When Dadier brought in the tape recorder for the class to speak into, Miller asked him what they're supposed to talk about..."Snappy stories?"
Dadier was apparently unhappy with that remark and then asked Miller if he would like to bring his mother to school.
Anyone know why Dadier was unhappy about Miller's remark? I didn't find anything offensive about what Miller said, and certainly not enough to raise the ire of the teacher.
Snappy Stories was a pulp magazine that was considered racy in its time, but would have been tame by the standards of the characters in this film:
http://www.pulpmags.org/database_pages/snappy.html
It had been out of print for over 20 years when this film was made.
Maybe the phrase "snappy stories" still referred to racy, sexual tales.
Or perhaps using that old-fashioned, outdated reference was a further dig at the teacher's age and the other differences between them, as if Miller was saying that Dadier would probably be scandalized by the fairly innocent stuff in that old magazine.
I'm a bit older than this film, and I don't remember ever hearing the phrase IRL, so this is just a guess.
In addition, I suspect that much of the dialogue was toned down significantly from that in the novel, while trying to follow the same context. After the reference to "Snappy Stories," they put up Morales to talk into the tape recorder. It may be as apparent to you as to me that he was not really saying "stinkin'" in every sentence as an adjective, but they did not want to use the 'real' word that begins with "f" in a movie of the 1950's. I suspect that Wilson's "Snappy Stories" was also a cover for a more salacious quote that the censors would not allow in 1955. The sexual reference that had to be toned down from whatever was in the original line caused Mr. Dadier's reference to bringing his mother to school.
You're right, dannieboy -- it could be that Miller's comment was toned down from something in the novel, but Dadier's reaction kept the same.
I've always figured that "stinkin'" in Morales' story was a substitute for "f-in'".
Interestingly, Dadier's reaction to that is the classic teacher technique of ignoring a student who is trying to get a rise out of him.
Dadier's choices of when to ignore and when to confront is a theme of the film, but, now that you mentioned it, I'm wondering how many of his strong reactions were because whatever provoked him was toned down from the original in the book (and/or the working screenplay).