Spare the Rod

Max Bygraves did not enter movies that often. In CHARLIE MOON (1956) he had a role as a young lover with a hit song. SPARE THE ROD was very different. Directed by Leslie Norman, who was a grid workmanlike director, Bygraves plays an orphan boy made good as he takes up the role of a supply teacher at one of London's toughest schools. The temptation might have been to sentimentalise the material, but to his credit Norman suggests that friendships are few and far between in this discipline-dominated institution, presided over by a head teacher (Donald Pleasance) with a fondness fir a big stick and tyrannical rule. His sidekick (Geoffrey Keen) is a teacher of the old school, where the cane does most of the talking. Bygraves enters a knife-edge atmosphere, where learner rebellion is perpetually imminent, and semi-succeeds at his job by listening to the learners and taking their ambitions in mind. Needless to say, he doesn't succeed where others have failed, his over-zealous temper getting the better of him in the end when he attempts to defend a learner against an unwarranted beating from a teacher. At the end it is left undecided whether he will stay or not, but he remains popular by combining strictness with understanding. The film Has its share of educational cinematic cliches, but remains refreshingly

I must say I find the "6" rating awarded by all the previous reviewers of this film a bit on the harsh side and have awarded a ranking two levels higher myself. OK, so Max Bygraves was not a professional actor and his cinema 'career' is really not that much to speak about, but I still think he did a very good job in this picture. The support from consummate professionals like Pleasance and Keene also helped, of course, but he obviously established a genuine rapport with the actors playing the school pupils and he conveys the various emotions demanded by the role well, I thought. The main pleasure I experienced from watching the film, however, was in being reminded of just how absolutely appalling and brutalising so-called "secondary mods" in poor areas were, with jaded and often burnt-out teachers often resorting to brutal physical force/punishment in an attempt to maintain some sort of order and discipline. The film shows many insights, both retrospectively (e.g. how many (non-commissioned) ex-service men were herded into teaching after the second world war) and (unknowlingly) in terms of the future as well (e.g. the lad who tells Bygraves he "does not need to learn to read" as he intends to follow his dad in "working on the docks for £28.00 a week" (considerably more than a teacher like Bygraves portrays would have received at the time!) One wonders what became of the lad twenty years later when the London Docks had all gone and the entire surrounding area (as I can personally recall) had become totally derelict (until reclaimed by property developers who have now made the whole area totally beyond the dreams of the grandchildren of most of the kind of kids portrayed in the film.) A fascinating insight into a world long gone - and, one has to say, hopefully for good in some ways! The next time someone starts bleeting on about how "great" grammar schools were, the question to ask is, "And will YOU be sending your kids to a secondary mod like 'Worrell St' if the tests show they are a "sheep and not a goat" as well?

"Spare the Rod" may not qualify as a masterpiece but it's still worth seeing all the same. The story about an inexperienced school teacher who has the task of teaching a difficult class, usually makes for fairly engaging drama. I believe the above film achieves this, thanks to a good script and a solid performance from Max Bygraves. I've no idea why he didn't appear in more movies like "Spare the Rod," he would have been good. Even though Donald Pleasence is billed second in the cast, he hasn't much to do and his character isn't part of the storyline. Geoffrey Keen does quite well as a rather brutal teacher colleague who relishes the chance to use his cane. After a while, he manages to partly redeem himself. The classroom scenes are the best in my opinion, as the dramatic tension between teacher and rebellious pupils is at its best. You won't see much location photography around London, which is good as the narrative can remain focused upon the films main setting - that being of the school. One scene which must have raised an eyebrow or two, is the one where that blonde schoolgirl makes a pathetic attempt to seduce her own teacher. I'm surprised the B.B.F.C didn't demand the scene be removed. Obtaining this film on DVD is next to impossible but if you can watch it on TV, don't miss it.

A British drama; A story about an inexperienced teacher determined to win the respect and confidence of his pupils, is advised by experienced colleagues to apply discipline and punishment to maintain control. This social drama set in the East End of London in the late 1950s draws on source material from the 1954 novel by Michael Clark. It is a portrayal of second tier education at a time when UK establishments were largely starved of attention and resources from education authorities. Its story subject aims to give a lesson to educators about the effect of the excesses of corporal punishment. Max Bygraves brings sincerity and attractiveness though he sometimes lacks potency as a lead character in his scenes with Geoffrey Keen's menacing schoolmaster and Donald Pleasance's headmaster of lost ideals. As an aside, Max Bygraves personally funded the making of the film after being inspired by the novel and by his own upbringing in the East End of London.

Max Bygraves was hugely popular in the UK as a singer and comedian - and subsequently as a game show host - but, it has to be said, his greatest attribute was his affability.

A number of his singles made the UK charts and his "singalong" albums appealed (particularly) to older listeners not, I think, simply because he was a passably good vocalist, but because his persona was so likable and non-threatening.

In Spare the Rod, he is cast as a supply teacher working in a tough secondary modern school in the East End of London, hoping to succeed by winning over the pupils rather than punishing them. Along the way, he shows the bad boys that he can mix it with the best whilst refusing to be seduced by the bad girls.

Donald Pleasance is excellent as the headmaster who has no illusions whatsoever about the youngsters in his charge or the system that he is required to follow and Geoffrey Keen, as the sadistic woodwork teacher, reminds us all of some of the bad, bad times in what used to be described as the best years of our lives! Amongst the kids, look out, especially, for Richard O'Sullivan and Jeremy Bulloch, both of whom excel.

As for Max, well, sadly he wasn't really much of an actor but, surrounded by professionals as he is, he doesn't do too badly.

And it is kind of hard to dislike or say bad things about someone who is just so affable.