Powerful

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

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.

Up The Down Staircase is directed by Robert Mulligan, has a screenplay by Tad Mosel, is based on the novel by Bel Kaufman and stars Sandy Dennis and Patrick Bedford.Sylvia Barrett(Sandy Dennis) is an enthusiastic and idealistic young teacher who starts a job as English teacher at a New York High school. The majority of the students don't want to be in school and she has to deal with bad behaviour, learn the rules of the school and try not to let the pressure of the job get to her.Dennis is superb in the lead role, you really feel for her as she tries to reach her students and get them engaged in lessons. Her co star Patrick Bedford steals the film from her though. Bedford plays Paul Barringer, another teacher at the school who is just going through the motions and has long since given up trying to be inspirational. When a young student writes him a love letter he callously corrects the grammar in it in front of her, instead of talking to her about it's content. His inability not to talk to her about her feelings has tragic consequences.Barringer's rant in Barrett's class later in the film is a highlight.A great film about how difficult it can be to be a teacher. Getting students interested in subjects and indeed in learning in general is not always easy and sometimes fails to happen at all, but many teachers will keep on trying and this film shows that.

Up the Down Staircase (1967) was a film based up an interesting novel that came out during the mid-sixties. The novel was somewhat scatter shot but the film was more linear in structure. Even though the film doesn't follow it directly, it still manages to keep it's quirky and helter skelter tone and atmosphere. Sandy Dennis stars as a young teacher who's hired to teach in an inner city school. Not all that prepared for life in that environment, she manages to keep her head up and wear that ever so cute smile upon her face. Will this young and idealistic teacher keep to her dedicated style of children first? How does she deal with the culture shock? What does the title mean? Watch this flick and find out!Recommended for fans of high school movies

The interior shots were of Haaren High School in Hell's Kitchen. I went there for 3 years, graduating in 1956. One of the exterior shots, where Sandy is going thru the door crowded by students, also looks like Haaren. It is the scene where the three doors were initially locked and she bangs to get in, and suddenly the doors open. That's exactly the way it was every day for me, for three years. I loved the movie, but a lot has to do with recognizing the background and the superb acting of Sandy. I seem to remember there being a rumor in the 60's about the original script calling for the girl who jumped out the window to die, but the preview audiences gave negative feedback and it became ambiguous in the final cut, claiming that she didn't die, at least not initially, because she hit a ledge on the way down. Anyone who wants to know what the interior of a typical New York City high school looked like back then should see this flick, they didn't spruce anything up. John P--Class of '56--jpuma@juno.com