The Great Santini

“The bravest thing he would ever do was let his family love him.”

Why does a Marine pilot run his household like a squadron, and why does his oldest son keep trying to earn a nod from him? Bull Meechum (Robert Duvall) is loud, competitive and restless between assignments, while Ben (Michael O'Keefe) is nearly grown and still waiting for approval. Lewis John Carlino keeps Blythe Danner's Lillian in the middle, a mother standing between the two of them at the kitchen table.