Blackboard Jungle – Movie Review

Last night I watched for the first time the American film classic Blackboard Jungle starring Glenn Ford, Sidney Poiter, Vic Morrow, Anne Francis, and Richard Kiley. This is the story of a determined and resilient new high school teacher thrown into a den of wolves – actually a bunch of secondary school miscreants determined to make life hell for the new English teacher. Sidney Poiter plays a student and seems too old and/or mature for the role. Anne Francis plays the supportive wife and is forced to recite some terrifically anachronistic supportive wife shtick. I was most impressed with Vic Morrow’s performance as the toughest of the junior hoods, and completely wowed by the similarities between his acting and performances I’ve seen from daughter Jennifer Jason-Leigh. I mean, it’s uncanny! On a personal note, Glenn Ford is the spitting image of my ex-bf R. F. and certainly brought back some memories for me.

Grade: B+ for Glenn Ford’s and Vic Morrow’s excellent performances, with points off for dialogue and plot anachronisms, but added points for making me think about biological determinism