Blackboard Jungle
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.
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.
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. 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).
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 This was the debut film for Morrow and Farah and one of Poitier's earliest. Farah later changed his name to
Jamie Farr.
*1955
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Adapted Screenplay;
Best Cimematography;
Best Art Direction; and
Film Editing
