Blackboard Jungle

Year: 1955 (USA)
Genre: Drama/High School Movie
Directed: Richard Brooks
Stars: Glenn Ford, Anne Francis, Louis Calhern, Margaret Hayes, John Hoyt, Richard Kelly, Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow, Paul Mazursky
Production: MGM


Teachers deserve a lot of credit. Of course, if we paid them well they wouldn’t need all that credit. Such is the life of new English teacher Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) who at one point lists the salaries of municipal workers in comparison to teachers. “You didn’t prepare me for this,” he laments to one of his University professors. He’s speaks with the frustrated tone of a desperate field marshal in formation for a losing battle. Such is the life of today’s overworked, underpaid inner city professional educators. It was the same way back in 1955 as it is now in 2014.

Wake me when the next standardized test comes

Mr. Dadier or “Daddio” as the kids call him comes to school as a bright-eyed novice English teacher. His wife is pregnant with their first child so he’s eager to be a success in a school where according to the principle, there are no discipline problems. Within the first five minutes of the first class however, Dadier discovers just how dangerous things can be. Can he reach his students which include streetwise Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier) and simmering gangbanger Artie West (Vic Morrow)? Or will he succumb to the cynicism and laziness of his fellow peers?

Wat u talkin' bout teach? We speech english good!

Blackboard Jungle (1955) has the look and feel of an after-school special only with the added bonus of salty language and adult situations. Everything happens to this poor teacher throughout the year from being beaten down by students to being accused of racism to risking the loss of his would be son. The film exposes problems associated with urban schools in a concentrated amount of drama, played for keeps. If you yourself haven’t experienced this kind of mayhem, you may find the entire exercise hyperbolic.

This gonna be on the final or are you just messing with me?

Yet there’s no denying problems in the American Public School system need to be addressed. Speaking from personal experience I think it’s a shame that the issues exposed in Blackboard Jungle are very much the exact same issues schools, particularly urban schools still face today. Gang violence, bad learning conditions, discipline problems it’s all there and effects potential childhood development. Blackboard Jungle doesn’t presume to know the answers to these problems and the only solid victory that Dadier is given is inspiring other teachers to try to reach their kids again.

I go from being the only black student to the only black teacher

Okay, I’m off my soapbox: what of the acting, cinematography, etc. Well for starters Glenn Ford does a find job. In an ideal classroom his Dadier would command attention yet in his classroom, his imposing stride is out of place among ruffians. Any first year teacher would identify with Ford’s Dadier. He’s always thinking and occasionally slow to react, mostly shocked by the attitudes and comments of his class. Another standout is Sidney Poitier who became a breakout star after his role as the too-cool-for school Miller. It’s ironic to think that only twelve years later, Poitier would play an inner-city teacher himself in the film To Sir, With Love (1967).

Yea toots, even I was beaten down by my own English teacher

I sometimes put director/writer Richard Brooks in the same category as William Wyler and Robert Wise. All filmmakers were immensely successful during their time and did a lot behind the scenes to change the face of Hollywood. Yet their styles are incredibly malleable almost to a fault. Their stories and their actors take precedence over the movie and the director’s specific style. As a result I never knowingly watch a Richard Brooks movie like I would, say a Martin Scorsese joint. I can only tell only by his writing style which is descriptive and complex without being verbose or overbearing. You can draw parallels from Vic Morrow’s sly character to Edward G. Robinson’s character in Key Largo (1948) and Burt Lancaster’s Elmer Gantry in the film Elmer Gantry (1960).

What you get out of Blackboard Jungle largely depends on your experience in grade school and beyond. To the average and the uninformed, the social problems in Blackboard may seem exaggerated. To the informed, the film is preaching to the choir. Though for teachers Blackboard Jungle may be the call for solidarity they need.

Final Grade: A-