It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Blistering performances.

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 is one in a series of films that explore the difficulties of teaching in an inner city high school. Its theme is that a caring teacher can make a difference in the life of a student, overcoming the sad realities and the fears that come with the territory.The Blackboard Jungle (1955) came before this film. Later came To Sir with Love, and Stand and Deliver. It sometimes seems unrealistic that a teacher in such a dangerous and discouraging environment could persevere and succeed. But we must remember that Stand and Deliver is a true story about a real teacher who achieved remarkable results.One reviewer called Sandy Dennis "quirky". That description fits her, as well as some others in the film (Eileen Heckart, Jean Stapleton, etc.). The result is a feeling that the classroom--and the school in general--is teetering on the edge between success and failure.Another reviewer, a teacher, asserted that school environment portrayed in the film is unrealistic. I personally know a teacher who survived many years in the Trenton NJ school system and who daily regaled me with her stories about a ridiculously political and inept administration, inadequate supplies, and threats to personal safety. In this regard, the film is true.In the end, the truth is that many teachers who are employees of such systems do not deserve the name "teacher", but only seek to survive another day with no concern for the students. But there are exceptional teachers, all the more remarkable because of their scarcity.Up the Down Staircase is not the best of this genre, but it honestly portrays the challenges of an inner city teacher. And it honors those teachers who care and persevere. I give it a "6".

Sandy Dennis was realistic as the young idealistic teacher trying to cope in a traditional urban setting in "Up the Down Staircase," based on Bel Kaufman's best seller.You really have to be a teacher or at least know one to have any idea of what is going on in our public schools.Jean Stapleton's Sadie Finch was perfect. As the school secretary, she thought she ran the place. She literally did being constantly on the intercom stating to ignore the continuously ringing fire alarms.To this very day, sadly, there is no solution to the problems of urban education. We try this program, this initiative, this idea-but nothing really works, when you have groups of students dedicated to the belief that nobody learns when they're around in school. Having taught in the NYC school system for 32 years before my retirement, I have to say that the film offers an extremely realistic view of what is occurring. We have an assistant principal here who treats the teachers in the same way that the students are to be treated. He lashes out at them. Besides being highly unprofessional, how do these supervisors expect a teacher to command respect when they are spoken down to in front of students? My first principal of cherished memory often said that a teacher has succeeded if they can reach at least 5 pupils in the class. In that context, this film certainly succeeds. Of course, it's unrealistic when we see this class of mostly losers catch on to Miss Barrett's methods so quickly. We see a principal who seems to go through the motions when addressing a student assembly. Yet, Sorrell Booke, is very touching in that role when he explains to Sylvia Barrett (the late Sandy Dennis) that she is a good teacher and that there are better schools. The librarian and guidance counselor brought back memories to me. Frances Sternhagen, as the former, showed how uninvolved many school librarians are in the education process. The fact is that they are exempt from teaching classes and are in a world of their own. Ditto for guidance counselors who treat to their small offices with their files and psychological jargon. Florence Stanley was so appealing in that latter role. Patrick Bedford epitomized the cool teacher who was guilty of a serious infraction. When you're free period 1, you still belong in the building as anything can happen as depicted. In New York City, our current school officials should see this excellent, endearing film.

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