Blackboard Jungle

[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.

Blackboard Jungle
Image:Blackboard Jungle DVD cover.jpg Blackboard Jungle DVD cover
Directed by	Richard Brooks
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman
Written by	Richard Brooks, based on the novel by Evan Hunter
Starring	Glenn Ford Anne Francis Louis Calhern Sidney Poitier
Music by	Max Freedman (song "Rock Around the Clock") (uncredited), Willis Holman (song “Blackboard Jungle”)
Cinematography	Russell Harlan
Distributed by	MGM
Release date(s)	March 19 1955 (U.S. release)
Running time	101 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cultural impact 2.1 Music and teen culture 2.2 Genre 3 Cast 4 Awards 5 References 6 External links

Synopsis

Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) is a teacher at an inner-city school where many of the pupils, led by an African American student Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier), frequently engage in anti-social behaviour. Dadier challenges both staff and pupils but the conflict results in anonymous threats against his family. Dadier suspects Artie West (Vic Morrow) as the one making the calls.

Cultural impact

Music and teen culture

The film has also been credited with sparking the Rock and Roll revolution by featuring Bill Haley and the Comets's Rock Around the Clock, initially a B-side, over the film's opening credits, establishing that song as an instant classic. The music led to a huge teenage audience for the film: their exuberance sometimes overflowed into violence and vandalism at screenings.^[1] In this sense, it has been seen as marking the start of a period of visible teenage rebellion in the late 20th century.

In March 2005, the 50th anniversary of the release of the film, and the subsequent rise in popularity of Rock and Roll, was marked by a series of "Rock is Fifty" celebrations in Los Angeles and New York City, involving the surviving members of the original Bill Haley and His Comets. The film itself made its North American DVD debut on May 10, 2005.

Genre

Blackboard Jungle was the first of what would become a popular genre: the film in which an idealistic teacher is confronted with a class of cynical teenagers, who have disengaged from conventional schooling. As so often in later films, issues of race and class lie at the heart of the dynamics. Subsequent films that exploited the theme include: To Sir, with Love (1967; starring Poitier as a black teacher in a white school), Class of 1984 (1982), The Principal (1987), Stand and Deliver (1988), Lean on Me and Dead Poets Society (both 1989), Class of 1999 (1990), Dangerous Minds (1995), and The Substitute (1996).

Cast

The cast included:

• Glenn Ford   Richard Dadier
• Anne Francis   Anne Dadier
• Louis Calhern   Jim Murdock
• John Hoyt   Mr. Warneke
• Richard Kiley   Joshua Edwards
• Warner Anderson   Dr. Bradley
• Sidney Poitier   Gregory Miller
• Vic Morrow   Artie West
• Jameel Farah   Santini
• Dan Terranova   Belazi

This was the debut film for Morrow and Farah and one of Poitier's earliest. Farah later changed his name to Jamie Farr.

Awards

• 1955 Academy Award Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Cimematography; Best Art Direction; and Film Editing

References

1. ^ Leopold, Todd. The 50-year-old song that started it all. CNN.com. Retrieved on August 15, 2006.

Rock Around the Clock and Me by Peter Ford

Wikipedia information about Blackboard Jungle This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Blackboard Jungle". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.