From the 1966 dust jacket: The novel tells of seven delinquent boys, ranging in age from fifteen to seventeen, who have either been condemned by the Criminal Court or taken in off the street. The boys agree - in return for room, board, and a little pocket money - to act as guinea pigs for a psychological testing project. The hostel in which they live, in a condemned building, becomes the scene for a merciless battle among the boys and the authorities. The 1964 film of 491, which is a faithful realization of the novel, has caused a furor in Sweden and has been seized by Customs in the United States. Judith Crist has said of it: "The intent of 491 is a serious and artistic one.... Here is the ultimate struggle between good and evil, described in an admittedly shocking film [which] goes beyond homosexuality into perversion and sadism.... The 'dominant effect' [is] to arouse repulsion, disgust, horror at the human instinct for depravity and, hopefully, compassion for the agonies of the human soul...." Also from Wikipedia on the film: 491 is a 1964 Swedish black-and-white drama film directed by Vilgot Sjöman, based on a novel by Lars Görling. The story is about a group of youth criminals who are chosen to participate in a social experiment, where they are assigned to live together in an apartment while being supervised by two forgiving social workers. The tagline is: It is written that 490 times you can sin and be forgiven. This motion picture is about the 491st. This controversial film, which featured a male homosexual rape scene, was first banned in Sweden, but released after reediting. Amongst other things, a scene in which a woman is raped by a dog was cut. The film was also banned in Norway until 1971. The reactions from especially conservative elements in Sweden were of disgust and outrage, and it was one of the reasons why the Christian Democratic Party was founded in 1965.