A Classic
Reminds me of those highschool years.
Thank God for Lips
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MovieChat Forums > Blackboard Jungle (1955) Discussion > A Classic
While I liked Rebel Without a Cause, I loved Blackboard Jungle. Great film!
"Dry your eyes baby, it's out of character."
I LOVE this movie. I annoy my mom by watching it over and over again (even though she was the one that made me watch it) The only downer is that I have to get it out of the library and it isnt always there. (tries to hold back tears)
But, yes this is my all time favorite Sidney Poitier movie. No other movie has been able to match this one.
Oh, and the book is also good!
I am a total history girl. I always have my nose stuck in a book.
I saw To Sir with love before I saw Blackboard Jungle, they are similiar and good, especially since Sidney Poitier is in both of them.
shareI saw them both too but I saw Blackboard Jungle first and that left a greater impression. I'd like to show Blackboard Jungle to my students for them to see how deliquency was viewed in the past and that previous generations have gone through these problems and eventually people grow out of it or succumb to that lifestyle. I think they'd get a kick out of hearing how "Rock Around the Clock" incited violence at a concert in Germany (although that wasn't the intention) when now that song sounds so tame compared to current rock music.
share My mom is in school right now to get her teaching degree and she had to watch the movie to see how the teacher could teach the students with everyday lessons that are all over the place.... Where as then it was segregation, today, perhaps it would be lesbians.
It is one of the best movies made in its time!
Rachel
I am a total history girl. I always have my nose stuck in a book.
How do you think "Blackboard Jungle'compareS to "American History X"? The two movies are, in many ways, similar; although vastly seperated in time, geography, et cetera, but what about message?
shareYou really can't compare the two.
shareGlenn Ford did a great job as the teacher, it's hard to see anyone else in that role no matter how good of an actor they may be.
Vic Morrow as Artie West was excellent too.
All the actors in that movie did a good job - Anne Francis, Sidney Poitier, Richard Kiley, Louis Calhern - they were all good but Glenn and Vic were definitely the icing on the cake for this movie.
It's a landmark and brilliant film ahead of its time. Glen Ford was just phenominal as was everyone in it. My old criticism and it is mild was that Anne his wife was just a little too mild and weak. There wasn't really a point in brining up her pregnancy or previous miscarriage. The clues that Mr. Dadier gets about Wes harassing her are not strong enough to be put into the plot. They could have taken those moments of time when his wife is on screen, and had more great scenes with Glen Ford and the tension in the classroom.
Because when Ford is in the classroom you can't take your eyes off the screen. And the use of Rock Around The Clock in this movie is absolutely brilliant!
Joe
I saw him last night in Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. The man is priceless in everything I've ever seen him in.
This is a fantastic film and a true forgotten classic of 50s cinema. Not only was Sidney Poitier fantastic as usual, but it also two late great actors who never got the widespread attention they deserved, operating at the top of their game - Glenn Ford and Vic Morrow. RIP Glenn and Vic.
shareGreat film. Great cast. Glenn Ford and Sidney Poitier are terrific.
"Your hair was darker then."
"My heart was lighter then."
Lot of speechmaking and an unbelievably, if expectedly, pat conclusion to all the schoolhouse troubles, but handsomely shot and the drama always has momentum. It`s decent.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan