Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle (1955)

There is so much intensity and visual punch to this socially concerned schoolhouse narrative, it's hard to not overlook the pushiness of some of the plot and the blatant stereotyping of most of the characters. Glen Ford is, in fact, truly commanding here, and he becomes the movie. Most of the rest, really all the rest, are supporting roles, and not all of them do him credit. And this comes not from lack of talent, but from a script that has too many little agendas at work. Hey, but they are important and interesting agendas, so fear not. It's exciting going every step of the way.

Even young Sydney Poitier, for all his charm and ease on screen, is forced into a role, as a reluctant but talented student, that makes him a two-dimensional, and his relationship with Ford is pushed on us at the expense of the others. Some of the other teachers are convincing in their own ways, most of all Louis Calhern as a grumpy and jaded older teacher who expects the worst and gets it. There are moments of high drama that work--mostly violence or the avoidance of violence--and there are moments too contrived and too foreshadowed to contribute very much. The female teacher is set up to tempt the determined Ford main character, and she plays out in expected ways.

It might be a testament, actually, that the movie grabs you and won't let go even with these storytelling flaws. For one thing, it looks great (with photography by Russell Harlan) and is edited crisply, so technically it soars (and in a vivid widescreen black and white, not 4:3 like IMDb says). The director, Richard Brooks, clearly makes the most of the material. His career has left us a number of almost great movies, and this might be his greatest. It seems to have had the most impact in its time, sparking violence in the theaters where it was shown. And by using "Rock Around the Clock" it helped make Bill Halley and Comets and white rock and roll hugely popular.

But as just a movie, on the screen, it is Ford who takes on the subtle turmoils going on in his character's head, and you read it in his face and his stiff body language, and you believe him.

A history professor once told me, "If you want to change history, become a historian." This statement might also apply to movie critics. I came of age (turned 13) when I saw this movie when it was first released in 1955. My buds and I liked the movie, not because it was a shocker, which it was not, but because it dealt fairly realistically with teenagers, much more so than say the old Andy Hardy series. To my knowledge no one was really shocked by this movie. There was no big hoopla by "concerned" citizens as there would be when Elia Kazan's "Baby Doll" played on the same screen a few years later. And "Rock Around The Clock" was not considered rock 'n' roll by most teens, only a pop hit along the lines of "Sh-boom." The first record actually considered rock 'n' roll by most teens was Chuck Berry's "Maybelline." When my buds and I first heard it on the radio, we stopped the car and listened intently to a new kind of teen music. That did not happen with anything Bill Haley and the Comets put on wax. Those who say "The Blackboard Jungle" was a shocker simply did not live through that period of history. Some of these same critics believe that the average family of the 50's was like the one portrayed on "Leave It To Beaver." I knew of no family in my neighborhood that lived like the Cleavers. We found "Rebel Without a Cause" and a somewhat neglected film "The Wild One" to be the ones that related to our rebellious side. "The Wild One," especially Marlon Brando's performance, was the standout film for us teens in those days. Another later Robert Mitchum flick, "Thunder Road," was also a movie that spoke to the teens of the period. Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Robert Mitchum were movie role models for many of us growing up in the turbulent 50's, not Glenn Ford or even Vic Morrow and Sidney Poitier.

That's not to say that this movie is not worth seeing, for it is a good movie dealing in a somewhat no nonsense way with teaching rebellious and sometimes dangerous teens, who see nothing relevant in book learning and who don't want to be exposed to the higher levels of intellectual endeavors. How do you teach the unteachable? Still a challenge today in the American classroom.

James Dean's untimely death in September of 1955 made "Rebel Without a Cause" a booming box office and critical success. Overshadowed due to that was "Blackboard Jungle", a superior and more important film than the aforementioned "Rebel Without a Cause" (contrary to popular belief admittedly). It is New York in the mid-1950s and former military man Glenn Ford (in his greatest screen role) takes a job as a high school teacher in the inner-city. Soon it is blatantly apparent that the school is full of male thugs (most notably guys like Sidney Poitier, Vic Morrow, Paul Mazursky and even Jamie Farr) who run things with total disregard of faculty rules and policy. Ford becomes enraged and proves to be a lot tougher than originally thought. However when pregnant wife Anne Francis starts receiving anonymous phone calls and letters from one of Ford's students about a possible affair between he and one of his female co-workers, the real fireworks start. At first Ford believes that Poitier is the culprit, probably based more on race and Poitier's obvious intelligence rather than actual proof. It takes lots of time and effort, but Ford becomes determined to get through to his pupils and weed out those who are trying to impede his progress and the advancement of others at his school. "Blackboard Jungle" is another excellent piece from writer-director Richard Brooks (Oscar-nominated for writing). It is the first truly legitimate movie that dealt with 1950s teenage angst and it rises above every other movie of the genre. Ford is a revelation, once again showing that he is probably the most under-appreciated actor throughout the history of the cinema. With that said, "Blackboard Jungle" is likely best remembered as Poitier's breakthrough role, a role which ultimately led to outstanding movie after outstanding movie throughout the late-1950s and 1960s. Poitier, 28 at the time, plays much younger than he was and adds much emotion and depth to a potentially flat character. A booming rock'n'roll soundtrack and top-flight performances dominate Brooks' outstanding winner. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I chose to watch Blackboard Jungle after I saw Rebel Without a Cause in Film class. I enjoyed the first movie and after I learned what Jungle was about, I assumed that I would enjoy it as much as Rebel. I was wrong; I enjoyed Blackboard Jungle twice as much.

Blackboard Jungle premiered in 1955, the same year as Rebel Without a Cause and historical milestones such as Rosa Parks' monumental protest of bus segregation. In fact, race relations pay an important part in this film, which I will discuss later. The movie is about a teacher, Richard Dadier, who accepts a job at North Manual High School. At this school, he encounters a school-wide discipline problem. The two main perpetrators in Dadier's class are Gregory Miller, a black student whom Dadier comes to see much promise in, and Vic Morrow, the true instigator of violence, whose gang attacks Dadier. Over the course of the film, Dadier also encounters apathetic teachers, a principal in denial, and a wife who gives birth prematurely. Eventually, Dadier must decide if his pursuit to teach is important enough to endure the hardship.

This movie brings up some very important issues that were just important in 1955 as they are in 2001. Violence in schools is still a major topic, culminating in the Columbine shooting which everyone should remember. Also important is how teachers are to deal with this threat. Dadier dealt with it by reaching out to Miller and by confronting Morrow. But is this a realistic scenario? Sometimes students just cannot be reached, and it is irresponsible to ask teachers to directly confront weapon-totin students who have a propensity for violence. This just goes to show that solving violence in schools is difficult. It has taken at least 46 years; it will probably take many more.

No female students are portrayed in Blackboard Jungle. This contributes to the stereotype that usually teenage boys are the ones who instigate violence. Of course, the statistics show that male students are mostly responsible for school violence, and many stereotypes exist for a reason. Rebel Without a Cause demonstrates the female role in school insubordination well, by including a woman in the main gang. Still, I would have liked to see a female student element in Jungle, to show that girls are often involved, and that they also influence male student's behavior.

For the era, the racial attitude of Blackboard Jungle is very progressive. Dadier confronts racial slurs in the classroom. The principal, who was tipped off by a student that Dadier was using racial epithets (when all he was demonstrating was the dangerous consequences of such racism), is not happy with this report and chastises Dadier. Both situations show that two important protagonists object to racism, signifying the film's aversion to this social aspect. This comes just after Brown v Board, simultaneous to Rosa Parks' significance, and long before the high point of the Civil Rights Movement. Blackboard Jungle should undoubtedly be recognized for its attitude on race relations and other controversial elements, such as rock and roll. At a time when rock music was still controversial and outside the mainstream, Blackboard Jungle opened and closed with Bill Haley and the Comet's "Rock Around the Clock." This was a bold step to take and was one of the reasons that the film was banned from many theatres. The relatively violent content also contributed to the barring of the movie and probably contributed to many riots that occurred in theatres while the movie was shown.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie, both for the issues it addressed, its support for educators and their responsibilities, and for its entertainment value alone. I highly recommend this film to anyone who is interested in educational dilemma, or someone who simply would enjoy a classic film with a progressive, realistic attitude. However, for anyone looking for a clone of Rebel Without a Cause, they won't find what they're looking for, but I guarantee they will enjoy it just the same.

"Blackboard Jungle" marked a turn around in films coming from Hollywood. This was a film that dealt with a reality that movies had not dared to touch before in the way they always wanted to sugar coat every picture about teens in high school. The guys one sees here are the real thing, as though taken from any high school in the inner city of that time.

The amazing thing this high school, at the center of the action, is not typical of any other schools in that one males attended and no females are to be seen around them. By making an old male high school, Richard Brooks updated Evan Hunter's novel to show the violent nature of most of those young men that are clearly from under privileged homes, perhaps, boys whose fathers had bolted and left their women to bring up the sons they didn't want to have anything with.

The film is important in that it marked the arrival of a strong actor that would dominate the movies like no other one, Sidney Poitier. With his handsome looks, and his great screen presence, Mr. Poitier was instrumental in breaking into the main stream movies in ways others tried, but didn't make a dent. Perhaps it was in the cards that Hollywood began dealing with a reality they tried to ignore integrating their stories with Blacks that had taken a back seat to other, not so talented performers.

The film works because of the strong performances by Glenn Ford, Vic Morrow and Sidney Poitier. Also, the theme song of the film, "Rock Around the Clock" went to become an anthem for viewers that filled the theaters for the thrill of hearing it play as the film started, putting them in the right frame of mind to accept what they were going to see.

Richard Brooks is the one responsible for the adaptation and the inspired direction for the movie that still resonates because of its raw energy.