For the month of September, I have decided to feature some classic films that are about going back to school, teachers, etc. I am trying to avoid Dead Poets' Society but I do reserve the right to feature Legally Blonde and call it a classic. To this end, my first selection is 1967's To Sir, With Love starring the one and only Sidney Poitier.
To Sir, With Love is the story of Mark Thackeray, a native of British Guiana who finds himself after an unsuccessful job hunt as a teacher in one of London's toughest schools. This is the part that always amuses me, most British films have royalty and people drinking tea and parrying verbal insults. For some reason, I still find it unusual when I find a film about a bad neighborhood in London. I was watching the first series of Doctor Who for a while when I was like, "Wait, does Rose Tyler live in the projects? Is her mom on welfare?" Same deal here, but I think these kids would still get their asses kicked by kids from American slums. Thackeray goes in sure that no matter what these kids throw at him, he can take it given what he's already had to put up with. Not so much. I spent the first part waiting for him to go all Mr. Tibbs on those kids. He loses it when one of the girls throws a sanitary pad on the furnace, which I had to look up on Wikipedia to find out, but that does sound pretty gross. He has the revelation that these kids are about to be adults, he should treat them as such and lays out a whole new course for the class. The students will choose what they want to discuss and places an emphasis on deportment. It works wonders and seems to change their whole attitude. Thackeray loses them when he tries to explain how the world works after one of the students get in an altercation with their boxing teacher. He finally wins them back when he shows mercy on a student and with all the weird sixties dancing in this movie, you know Sidney Poitier was going to have to get down in this movie.
I have to say that Sidney Poitier somehow pulls that off. I was thinking about him in comparison to Colin Firth while I watched this movie. Number one was that they both possess a certain poise and elegance, even while they do the ridiculous. It seems to me that this kind of film is the forerunner of the magical minority helping figure film, but I think it's because Sidney Poitier occupies a unique space in film history. He was one of the first black actors to be billed as a leading man, but studios still had to find a way to market him to audiences, specifically a non-threatening way. Look at Lilies of the Field or a Patch of Blue. It wasn't until this same year that Sidney got to go all "They call me MR. TIBBS!" in In The Heat of the Night. This was also the same year as Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? Have you watched that recently? I mean, I enjoyed it thoroughly the first time, with all the Hepburn-Tracy stuff going on, but seriously, what is Sidney Poitier doing with their idiot daughter? He's a freaking doctor with the World Health Organization, and oh, yeah, he's Sidney Poitier! He can do better! Sorry, I realized this the next day. You know what that movie's like? It's like if Mr. Darcy had ended up marrying Lydia Bennet and was happy about it. That's what it's like. In the case of this film, they use Thackeray's life story of improving his speech and working his way through school- strikingly similar to Poitier's own back story- as a source of inspiration for the mostly white, lower class students. (There is a mixed race character, but also a Chinese girl and an Indian girl neither of whom ever says anything.) Anyway, it becomes clear that Thackeray has really had an impact on the students and Lulu sings.
I have to admit that is a catchy tune. A lot of this movie seems cheesy and dated now, like the field trip told through photo montage, but you really have to admire Poitier's performance, he remains timeless. Judy Geeson's performance as a student with a crush on Thackeray is adorable and just a little heartbreaking because you can see he's the first man who's treated her with any sort of respect. Anyway, I liked it, you can go watch it on YouTube if you want, apparently there was some sort of TV movie sequel... Oh, must they do that?
Questions, comments, concerns? Did you think that girl was too idiotic to marry Sidney Poitier, too?
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