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, Rovi
Glenn Ford, Morrow and Poitier are so real in their performances under the probing direction by Brooks that the picture alternatingly has the viewer pleading, indignant and frightened before the conclusion.
It gives a blood-curdling, nightmarish picture or monstrous disorder in a public school. And it leaves one wondering wildly whether such out-of-hand horrors can be.
Writer-director Richard Brooks had a flair for sensationalism, and his adaptation of Evan Hunter's novel is loads of fun as a consequence, but don't expect much analysis or insight.
Released in the same year as Rebel Without a Cause, this seminal high-school melodrama was just as popaulr at the box-office but far more controversial; Sidney Poitier gives a star-making turn as a student.
Not a weak depiction actually but frankly not my kind of film, I couldn't care less about its characters
September 12, 2009
Arash Xak
Super Reviewer
A provocative and powerful drama about a teacher, Glenn Ford in a superb performance and his harrowing experiences in a New York City high school in the mid 1950s. Where gang violence, racial and sexual tensions are out of control, from the scenes that show the painful inability of the teacher to control his class to
incidents of straight assaults by some juvenile hoodlums this a hard-hitting entertainment. A first-rate cast with Vic Morrow as the leader of teen misfits and Sidney Poitier in star-making performance as a troubled youth. This was the first film to feature rock music-"Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley is played over the opening and closing credits. One of the most controversial films in cinematic history.
No quotes approved yet for Blackboard Jungle. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Blackboard Jungle'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
