who accepts the blame, is arrested, and ultimately dies of a heart attack. |
| | + | Moreland caps his effrontery by refusing to yield when the trustees decide to close the school. His cadet captains support him in this, at first, but a series of escalating incidents inevitably follows. Automatic weapons fire in the town, a truck ramming a police car, and law enforcement laying siege to the school grounds (or at least one gate of it). |