The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Beautifully filmed and acted by all the performers, this is a knock-out film. Maggie Smith is incredible right down to her Morningside accent. The other players hold their own against her powerhouse performance. The Edinburgh locations are great and the film has a remarkably nostalgic quality that reflects Brodie's romanticism. A beautiful Rod McKuen score as well! A must see film. An interesting comparison can be made with Dead Poet's Society, which has a male teacher in an all male school (compared to a female teacher in an all girl's school). In Brodie, unorthodox irresponsible teaching is condemned while in Dead Poet's Society it is valorized. In both the teaching methods bring about the death of a student and the school's reaction is similar. The film makers, however, come down on opposite sides in their attitudes toward the teachers

I don't know about you, but every time I see Maggie Smith on the screen it's always a good sign to stick around for the whole movie. It holds true with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. A rather slow-moving, at first, and quiet movie, it has a certain seductiveness to it that's just below the surface. As you watch the movie you can almost feel and see the emotions building up. Always at the edge and never missing a beat, Smith executes her role with absolute perfection and in doing so driving the audience insane. Pamela Franklin also comes through as a girl changes Miss Brodie's outlook on her and changes our outlook on Miss Brodie. Torn between rooting for her and hating her, and mostly you'll be doing the latter, Miss Brodie is a character with far less facets to her than one might expect. Only once again proving that trust can be misplaced and appearances can be deceiving.

I saw this film thirty years ago and Maggie Smith's performance still rates as one of the finest on screen. The storyline is already well known. I just want to crow about her presence in the movie. This woman even managed to blush when she and Mr Lloyd were caught in a clinch by Mary MacGregor! All these years later I still recall the line she delivered so witheringly when she heard that the music teacher she had once been linked with was finally going the marry the science teacher "Do you not think that with one snap of my fingers I couldn't send Miss (beat) Lockhart back to her gaseous domain!" Rent the video and whoop with delight at the sheer brilliance of this woman.

Robert Stephens was the least convincing of the lead performers, beside his then wife he was positively wooden. I saw them together on the London Stage in Hedda Gabler and they electrified the place! This film though was all about her. Her scenes with the Head Teacher were astonishing " I didn't want to be late - or early!"

A joy!

Maggie Smith is mesmerizing. She paints the blind monstrosity of Miss Jean Brodie in the most recognizable human tones. Robin William's character in "Dead Poet Society" is as irresponsible but doesn't go near as far as this repressed masterpiece of a creature. Her romantic slant towards "Il Duce" and what he represents is at the core of the simple complexity of the character. Maggie's mannerism, now a precious trade mark, belong to Miss Brodie, totally. Her arms, her chin, the turning of her face. Pamela Franlklin is also superb. What a powerful young actress -- Where is she now? -- and Celia Johnson's performance is the icing on the cake of this feast of a movie.

See it for Maggie Smith who was much deserving of her Best Actress Oscar in 1969. I'd rank this performance among the best ever preserved on film. Her character is unlike any you've ever seen and ranks up there with Sandy Dennis in "Up the Down Staircase" and Sidney Poitier in "To Sir, With Love" as one of the most memorable teachers on screen.

Ronald Neame does a nice job of moving the film along so the adapted play doesn't seem stagy. The focus is the wonderful adapted screenplay and the great cast.

The triumph of "Jean Brodie" is the final confrontation scene with Smith and young actress Pamela Franklin.

Don't miss it.