Sylvia, a novice schoolteacher, is hired to teach English in a high school, but she’s met with an apathetic faculty, a delinquent student body and an administration that drowns its staff in paperwork. The following days go from bad to worse as Sylvia struggles to reach her most troubled students.
Similar titles
Reviews
I loved this movie, I watched it two times in two days as I dvr'd it from TCM. After watching it I ordered the book and purchased the movie. Sandy Dennis was so endearing in her role. It was so good that I also had to look up all of the actors and read their history and backgrounds etc. I usually do not go so overboard but this movie caught ahold of me. I was only two years old when it was released and do not know how I have gone for so long without seeing it but so glad I ran across it. You will not be disappointed with it. There were some familiar faces in the movie such as Jean Stapleton, Sorrell Booke and even Bernice from Fish :)
Sandy Dennis plays a young teacher who is assigned to an inner city school in NYC in the early 1960s. You see here deal with tons of red tape at the school and students who don't care.Based on a 1964 book written by an actual NYC teacher. The tone of the film (and book) is light but it doesn't ignore the problems the students have. It offers no solutions but brings up some interesting questions. Shot at an actual NYC high school during the summer break which helps lead realism to the movie. All the acting is excellent.
Sylvia Barrett (Sandy Dennis) is a new English teacher at the rundown Calvin Coolidge High School. She is a fish out of water and even goes up the down staircase on her first day. She struggles in the overcrowded classes without much supplies or any help. Sylvia struggles against the bureaucracy, overwhelming odds, and indifference.Sandy Dennis is great and it's got the grittiness of a tough school. It came out around the same time as "To Sir, With Love" with Sidney Poitier and is generally overshadowed by it. It has neither the iconic song nor an iconic star. It is a good modern school drama that fits into the standard formula. This may have set the formula itself and it gets the chaotic classroom right. The scene that sold me is Mr. Barringer unwittingly critiquing Alice's love letter. It's an amazing scene. This is all very good.
A bit didactic but nonetheless entertaining film starring Sandy Dennis as a new teacher at an inner city high school. Dennis faces the standard juvenile delinquents and then some: the threatening thug; the homely, suicidal girl; the parent-less teen who actually cares; the portly know-it-all. Director Robert Mulligan confines the lion's share of the action to the school (Grover Cleveland High School in the film; three different NYC schools in real life) so the focus is really on the acting, which is mostly good and occasionally superb. Your tolerance of Dennis's affectations will determine how you feel about her performance but the supporting cast is a terrific collection of New York character actors. Jean Stapelton, Eileen Heckart, Sorrell Booke, Florence Stanley (surprising as an unusually efficient guidance counselor), Roy Poole as the less than sympathetic principal, and Ruth White as Dennis's most realistic co-worker. Patrick Bedford gives an exceptional performance as an English teacher with dreams of being a real writer and Ellen O'Mara is a standout as the tragic student in love with him.
