Customer Reviews

Blackboard Jungle [VHS]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Said to provoke violence, this film about 1955's brutal and vicious NYC school system remains taut and effective to this day. The direction by Richard Brooks is groundbreaking. Based on Evan Hunter's novel, Brooks tackles the idea of contempt for authority within the school system as a problem with a distinct solution. That solution comes in the form of an idealistic new teacher played with effective restraint by Glenn Ford. Sidney Poitier and Vic Morrow portray the two major protagonists from the class of intimidating and delinquent juveniles. Sidney Poitier is the one weak link that Ford realizes he can reach. Poitier is antagonistic and disturbingly introverted but not truly dangerous. Vic Morrow is malicious and a real threat. Vic Morrow's performance is intense, riveting and absolutely convincing. Vic Morrow's talent as one of our finest actors seems long forgotten and certainly has gone unrecognized for too long now. His performance here is testament to that and adds to the shock value of this film. The very effective acting is convincing setting a benchmark for this genre on society's problems in urban education. In all, that is the point of this film. It is all about the strong and the weak be they teacher or student trying to survive in this setting.

I saw this movie in 1955. It was one of the best in that age in the genre about alienated youth, dealing as it did with ghetto kids and minorities rather than the spoiled brats of "Rebel Without a Cause."

Most of all, the movie introduced me and a million other kids to Rock and Roll. I remember listening spellbound to "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and the Comets at the end of the movie. Something, I perceived in my little noodle brain, had changed -- and nothing would ever be the same again.

Mix a dash of earnest social consciousness, a pinch of rock `n roll ("One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock ROCK..."), a dollop of exploitation (A shock story of today's high school hoodlums!) and you've got the recipe for BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (1955), director Richard Brooks' highly successful and award winning movie.
BLACKBOARD JUNGLE is the story of Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford), a rookie teacher newly hired at Emmanuel High School, an inner-city school that one of the veteran teachers aptly, we soon learn, refers to as a `garbage can.' Dadier - immediately and inevitably `Daddy-O' to his class full of juvenile delinquents - is an idealist of sorts who, against the stream, believes that he can reach and teach the kids. In the class is a glowering Vic Morrow and an apathetic Sidney Poitier - Poitier's character is apathetic, that is - and various other representatives of inner-city hoodlums. It's in this corrosive environment that Dadier's liberal idealism is buffeted and, finally, put to the acid test. Ford, Morrow and Poitier are outstanding in a story that seems quite dated today. Although it presents itself as an unblinking exposé of juvenile delinquency, there's an awful lot missing from this one - parents are never seen, nor students' homes nor, surprisingly, does there seem to be any female students. Perhaps, as is suggested on the commentary track, the school was originally supposed a trade school but changed when the powers that be checked what side their bread was buttered on. As it is, there's seems to be no reason given as to why these kids are so rotten, or whether anyone but Dadier really cares about them.
Still, BLACKBOARD JUNGLE is a great leap forward from Hollywood's last examination of troubled youth, namely the Dead End Kids, aka the East End Kids, aka the Bowery Boys. The kid/boys began their career in the 1930s in a number of Warner Brothers' tough guy movies - Dead End with Humphrey Bogart, Angels With Dirty Faces with Jimmy Cagney, They Made Me a Criminal with John Garfield - before des-ing and dos-ing themselves into America's heart as the Bowery Boys in a popular and prolific series of b-flicks in the 40s and 50s. If the Bowery Boys were wise cracking punks whose golden hearts were only a little obscured by the grime of the slums, director Richard Brooks's jungle denizens are outright sociopaths. Rapists and murderers, stalkers and racial bigots, urban terrorists with a blood lust for intimidation and a virulent disdain for authority.
Mazursky, Farr, Ford and Freeman tell us, on the comfortable and reminiscence filled commentary track, that Robert Taylor and Mickey Rooney (!?) were considered for the lead role. It's impossible to imagine anyone but Glenn Ford in the part. Ford ably conveys the gentle idealism and intelligence that the untested Dadier begins with. Ford also had the toughness, the ability to express contained rage that burbles to the surface after Dadier has spent a couple of semesters in the garbage can. In short, he was perfect for the part. BLACKBOARD JUNGLE may not contain Ford's best performance, but it's the best I've seen.
If the movie doesn't deliver the promised penetrating insight into juvenile delinquency, it dealt honestly with its subject and opened the topic up for a nation-wide discussion.
Besides the commentary track, the dvd also includes a trailer and a pretty weak MGM cartoon titled Blackboard Jumble and featuring Droopy. Ah, well, I guess it's nice that they included a cartoon so directly related to the feature presentation.

I first saw this movie in the early 70s on TV and have rented it numerous times since the advent of VHS. It is an eye-opening portrayal of Richard Daddiere, an eager navy veteran who giddily wins his first teachng assignment at a hopelessly urban hellhole of a school. Right from the start though, one can immediately sense that his altruistic belief in the nobility of teaching will be reduced that of a desperate corrections officer doing his best to quell a daily uprising. And this does become the case very early into the film and serves as the film's central conflict. His first day of class begins with one of the punks hurling a baseball within inches of his head the first moment he turns his back on them, blasting a cracked hole into the blacboard. Daddiere wryly retorts with, "Well...whoever threw that will never play centerfield for the Yankees." This is our introduction to the likes of Artie West, more than convincingly played by the late Vic Morrow, a vicious punk whose demeanor instantaneously reveals that it is lkely that he'll not live a day beyond his twenty-first birthday. Then there is Gregory Miller, smoothly played by Sidney Poitier-a cool black cat who knows the score and is inherently decent. Daddiere smells this in him and encourages him to put his keenness to good use rather than waste his potential by being a lowlife like West and the rest of hs ilk. But Miller's race justifies his roguery, and he remains a sympathetic character for the duration. Then there is Bilozzi, a frightened punk and who takes sides with West because he's too afraid to be his own man and think for himself. I really admired this film, as it credibly depicted one man's quest to teach the unteachable, even though he well realizes that it is an unwinnable battle. Glenn Ford's performance is astonishingly good. His character seethes with a relentless desire to achieve his goal despite whatever these delinquents do to deter him. Louis Calhern also turns in a wonderful performance as a jaded, veteran history teacher who serves as a type of Greek chorus for Daddiere, constantly reminding him from the start that all that is does not glitter. When Daddiere insists to him at one point that "If only I could just reach them...get inside their minds!", Calhern wittily replies, "Mind? A mind would indicate the presence of a brain!". For anyone considering teachingin the New York City public school system, please watch this film SEVERAL times, for despite the fact that it is almost fifty years-old, it is by no means a dated film.

I remember seeing this movie in 1955 when I was eleven or twelve years old, and it's surprising how much I remembered about the movie before viewing it again. Since ordering the movie I have looked at it again three additional times. Being a former teacher, I enjoy teacher movies, and if a movie rates five stars it must be able to withstand repeated viewings. This movie easily passes that test. I enjoyed noticing the difference in audio/visual materials used in the school in the movie, namely the use of a reel-to-reel tape recorder and a movie projector to show movies. This movie ushered in the rock-and-roll era with the song "Rock Around the Clock", and introduced the term "Daddy-o". I plan on showing this movie to my after school class of students on social history of the 1950's. I know they will enjoy it.

Often, it's necessary to take older movies with a grain of salt in order to enjoy them. This is to say that you often need to readjust your mindset to appreciate the historical context of the film. The amazing thing about Blackboard Jungle, however, is that it holds its own even today. This film is just as entertaining and its issues just as relevent now as in 1955. Great acting, compelling story - do not miss this film.

1955's "The Blackboard Jungle" remains a poignant, relevant portrayal of life in America's public schools. The story of WWII vet turned English teacher (Glenn Ford)as he struggles to reach a class of apathetic teens who do not want to be reached, the movie takes us from Ford's unsuspecting classroom debut through his efforts to lead a normal home life despite the pressures of his new job and finally to a climactic showdown with his most evil of students.

The movie's cast is thoroughly excellent. Ford is at once tough and terribly vulnerable as the embattled new teacher, Margaret Hayes is all patrician slinkiness as For'd wanne-be paramour, Sidney Poitier is convincing as the slowly mellowing student, and Anne Francis is even sexier than she was in "Forbidden Planet" as Ford's supportive but insecure wife.

There's much to appreciate in this film. Partly intended to help comat the growing problem of juvenile delinquency in 50s America, the film tries hard to achieve realism and generally succeeds. The students in Ford's class are disillusioned, lazy, suspicious, arrogant, obnoxious, and sometimes dangerous--which is exactly how teens are in real life. The only typical teenage bad habit that's not portrayed (or at least suggested) is cursing, which of course 50s moral standards would not allow on the big screen. But if they don't swear, Ford's students have no trouble finding other ways to be both annoying and anarchic, just like real kids. Interestingly, Ford discovers (much like this reviewer did) that sometimes the best way to reach apathetic kids is with a cartoon. Sad.

Another great thing about this movie is its approach to the politics of the school world. The movie's teachers argue and struggle not only with their students, but amongst themselves. Moreover, the encroaching dangers of multiculturalism are, perhaps inadverdantly, accurately addressed as Ford must deal with ethnic divisions amongst his students which some are eager to exploit for their own gain, as when Ford is unfairly accused of racism simply because of some careless word choices. In today's schools Political Correctness is indeed the rule, often to the detriment of real learning and growth, so at least one of the film's pertinent warnings has gone ignored.

Though some might find "The Blackboard Jungle" dated, it is in fact as timely in all the important ways as it was in the 50s. The American educational problem continues to undercut many of society's more noble aims, and it will do so as long as the powers that be refuse to take the necessary steps to reach a solution. Teens must be taught there are absolutes in life and be expected to live up to them, not encouraged to simply indulge their every whim. Perhaps if enough of us adults in liberated America come to realize this for ourselves, we can at least begin to convince our children of it.

Filmmakers through their motion pictures often reflect or mirror traits or problems with society. Some filmmakers even affect society by their works. The effects of some movies may be positive or they may have an opposite effect that is detrimental to society. Problem: Filmmakers may glamorize a problem in society by the very motion pictures they make. BLACKBOARD JUNGLE made in 1955 was a realistic look at adolescence contempt for society at an inner city trade school for delinquent boys under the direction of Richard Brooks. It was said to be shocking for its time and was even blamed for provoking violence. Glenn Ford played a new teacher who decides that his only chance of teaching the boys anything is to reach the roughest boy of the bunch played by Sidney Portier. Poitier gave a brilliant performance as the one youth that new true right from wrong and only used his tough facade to survive in a world of his peers where he would otherwise have been the low man on the rung. Vic Morrow gives another impressive performance as Artie West, the one student who is beyond reach. Morrow remains one of our most underrated actors of the last decade. Richard Kiley gives a heart rendering performance as a teacher who brings his record collection to class trying to reach out and share his enjoyment of music, which results in the ultimate destruction of his vinyl. When the delinquents threaten Glenn Ford's wife played by Anne Francis the line is crossed. In the end Glenn Ford never gave up on his kids, as did his contemporaries.

Restless post-war youth may have hit the road on Brando's motorcycle, but it wasn't until this film that they found their sound. From driving downbeat to throbbing close, Bill Haley's title tune promises a party around-the-clock -- from twelve midnight to broad daylight -- to which teens of the day responded with uncaged delight, raucous cheers, and spontaneous twirling in the aisles. A full year before Elvis, a new generation was on its feet, the legendary youth culture was born, and Rock and Roll was here to stay. America would never be the same -- a mighty heavy load for one modest B-movie from famously conservative MGM!

Needless to say, the film is an absolute must. Minimize the story line which veers from 50's-style social realism to mild reassurances from writer-director Richard Brooks, (this was, after all, the height of the Cold War and the restrictive production code). Instead, concentrate on the seminal images and associations, so vividly presented, whose residue continues to the present day: Rock-music -- unruly youth -- alcohol and violent sex -- menacing urban underclass. And in two of the most symbolic scenes -- the trashing of Richard Kiley's record collection and the thrusting arms through the iron bars --there are serious overtones of barbarians at the gates, against which Glenn Ford's reflex liberalism appears tellingly inadequate. From this point on, only communism was more feared than the spread of Rock-and-Roll and its seditious offspring, juvenile delinquency.

Sure, there are better films from that era than Blackboard, maybe even better teen movies. But, arguably, none are more significant to the course of popular culture. For a brief accidental moment, a little movie from Hollywood not only reflected emergent trends from deep within society, but mobilized them as well. With: a grimly determined Glenn Ford, an arrogantly sinister Vic Morrow, a decidedly unthreatening Sidney Poitier, and in a usual thankless supporting role, the great John Hoyt, whose memorably cruel face was born to preside over either prisons or high schools, take your pick.

It has a certain sentimental value to be but it sure earns that five stars. This is a film with a socially commenting relative plot which along the way had many small moments. When Dadier told Miller to stop calling him chief-he did it anyway, Dadier exposing his own racism when he called Miller,"you black...." and then did not finish the sentence. Miller did not seem to hold that against him because he saw Dadier as flawed like everyone else. It was a realy good commentary on our process of socialization in the US and I think is still relative today. Today instead of knives and baseballs thrown against the blackboard-kids use guns and bombs. In many ways it seems like nothing has changed since 1955. Anyway I liked the ending-it was hopeful-maybe not what audiences would like today-but suggested that kids can change with trust and commitment from those who matter in their lives-parents, teachers etc. Joe.