To Sir, With Love (1967)

Director: James Clavell
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson, Christian Roberts

Synopsis:
An engineer seeking work takes a job as a teacher at a rough East End school.

Impressions:
I'm not a huge fan of the "save our students" in no small part because I have no nostalgic feelings whatsoever for my own school days and have no desire to see other school days depicted in fiction (and if it's a story centered around school sports, you've really lost me). Also, the fact that I'm a real life example of one of those footnote teachers who were run off prior to the protagonist's arrival is a bit of a sore spot. An added demerit is that 60s youth culture is involved, something I have a particular antipathy for. In spite of all this going against it (which, to be fair, is entirely part of my own personal biases and no fault of the film), this is a rather good film, largely due to Sidney Poitier's commanding presence as Mr. Thackeray. I hear the racial tensions are toned down from the source novel and perhaps that was a prudent move to avoid inflaming passions (though some of you may consider it the coward's way out). It's a good movie and definitely worth watching.

Rating:
Watch It