In the rear of the palatial house is a fish pond and fountain - a strange anomaly in the midst of a drought.The young men who will soon become the central characters of the film are introduced.Seven naive boys (including Paul Baumer (21 year old Lew Ayres in a star-making role) and his friends Kropp, Leer, and Kemmerick), each young and impressionable, are recruited and trained to fight for the glory of the fatherland.Clark removed a necklace holding the Command Key (with the "S" insignia) given to him years earlier by his adoptive father Jonathan, and was initially attacked by the ship""s defensive sentry.He cries: "Daddy," and jumps up to meet his father Ben Harper (Peter Graves).He stops suddenly when he sees his agitated father climb out of the car, bleeding from a bullet wound in the shoulder.