Blackboard Jungle
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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.
Synopsis
Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) is a teacher at an inner-city school where the anti-social behaviour of the pupils, led by Artie West (Vic Morrow) holds sway. Dadier challenges both staff and pupils but the conflict results in anonymous threats against his family. Dadier suspects a black pupil, Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier), and issues of racial prejudice are explored as the plot is resolved.Cultural impact
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.[[Citing sources citation needed]] 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 New York City and Los Angeles, 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.
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), Stand and Deliver (1988), Lean on Me and Dead Poets Society (both 1989), and Dangerous Minds (1995).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
Awards
- 1955 Academy Award Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Cimematography; Best Art Direction; and Film Editing
| Films directed by Richard Brooks |
| Crisis | The Light Touch | Deadline - U.S.A. | Battle Circus | Take the High Ground! | The 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 |
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