Blackboard Jungle
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| Blackboard Jungle | |
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 Blackboard Jungle DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Richard Brooks |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Written by | Richard Brooks, based on the novel by Evan Hunter |
| Starring | Glenn Ford Anne Francis Louis Calhern Sidney Poitier |
| Music by | Max Freedman (song "Rock Around the Clock") (uncredited), Willis Holman (song “Blackboard Jungle”) |
| Cinematography | Russell Harlan |
| Distributed by | MGM |
| Release date(s) | March 19 1955 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 101 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) is a teacher at an inner-city school where many of the pupils, led by an African American student Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier), frequently engage in anti-social behaviour. Dadier challenges both staff and pupils but the conflict results in anonymous threats against his family. Dadier suspects Artie West (Vic Morrow) as the one making the calls.
[edit] Cultural impact
[edit] Music and teen culture
The film has also been credited with sparking the Rock and Roll revolution by featuring Bill Haley and the Comets's Rock Around the Clock, initially a B-side, over the film's opening credits, establishing that song as an instant classic. The music led to a huge teenage audience for the film: their exuberance sometimes overflowed into violence and vandalism at screenings.[1] In this sense, it has been seen as marking the start of a period of visible teenage rebellion in the late 20th century.
In March 2005, the 50th anniversary of the release of the film, and the subsequent rise in popularity of Rock and Roll, was marked by a series of "Rock is Fifty" celebrations in Los Angeles and New York City, involving the surviving members of the original Bill Haley and His Comets. The film itself made its North American DVD debut on May 10, 2005.
[edit] Genre
Blackboard Jungle was the first of what would become a popular genre: the film in which an idealistic teacher is confronted with a class of cynical teenagers, who have disengaged from conventional schooling. As so often in later films, issues of race and class lie at the heart of the dynamics. Subsequent films that exploited the theme include: To Sir, with Love (1967; starring Poitier as a black teacher in a white school), Class of 1984 (1982), The Principal (1987), Stand and Deliver (1988), Lean on Me and Dead Poets Society (both 1989), Class of 1999 (1990), Dangerous Minds (1995), and The Substitute (1996).
[edit] Cast
The cast included:
- Glenn Ford Richard Dadier
- Anne Francis Anne Dadier
- Louis Calhern Jim Murdock
- John Hoyt Mr. Warneke
- Richard Kiley Joshua Edwards
- Warner Anderson Dr. Bradley
- Sidney Poitier Gregory Miller
- Vic Morrow Artie West
- Jameel Farah Santini
- Dan Terranova Belazi
This was the debut film for Morrow and Farah and one of Poitier's earliest. Farah later changed his name to Jamie Farr.
[edit] Awards
- 1955 Academy Award Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Cimematography; Best Art Direction; and Film Editing
[edit] References
- ^ Leopold, Todd. The 50-year-old song that started it all. CNN.com. Retrieved on August 15, 2006.
Rock Around the Clock and Me by Peter Ford
[edit] External links
http://www.destgulch.com/movies/bjungle/
| Films directed by Richard Brooks |
| Crisis | The Light Touch | Deadline - U.S.A. | Battle Circus | Take the High Ground! | Flame and the Flesh | The Last Time I Saw Paris | Blackboard Jungle | The Last Hunt | The Catered Affair | Something of Value | The Brothers Karamazov | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Elmer Gantry | Sweet Bird of Youth | Lord Jim | The Professionals | In Cold Blood | The Happy Ending | $ | Bite the Bullet | Looking for Mr. Goodbar | Wrong Is Right | Fever Pitch |
