It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Blistering performances.

Glenn Ford is a teacher, sent to a boys' high school in a bad neighborhood. After a disastrous first day, he's temped to leave and try and find work in another area. But, as he and his pregnant wife Anne Francis know, there's no position available anywhere else. If there were, he would have gone there in the first place. So, as his fellow teachers Louis Calhern, Margaret Hayes, and Richard Kiley, advise him, he just has to keep his head down and survive the school year. They're not teaching boys who have dreams of college, a career, or a lustrous life; their students are hoodlums who get in daily fights and bring knives to class.Glenn Ford was such a prolific actor and made memorable classics in several genres, but Blackboard Jungle is one of his most iconic roles. He's naturally sincere and passionate and delivers his lines so convincingly it's as if he thought of them on the spot instead of reciting Richard Brooks's script. When he tries to help the lost-cause students, you're inspired, when he singles out one of the kids to try and get an ally in the classroom, you see the same potential, and when he finally looses his temper, you're similarly enraged.While there have been dozens of remakes throughout the decades about a do-good-er teacher who is sent to a school in the slums and tries to make a difference, Blackboard Jungle was the first. It was particularly gritty for its time, but even now it's still extremely suspenseful and hard to watch. As if the boundary-pushing subject matter wasn't reason enough to make this classic famous, it propelled Sidney Poitier to stardom. It wasn't his first movie, but the film was nominated for four Oscars and became very famous. In case you've never seen this film and naturally assumed Sidney was cast as the noble teacher because of his famous classic To Sir, with Love, which is one of the more famous remakes in the genre, he's actually one of the unruly students! So if you've only seen him in strictly good-guy roles, you might want to rent this one and see him in a different part.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to gritty violence I wouldn't let my kids watch it. Also, there may or may not be a rape scene.

Schoolroom scenarios: A young high school instructor gets into a classroom altercation with a knife-wielding student who is high on drugs; the same teacher is angrily confronted by the principal about his alleged use of the "N-word" in class; and a student sexually assaults a female teacher, who is a shade too provocatively dressed.News headlines from 2016? Nope: they're scenes from BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, Richard Brooks' classic 1955 drama about juvenile delinquency in an inner city high school.The burning, roiling film packs an enormous punch, thanks in large part to a powerhouse cast. As Rick Dadier, the young teacher, Glenn Ford impresses us as one of the most underrated actors of Hollywood's Golden Era. With his intense straight-arrow style, Ford embodies Dadier's idealism, love for his wife and (soon-to-be) family, and determination to bring healing to the social decay around him. If any actor was destined to become America's first black movie star it was surely Sidney Poitier, whose magnetism, handsomeness and compulsive likability are displayed here at an early stage of his career as upperclassman Gregory Miller (one of three black students in Dadier's class). Equally adept at leading a singing group and fixing an automobile, Miller has more potential than the other toughs in the school. As Dadier takes him under his wing, we root for him to carve out a successful life away from the "jungle." Dadier's chief antagonist is grungy gang leader Artie West, given raw life by Vic Morrow, whose nihilism is so well reasoned out that it almost seems a plausible life option. West's confrontation of Dadier with a switch knife creates the film's climactic scene; his destructive actions are stopped (symbolically perhaps, in light of the film's patriotic commitments) by a large American flat wielded by a resourceful student.The female roles are ably contrasted by young Anne Francis as Anne Dadier, who brings a new child into the world while enduring vicious rumors about her husband's fidelity; and Margaret Hayes, as the slightly mixed-up new teacher who has misguided ways of filling the emptiness of her life, including flirting with Dadier.Most enjoyable among the supporting players is Louis Calhern as the conservative and cynical older teacher who considers his charges a lost cause. You may remember Calhern from the Marx Brothers' DUCK SOUP, among other offerings of the '30s, as well as a '50s film noir with a similar title to this one: THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (with Marilyn Monroe). While Calhern may seem almost too distinguished to be teaching at a high school - especially such a low-grade one as this - his peppery jibes add much wit to the proceedings. A number of recognizable character actors of the past (and future) appear in the cast: John Hoyt as the principled principal; Jamie Farr (of later M*A*S*H fame) and Paul Mazursky as somewhat less dissolute students; and even Richard Deacon (chrome-dome corporate type on Leave It to Beaver and The Dick Van Dyke Show) as a teacher. Not to mention Richard Kiley as poor naïve novice Josh Edwards, who comes to painfully regret bringing his prized record collection into his class.Shot in the best '50s black-and-white documentary realist style, Blackboard moves at a brisk clip and doesn't outstay its welcome. Brooks' screenplay mediates deftly between the civilized world of the adults and the gritty world of the juveniles, replete with earthy examples of mid-century slang (much of it scrubbed up from Evan Hunter's racier novel).With its still-relevant social themes and ground-breaking rock n' roll soundtrack, BLACKBOARD JUNGLE is guaranteed to raise eyebrows and discussions. Show it to anyone whose vision of the '50s is limited to "Ozzie and Harriet."

Having first seen this on VHS during the '90s, I decided to again watch Blackboard Jungle on DVD knowing-since this is Black History Month-this was one of Sidney Poitier's breakout performances. He plays Gregory Miller, who we find out is in the choir at the high school and also has a job as a mechanic. Glenn Ford-as his teacher Richard Dadier-tries to steer him to the straight and narrow even as his other students, especially Vic Morrow as Artie West, prove more troublesome. I'll stop there and just say this was quite compellingly shocking for its time, so much so that a disclaimer at the beginning had to assure mainstream viewers that the depiction of the school was pure fiction! Oh, and this proved to be such a popular movie that the song that started it, "Rock Around the Clock", which hadn't done much beforehand, suddenly became the No. 1 hit for Bill Haley and His Comets and basically started the Rock 'n' Roll era! So on that note, I highly recommend Blackboard Jungle. P.S. I also highly recommend the accompanying commentary on the disc provided by players Paul Mazursky, and Jamie Farr (credited in the movie as Jameel Farah), assistant director Joel Freeman, as well as Peter Ford, Glenn's son, who mentions how director Richard Brooks came to pick the theme song after listening to Peter's copy of the record.

The classic movie, Blackboard Jungle, which came out in 1955 starring Glen Ford and Anne Francis was banned from many theaters because it promoted teenage rebellion. The first scene opens with male students smoking, dancing, and playing basketball at North Manual High School in New York City to the song "Rock Around the Clock" which instantly became a top rock hit. These corrupt and ill-mannered young men who were impossibly difficult to discipline were introduced to their new teacher, Rick Dadier. Dadier was given his first pitch at this high school teaching career in order to financially support himself and his gorgeous pregnant wife, Anne. Dadier enters the classroom full of rowdy, disrespectful boys, and instantly enforces rules and regulations within the classroom as well as try to make his students gain interest in education. Unfortunately, his efforts create a violent crisis between the students and Mr. Dadier. Many attempts to harm Rick and his wife as well as false accusations and rumors have brought him to question his job placement. Dadier believes that the leaders of this mutiny are Artie West, a good looking smart mouthed boy, or Gregory Miller, the only black student in his class. However, Dadier finds out that the culprit is indeed Artie West. After violently confronting Artie in front of the entire classroom, Artie orders the rest of his gang to help him out and counter attack Dadier, but only one listens. Artie is punished by the school, and the students find themselves being fond of Mr. Dadier. Dadier decided to keep his career and continue to benefit the school.