Blackboard Jungle

1955 teacher movie

Rating: 14/20

Plot: War veteran Richard Dadier (pronounced "Daddio") takes a job teaching English at an all-boys high school only to find out that it's more dangerous than any battlefield. He and his colleagues try to reach the boys because, as a colleague once told me, you've got to reach 'em to teach 'em. But the boys, like ants, are just mean. Oh, snap!

This doesn't hold up very well in 2010. I like the performances. I like Glenn Ford fine despite his character not seeming in any way realistic or coming within chalk-throwing distance of anything that resembles a good teacher. I like the kids despite them being caricatures or stereotypical exaggerations of thugs. You have to give Poitier credit. He does well playing a high schooler, especially considering he would have been, unless my math is way off, around 27 when this was made. I also think it's really interesting how this movie handles race. Issues are maybe only suggested, but at least they're not entirely ignored. I just don't think this was or ever will be a realistic portrayal of what school is like. The storytelling is really episodic. There's no flow to Dadier's first semester, more a choppy progression where the character just has thing after thing happen to him. There was almost no transition between Dadier as a struggling and hated teacher to the point when he starts to reach them, ludicrously by showing them a filmstrip. And the scene in the library? And the goofy dialogue? Yikes. It's all too much. This is still worth seeing, but almost more as a cultural artifact, evidence of how the squares viewed education and delinquency. And perhaps amazingly, there are still some issues raised that are relevant in public education today.

1 comment:

cory said...

I would not be surprised if the makers of this film had not ever been to an inner-city high school. This is a very unbelievable, disappointing, and sensationalized take on school gangs and their threat to teachers and society. The only things that make it worth watching are one of Poitier's best performances and listening to rock and roll's first great song. I would think that the fact you gave it a 14 means it must actually be a great film that you just don't appreciate (smiley face!!), but in this case I know better. It is actually kind of an irritating film you are overrating. A 12.