hyped garbage

How sad is this?

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

1955, the year that Nicolas Ray showed America the alienated teenagers and consequences with Rebel Without a Cause, quite similarly to this film. Yet, Rebel without a cause approaches the subject through the eyes of the teenagers, Blackboard Jungle talks about the problem as experienced by the adults, immediately making it much more patronising and judgmental.Warner Bros. pictures, the studio behind Rebel without a Cause, has always been a more working class studio, which gives them more authority to handle problems of the public.The fact that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the most middle- class American of the big studios made this film contributes to the mocking character of the film. Especially the beginning text, stating that 'America needs to know about these problems or else the United States are doomed!'As it stands, the film begins with this air of superiority and never recovers from it. The inclusion of 'Rock around the Clock' in addition to great performances of Glenn Ford and Sidney Poitier could be considered saving graces if you were able to look past this systematic flaw, I was not.

As has been mentioned, this was a breakthrough film, both in terms of the cinema, but also in terms of making Americans realize what was happening in at least some schools. It's a gritty film. But, in some ways, it's hogwash.I say that as a 33-year veteran of teaching (13 years) and administering (20 years). Let's begin with the opening -- Glenn Ford goes into the principal's office, has an interview that lasts less than 5 minutes, and it's a ridiculous interview. No interview I ever participated in, either as the interviewee or interviewer was ever that dumb! Trust me, as a school principal I would never have hired a teacher that presented himself an inadequately as Glenn Ford's character did here.The next couple of scenes, where Ford meets a few of the other teachers...well, okay. Stereotypical teachers (both good and bad), and not totally unrealistic...but so clichéd. But, I've never seen even first year teachers that extremely naive. And then, Ford and another teacher decide to take a short-cut...through an alley...at night...in the inner-city...and of course get beaten-up. And then, just says after he is beaten, he is offered a teaching position at a highly respected high school...and turns it down to go back and teach the same gang members who beat him up.Glenn Ford should have earned an award for the worst looking suit and worst haircut for a leading man in the history of film. I guess it's was supposed to make him look like a poor, young teacher.Despite all my criticisms, the acting here is actually pretty decent. It's rare that Glenn Ford ever turned in a poor performance, and he very good here. I never saw the appeal of Anne Francis, but she does well enough here as the wife of Ford. Louis Calhern has the rather thankless job as the grumbler among the teachers...not his best role. Richard Kiley is good as a math teacher who quites. Sidney Poitier is very good as the cool Black student...who a decade later who play a role similar to Ford's in "To Sir With Love". The one performance here that I think was very poor was Vic Morrow as the main troublemaker; apparently Morrow wanted people to see him as the next Marlon Brando...but no, it doesn't work; very poor performance.I know that lots of people liked this movie. I think it's inane, and will give it my really poor score of 5...and only that because some of the acting is pretty good.

Blackboard Jungle was an amazing movie that showed what happened in real life around the time it was filmed. It showed the racism that occurred and how respect was not shown for authority. The fact that there weren't a lot of women in this movie showed symbolism towards the time of this film. In another note, the cast list was amazing. They portrayed their characters very well.The racism showed in this movie was turned towards Gregory Miller, who was played by Sidney Poitier. He was the only black kid in the class that was focused on. The racism wasn't shown a lot until around the end of the movie. One of Gregory's classmates came to school under the influence and shouted racial slurs to who had, before, been one of his best friends. There weren't a lot of girls in this movie. This led me to think that there were only troubled boys. Also, brought to my attention that the girls weren't considered to be successful at the time, according to what happened with Lois Hammond, played by Margaret Hayes. She was the only female teacher at the school and she was targeted by her co-workers and all of the students that attended the school. On the first day, when all of the teachers were witting with each other at the assembly, they all looked at her as though she was uneducated or not well fit for the job. When she stood in front of the students to introduce herself, they all howled and whistled at her. It was very obvious that she was very uncomfortable, so she quickly said her introduction and got off stage. Later in the movie, one of the students attacked her and she was defenseless. Her co-worker, Richard Dadier, was there in time to save her and go after the student that had attacked her. He was the only teacher that actually cared and talked to her in a way that wasn't aimed to undermine her. Overall, this movie was great! I give this movie a 9 out of 10 because there was some times where I felt things were a little more extreme than in real life. But other than that, it was a great movie to watch. It actually made me visualize what teachers actually go through on an everyday basis, and to show respect.

Blackboard Jungle was a harsh movie that exampled the dangers and harshness of teaching kids that have been inundated in a mad entity of racism, violence, and delinquency. Blackboard Jungle is a wondrous movie with real life themes that have been and will continue to be important to society. This movie is a great example of not only the harsh lives people are forcibly born into, but the lives that are affected by these people's actions. This is initially displayed when Artie West and his gang attack Dadier and his friend on the way home from a bar. It's incredible and discouraging to notice these incidents still issues today, 60 years later. Very refined and straight to the point in every scene, it doesn't lead you on pointless tangents that don't further the story. Every scene digs deeper and deeper into the problem and does so elegantly and smoothly. Where Dadier succeeded, other teachers failed. This movie shows the discrimination more among race than gender, though that's also an underlying theme. Miller, a student content with dropping out early, realizing that his schooling will get him nowhere in life solely based on his color, is a prime antagonist until he and Dadier begin to talk and see the world from each other's point-of-view. Intelligent for a boy his age, Miller sees the error of his ways and decides to help his teacher any way he's able to, just like in the finale when he protected Dadier from students trying to attack him from the back.Though gender is a bit less of an issue, it's still a bit undermining the way Anne is portrayed in this film. She has had one miscarriage before and is being torn apart by letters of threats and lies, saying that her husband is having an affair. Anne is showed to be a weak, unresting woman with insecurities to tire any man out. Fear is one thing humans can never truly escape, but she takes the word to a whole new level, having a premature birth due to the fear of her husband cheating, rather than simple talking to him more about when given the chance. Not all women are weak individuals who rely on their man to keep them from losing sanity and she was portrayed as a human who could hardly exist without someone giving her constant watch.Finally, this movie comes to a close with Dadier standing up to his most troublesome student in a finale that, while blunt, keeps you on the end of your seat and lusting for the next scene. If you watch this movie with an open-mind, you begin to realize things that you might not before, you begin to understand people's feelings, the sorrow, fear, and anger behind everything, whether it be Millers decision to drop out or Dadiers resolution to quit his dangerous occupation. This entire movie is situationally ironic in and of itself in the fact that it took ex- military personnel to calm the storm that was a gang of trifling students.