Normally, I do not review very many classic Hollywood films on Epinions, as I usually submit my classic reviews to my site on Suite101.com. However, I needed something to write about here at Epinions, and since I’ve already had enough classic reviews to last me until March at the other site, I figured, well, why not? This time around, I decided to review To Sir, With Love, a film from 1966, which stars Sidney Poitier in a story of a teacher who has to make decent adults out of a bunch of unruly and unsophisticated teenagers.

Poitier is an American in London, England, who has tried for months to find an engineering job, without success. He ends up trying to get a job as a teacher in order to make ends meet until something better comes along; his temporary job, however, seems quite daunting, as he finds himself in what seems to be the worst school in London.

Of course, being a movie from England in the late 60’s, the “worst” is really more of a terrible annoyance than a really scary prospect. There’s no gangs, or guns, or drugs; just a bunch of undisciplined, very impolite teenagers, but even that is enough to send a teacher over the edge, and for a newbie such as Poitier, the result could be even worse. He walks into a room where disinterest and verbal mockery are the norm, and, for the first few days, Poitier doesn’t seem to be making any headway.

But, he then hits on something...... the problem is that he, and other teachers, treat these kids as kids, and not as people who are about to be adults. So his inspiration is to create an environment where everyone is encouraged to speak and behave as adults. In other words, no swearing in class, and everyone must address the teacher as “Sir”, while he addresses the male students by their last name and the female by “Miss”. He also expects the students to maintain this decorum amongst each other while in class.

At the same time, he also dumps the curriculum and replaces it with discussions about life... about survival, as he puts it. They end up talking about different issues of life, from rebellion, to marriage and dating, and even on such things such as cooking, as, after all, everybody will sooner or later be living alone and needing to know how to survive in the big bad world.

His message is that, if one puts in a good effort, one can better themselves, and not always be stuck in the same hopeless position. He gives himself as an example -- right now, he’s an elegant, well-spoken man (hey, this is Sidney Poitier we’re talking about here, what do you expect!), working as a teacher, with life experience in other continents as an engineer, but, he used to be just like them, speaking slang, and being rebellious, and working at crappy jobs with little pay. But he improved himself, and so can they, if they let themselves, and not fall back into their immature behavior.

Amazingly, most of the students, especially the women, are virtually immediately impressed by his personality and approach, and there’s a cute moment when, one morning, he walks into class, and, instead of the disinterested looks of before, almost everybody looks at him with genuine interest and warmth when he walks in the room. There’s one holdout, though, in the form of a greaser who sits in the back of the room -- he’s not totally convinced of Poitier’s viewpoint, so it takes a much more concerted effort for the teacher to get through to him........

I am reminded of my penfriend from England, who also works in a pretty bad school, in Norwich. I have a pretty horrible memory, of course, so I can’t recall all the specifics, but I know that her school, being a bad school in a bad neighborhood, was watched over by the higher-ups in the school system more intently than other schools might have been. I think, actually, that the headmaster had to be replaced, because that’s how the system works if a school underperforms. I also know that many teachers either quit or had numerous stress-related problems resulting in long absences, which is how my friend ended up being a substitute teacher for so long before she was even hired into a full time position. She has also told me how many of the students would say rude things to her and other teachers, and she has also pointed out how many of these kids come from bad homes and the like, and the kids in this movie probably wouldn’t be much different from those in her school.

The one think I liked about this movie is its lack of sensationalism. If this movie were made now, we’d probably be getting drugs and violence and underage sex and the like, and while all of those could (and would) make an interesting movie, there is something to be said for watching movies from a more innocent era, when things weren’t hyped up so much. The touchy subjects that are brought up are done so with quiet revelation. One of the female students, Pamela, has a crush on the teacher, but it is seen more as a possible feeling that some students may have for teachers who touch their heart and mind, rather than as a way to introduce something sordid. Nothing untoward happens, and it all is wrapped up in a touching way. Race is also referred in this film, but, as well, nothing too extreme occurs -- a number of characters say some unknowing, but ignorant comments, along the way, and the message is that such comments are, indeed, pretty silly, but the movie doesn’t make villains out of this situation. In fact, overall, there really aren’t any villains -- although there are people who take a good long while to learn their lesson.

The film might be a little too laid-back and languid for some. It certainly isn’t anywhere nearly as controversial as it could have been. But, for me, I enjoyed what was, overall, a pretty gentle tale of when a teacher decides to ignore the rules and inspire his students to be better people.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day