To Sir, with Love II

Just watched this, the TV-movie sequel to To Sir, with Love, on YouTube just now. It begins back in London where Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) retires after 30 years from the high school he taught where we first met him along with his now-former students played once again by Judy Geeson and Lulu. We then see him go to Chicago, my birthtown, where he will now be teaching a new bunch of problem students of various races. Do I get a sense of deja vu here? To be honest, nothing can touch the original in terms of charm and entertainment but Poitier is still a fine actor in his twilight years and the players playing his students this time do have their chance to shine. And this time, we get a little background on what Sir had been doing before that fateful time he first set foot in that English school so that's a plus. Since this was a network production with all that entails concerning standards, there's no realistic-like dialogue which would probably be pretty profane concerning the students but there's still some believability in the way these pupils put themselves out there in talking about themselves. And despite the limited running time with commercials being considered during each fade-in, director Peter Bogdanovich manages to make each scene count. So on that note, To Sir, with Love II is at the least worth a look. And since this is the last day of Black History Month, I probably will take a break from reviewing another film involving African-Americans for a while. But if you like my reviews and are reading this under my username, all I'll say now is watch this space for anything further I may comment on in the future...

Unfortunately this sequel lacks the passion of the original. It is the same story with a modern twist. Mr. Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) is faced with near identical trouble-minded students. The setting and characters have changed, though the central students are mirror images of those in the 1967 film. The acting in some instances is bad, in others just average. With the exception of Poitier who, as always, is terrific.

I loved the original. Despite my disappointment in this film, I wouldn't discourage you from seeing it if you enjoyed the first as much as I did. Just temper your expectations. To me, it does not have the same feeling and, accordingly, will not elicit the same emotion. Much of what was so special to me about the 1967 film was that it brought to mind the wonderful teachers I was privileged to have during my schooling. Amazing individuals who were fundamental in my development as a person. This sequel did not bring about the same memories and therefore falls far below it's predecessor.

I saw To Sir, With Love 1 when I was young, and it stayed with me. I always wanted a teacher like Mark Thackery, but I was never lucky enough to encounter one. I had no ideal that they had made the second one until one day, I was lucky enough to catch it on Starz! Three people at my house sat mesmerized by Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackery's second chance after being retired from English schools to help kids that needed help and had been discarded from life. I found it to be very believable, and so did my friends. We would all recommend this movie. If you get a chance to see it, watch it. It's definitely worth your time.

After 30 years at his old school in England, Mark Thackary leaves on mandatory retirement, and gets a job teaching in Chicago. Lulu and Judy Geeson are back reprising their roles from the original for the beginning send-off. The Chicago coming-of-age scenes are mostly predictable, but Poitier is as smooth as ever, and the two main brothers do a marvelous job. The original was a great movie. This sequel is an enjoyable time-passer. Daniel J. Travanti does a good job as the feckless principal.

Someone who knows how much I adore Poitier's no nonsense demeaner and noble characterizations taped this film for me one evening when I informally voted that it would not be worth my while to make a b line home to see it. Though I appreciated the favor, the tape sat on my shelf for many a year. All I recalled about the production were the brief previews that served as ample warning that the film would aire. Truthfully, I was kind of Poitiered out. Nobody went around public speaking talking about his book and showing clips of his works as much as I did. I particularly enjoyed the Bill Cosby pairings of comedies, the "In the Heat of the Night" and "Shoot to Kill" cop flicks and the career founding race films that literally and figuratively were black and white. The first "To Sir with Love" was passable but finding difficulty joining the lofty ranks of the aforementioned 3 category favorites. With "Fame" and "Good Will Hunting" among my favorite school theme films and "With Honors" and "Breakfast Club" doing admireable jobs at rounding out that theme category, I found it hard to believe there was a place for a partially commited to Poitier project to have any impact. For all intents and purposes, I wrote this project off and kind of kept my distance from it the same way a boxing fan might refuse to go see a very old Ali take on Berbick. Almost a decade after first recorded I watched this "To Sir with Love 2" and was surprised to find that it has it own healthy niche'. The first few minutes shows the 80 year-old thesbian playing a teacher moving about the city with a theme song that sounds both dated and amateurish, however this cheesiness is only misleading and does not hint of the good stuff that follows if you stick with it. There are plenty of good teaching techniques peppered with periodic morale lessons. Blunted violence and self censored language may come across as humorous or unrealistic, however it does not take away from the overall message and in the end plays a major part in the movie's charm. For the umpteenth time, another score for Poitier, even though I thought he was done.