Review of Blackboard Jungle (1955) by Rocknblues 8 — 26 Oct 2013

Blackboard Jungle was one of the originals of the "Teacher saves the ghetto students" movies that became over-saturated in the 90's. It's very easy to see how it come be called ineffective today... After all, we live in times where rebellion is no longer shocking. But this was in different times, and if you put the film in context this is a pretty intense film with good performances by Glenn Ford and Sidney Poitier.

When you mention films like Dangerous Minds and Stand and Deliver you will most likely know pretty this entire film story wise. Since I can put my mind in the time of the film, I'm able to fully appreciate the characters and what they mean to what was then a fresh story. The good news for me also is that it's not filled with sappy music, and it's not over-dramatic to the point of being silly.

But it's not perfect... The attempts to bring racial tension to the forefront doesn't always hit their mark. One scene Ford and Sidney share a scene where they standing on the stairs and Ford's character lets lose and nearly calls Sidney's character a vile name. Some of the scenes like that are meant to have some kind of emotional punch, but sometimes they fail to do so. A times the film fits a bit forced and unconvincing. But I mostly found it to be worthwhile I'd suggest it to anyone that wants a very watchable historic drama.