Blackboard Jungle (1955)

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Directed by Richard Brooks.

Starring Louis Calhern, Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Vic Morrow, Sidney Poitier.

In this gritty urban drama, war veteran Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) wants to begin his career as a teacher and is given an assignment at a boys high school in inner-city New York. However, he soon discovers the school is overrun by delinquents, led by Artie West (Vic Morrow), an insolent hood who likes to call Richard "Mr. Daddy-O." Artie and his gang steal, destroy property, refuse to respect authority, and threaten the female teachers with rape. While most of the faculty have given up and meekly let the delinquents do what they want, Dadier is determined to bring order back to his classroom, even after Artie's thugs threaten Richard's pregnant wife. Keep your eyes peeled for a bit part by Jameel Farah, years before he would change his name to Jamie Farr. Blackboard Jungle was also the first major studio film to use rock & roll on the soundtrack; the film's success kick-started sales of "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets, which helped to spark the rock & roll boom of the 1950s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Blackboard Jungle (1955)
by JJ79 in JJ79 Blog

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"Jack and the Beanstalk getting through to high school students Released: March 19, 1955 (New York)Director: Richard Brooks*****The granddaddy to Dangerous Minds, Freedom Writers, and any of the dozen other teacher teaches a rough crowd a lesson movies made since 1955, Blackboard Jungle is a simple piece of film most likely remembered for its pairing of Sidney Poitier as a high school student (yeah, as if anyone bought it) and Glenn Ford (who would go on to be Superman's pappy, among other roles).When Richard Dadier comes to teach English in a school on the wrong side of the tracks, he's greeted with kids who don't want to learn, a fellow teacher being assaulted in the library, another teacher's record collection getting broken and threats to his pregnant wife. How can he-one man-teach kids who believe the subject will never help them?Blackboard Jungle coasts on the mesmerizing performance from Poitier and the confidence exuded by Ford. We don't care about any of the other h ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

Blackboard Jungle has been tainted somewhat by the countless imitators that followed it. It's difficult to see this movie in context as the shocking "exposé" that it felt like in 1955. Compared to the latest "remakes," like Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds, the shocking urban delinquents in Jungle seem more Happy Days than street gang. But in its time, Blackboard Jungle, along with Rebel Without a Cause (also 1955) and The Wild One (1954), showed the mainstream public a scary and unfamiliar fringe of the youth movement. Even without the historical context, this is still a fine drama with excellent performances. Vic Morrow (as Artie West -- a tough guy named Artie?) and the impressive Sidney Poitier are both remembered for their quality performances as two of the students, but it is Glenn Ford who holds the movie together. Ford, who was at about the height of his popularity when this picture came out, draws on his past roles in Westerns and noir thrillers to remain resolute while letting just enough of the menace get to him to be human. Writer/director Richard Brooks made a number of excellent films between the mid-'50s and the mid-'70s, but surprisingly he was never awarded an Academy Award for his directing. He did win an Oscar for his scripting of Elmer Gantry. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Tags: education , ghetto , highschool , ideals , school
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