Halls of Anger

This film essentially begins in Los Angeles with a high school English teacher by the name of "Quincy Davis" (Calvin Lockhart) being asked to transfer from a relatively affluent high school to an inner-city school on the other side of town. After inquiring about their reasons, he is told that about 200 white students are being involuntarily bussed into this all-black school and--because he is black and a popular former professional basketball player--they feel that he would be best able to calm any racial tensions on the part of the black students there. However, when he gets there, he discovers that only a few dozen white students have actually transferred and the racial animosity on the part of the black student body is much higher than anybody realized. Now, rather than reveal any more I will just say that I was initially very impressed with this film. At least for the first 30 minutes or so. Unfortunately, the story then became extremely one-sided after that as it soon appeared that Quincy was more concerned about influencing one particular student named "J. T. Watson" (James A. Watson Jr.) than he was about protecting white students from serious physical violence. At least, that's how it seemed to me. Be that as it may, while this isn't necessarily a bad picture, there several other movies like "Lean on Me" or "Blackboard Jungle" which cover the plight of inner-city schools much better and I have rated this particular film accordingly. Slightly below average.

White students are being bused into an inner city all black school. The students aren't happy with it...will violence erupt?

This movie dealt with a very hot topic in 1970 that doesn't really exist anymore. The plot (and characters) and the the racism angle are played very broadly and simplistically. There's also a needless and very ugly sequence in which five black girls attack and tear all the clothes off a white girl. Aside from that scene and some mild profanity this plays like a made-for-TV movie--a BAD one! The confrontations, dialogue and resolutions are all too obvious. ALMOST worth seeing for a very young Jeff Bridges and Rob Reiner.

Trivia: This movie was banned from Boston TV stations in the early 70s. Opposition to busing was very violent in the city and officials were afraid the movie might incite riots.

Having attended a Tennessee high school during the seventies, I can attest to the fairly realistic portrayal of race relations during that time. Actually, I witnessed incidents that were more violent than those portrayed in this film. The anger that the blacks displayed in the movie was very close to the emotions that I witnessed first hand. I did not appreciate at the time how difficult it was for the faculty to deal with the volatile atmosphere from day to day but as an adult watching this film, I realize how hard that job was. I agree that the non PC slant of this film keeps it a product of it's time. Regardless of this, I think that this film represents a small time capsule of realism from a time that has luckily long passed.

Truly a product of the times!I saw this movie in April,1970 at a time when there was much racial turbulence in the schools.It seemed pretty real to me at the time and altho the infamous scene where the white chick going with the "brother"got a righteous beatdown by five "sisters"in the girl's restroom was pretty shocking that kind of incident DID happen on occasion back then. I remember thinking that the hell the white students were catching in the film was just as bad as what black students experienced all over the South during the integration of schools in the Fifties.The funny thing is that in 2003 most of those scenes of racial unrest seem rather passe.As a sub teacher in the public school system on and off for almost thirty years I can attest to the fact that racial slurs are extremely rare now and that a white kid going to a Halls of Anger type school would probably be more like Eminem and be more or less accepted by black kids. I am going to try to find this movie and show it myself at certain high schools so the students can grasp the tenor of those often crisis filled times.I recommend the movie more than thirty years later.

Having seen this years ago on late-night TV, I have sought this one out for many years. I finally came across the uncut theatrical version, and "Halls of Anger" definitely stands up as a strong picture with a harsh look at race relations.

Calvin Lockhart, a black ex-basketball star now a teacher, teaches in a "good" school who is offered a job as Vice Principal in a bad "black school" full of violence, and because whites are to be bussed in there, with the hope that he can stop any trouble before it starts. The kids love him, but he is soon faced with the dilemma of being called an "Uncle Tom" because he sides with the whites sometimes, if they are in the right. but he is protective of the blacks, especially from the "man" being any school administration.

Jeff Bridges stars as the main white kid, and he is just fantastic. Rob Reiner is a secondary character, but it is very odd seeing "meathead" use the word "nigger" and being against the blacks, as opposed to his very liberal character on "All In The Family" that we all know him by. The blacks throughout the film as shown as the troublemakers; they simply will not accept white kids in their school, and constantly give the whites a very hard time. When the white girl gets off the school bus, one black guy says he wants to "lick vanilla ice cream" and she hasn't even stepped in the school for the first time yet. One black kid in particular, "J.T.," leads the school in the revolt against the whites. he seems to be the only intelligent black kid in the school - the rest seemingly cannot read or understand simply words unless they are "black" in usage. This portrayal of blacks would definitely not fly with today's audiences.

There are some troubling scenes in the movie, mainly showing the black's racism, and in the last amazing twenty minutes, there is a particularly brutal scene in the girl's locker room that was severely cut for television. This scene seems to stand on its own as there is no mention or repercussion of it anywhere else in the film.

"Halls of Anger" is definitely worth a viewing especially if you can get a hold of the uncut version. The music and atmosphere take you right back to some very troubling times.