For the Love of Benji facts for kids
Quick facts for kids For the Love of Benji |
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| Directed by | Joe Camp |
| Produced by | Ben Vaughn |
| Written by | Joe Camp Ben Vaughn |
| Starring | Benjean Patsy Garrett Cynthia Smith Allen Fiuzat Ed Nelson Peter Bowles Art Vasil Bridget Armstrong |
| Music by | Betty Box Euel Box |
| Distributed by | Mulberry Square Releasing |
| Release date(s) | June 10, 1977 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Money made | $22,257,624 |
For the Love of Benji is a fun family movie from 1977. It was directed and written by Joe Camp. This film is the second one in the popular Benji series, following the first movie from 1974. It stars Benjean, who is the daughter of Higgins, the dog who played Benji in the first film. Get ready for an exciting adventure as Benji travels to Greece!
Contents
Benji's Big Adventure
A Trip to Greece
The story begins in Athens, Greece. A secret agent named Stelios meets a waiter at a cafe. He gets newspapers and a package. The newspapers say a German scientist is missing in Greece. The package has a photo of Benji and his family.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Benji’s family is at the airport. They are going to the island of Crete in Greece. The children, Paul and Cindy, are worried about their dogs, Benji and Tiffany. The dogs are put into travel carriers. Cindy tells the airline worker that Tiffany has a "condition."
A Mysterious Man
While waiting, Mary, the children's mother, learns that a man named Chandler Dietrich is also going to Crete. Dietrich then secretly goes into the luggage area. He grabs Benji’s carrier from a moving belt. He gives Benji a special medicine to make him sleepy. Then, he puts a secret code on Benji's paw.
When the family arrives in Crete, Dietrich acts friendly towards Mary. But the family finds out that Benji and Tiffany missed their flight from Athens. Stelios, the secret agent, is watching everything from a distance.
Lost in Athens
Back at the Athens airport, Benji and Tiffany are still in their carriers. They are in a luggage room. A worker accidentally lets Benji escape! Benji runs away from the airport. A British couple, Ronald and Elizabeth, try to catch him, but Benji gets away into the city.
As Benji wanders the streets of Athens, he gets confused. He mistakes another family for his own. After almost getting hit by cars several times, Benji hides in some old ruins. There, he sees a stray dog chewing on a bone. The other dog won't share its food. So, Benji goes back to the city streets.
New Friends and Danger
In a busy marketplace, Benji cleverly steals a string of sausages. He takes them back to the ruins to share with the stray dog. This makes them new friends!
The next day, Benji returns to the marketplace. But the police catch him. Ronald and Elizabeth, the British couple, claim Benji. They take him to their home. Soon, someone knocks on their door. Ronald quickly takes Benji upstairs. Elizabeth tries to keep the visitor busy. It's Stelios, pretending to be from the airline. Elizabeth sends Stelios away.
Benji's Escape
Mary comes to the house looking for Benji. Benji hears her voice from upstairs. As she leaves, Benji barks at Mary from the window. But a passing truck makes too much noise, and she doesn't hear him. So Benji climbs outside. He slides down an awning and chases her taxi!
Meanwhile, Dietrich chases Benji in a sports car, but he loses him. Benji is alone again. He wanders to a hotel. He spots Mary, Paul, and Cindy there. But he runs away when he sees Dietrich. Dietrich gets a Doberman dog to track Benji to the ruins.
Later, in the city, a butcher feeds Benji in his shop. Benji takes a nap. But he wakes up when the Doberman starts barking. When Dietrich enters the shop, Benji jumps out of a cupboard and escapes!
The Big Secret
After spending the night in the ruins, Benji watches his family’s hotel. But the doorman chases him away. Benji goes back to the butcher’s shop. He sees his new stray dog friend talking to Stelios. But before Benji can get their attention, Dietrich grabs Benji at gunpoint!
However, Stelios and the butcher release the Doberman. Dietrich had tied the Doberman up outside the shop. Stelios follows the Doberman to find Dietrich and Benji. The Doberman jumps at Dietrich, and Benji escapes again! The Doberman chases Benji to the ruins. But Benji's stray dog friend chases the Doberman away.
Benji then returns to the hotel. He sneaks inside on a luggage cart. He finally reunites with his family! However, Stelios arrives. He says he has to take Benji away for a few days. Before Stelios can explain, Dietrich hits him with a gun. Stelios falls unconscious.
Unmasking the Impostor
Dietrich then tells the family that he is a U.S. agent. He says he must take Benji because the dog holds a key to important information. He tells Mary to call the police and holds Stelios at gunpoint. Dietrich leaves with Benji.
Stelios wakes up. He tells Mary that Dietrich is an impostor, meaning he is pretending to be someone else. The real Dietrich had been found, but was no longer involved. Stelios explains he is a real secret agent. He has orders to save a top scientist and protect a very important project. Mary is not sure if she should believe him.
Benji Saves the Day
Meanwhile, the man pretending to be Dietrich takes Benji to a yacht. Ronald and Elizabeth are waiting there. The couple accuses the impostor of trying to trick them. He knocks them unconscious. As Benji escapes, the impostor Dietrich chases the dog back to the hotel. The hotel is now surrounded by police.
The impostor holds Cindy at gunpoint in the car. Benji sees this! He rushes at the man, knocks the gun to the ground, and rescues Cindy! The police then arrest the impostor.
A Happy Ending
Sometime later, Paul and Cindy are playing with Benji on a beach. Stelios explains to Mary what happened. The impostor Dietrich used Benji to secretly carry the meeting place for a German scientist. This scientist had created a special formula. It could turn one barrel of oil into ten or twelve! The fake Dietrich wanted to steal this formula and sell it to the highest bidder.
Benji proudly looks at a basket of puppies. They are the result of Tiffany’s "condition" – she had puppies!
Cast
- Benjean as Benji
- Patsy Garrett as Mary
- Cynthia Smith as Cindy Chapman
- Allen Fiuzat as Paul Chapman
- Tiffany as White Dog
- Ed Nelson as Chandler Dietrich
- Peter Bowles as Ronald
- Art Vasil as Stelios
- Bridget Armstrong as Elizabeth
