Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Brooks
Produced by	Pandro S. Berman
Written by	Richard Brooks
Based on	Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter
Starring	Glenn Ford Anne Francis Louis Calhern Sidney Poitier
Music by	Max C. Freedman, Jimmy DeKnight (song "Rock Around the Clock") (uncredited), Willis Holman (song “Blackboard Jungle”), Jenny Lou Carson (song "Let Me Go, Lover!" (uncredited)
Cinematography	Russell Harlan, ASC
Editing by	Ferris Webster
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	March 19, 1955 (1955-03-19)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social commentary film about teachers in an inner-city school. It is based on the novel of the same name by Evan Hunter.

Plot

Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) is a teacher at North Manual High School, an inner-city school where many of the pupils, led by student Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier), frequently engage in anti-social behavior. Dadier makes various attempts to engage the students' interest in education, challenging both the school staff and the pupils. He is subjected to violence as well as duplicitous schemes; he first suspects Miller, but later realizes that Artie West (Vic Morrow) is the perpetrator, and challenges him in a classroom showdown.

Cultural impact

Music and teen culture

The film marked^{[citation needed]} the rock and roll revolution by featuring Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock", initially a B-side, over the film's opening credits, as well as in the first scene, in an instrumental version in the middle of the film, and at the close of the movie, establishing that song as an instant classic. The record had been released the prior year, garnering tepid sales. But, popularized by its use in the film, "Rock Around the Clock" reached number one on the Billboard charts, and remained there for eight weeks.

When the film was first released; the song was not heard at all at the beginning of the film in some theaters because rock and roll was considered a bad influence. This was strange because it was not cut out of other parts of the film.

The music also led to a huge teenage audience for the film, and their exuberant response to it sometimes overflowed into violence and vandalism at screenings. In this sense, the film has been seen as marking the start of a period of visible teenage rebellion in the latter half of the 20th century. In 1955 British comedian Tony Hancock did a spoof radio show based upon the film also in 1955 on "Hancock's Half hour" aired on the BBC Home service at the time. The film marked^{[citation needed]} a watershed in the United Kingdom. When shown at a South London Cinema in Elephant and Castle in 1956 the teenage teddy boy audience began to riot, tearing up seats and dancing in the aisles. After that, riots took place around the country wherever the film was shown. In 2007, the Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture published an article that analyzed the film's connection to crime theories and juvenile delinquency.

In March 2005, the 50th anniversary of the release of the film and the subsequent upsurge in popularity of rock and roll, was marked by a series of "Rock Is Fifty" celebrations in Los Angeles and New York City, involving the surviving members of the original Bill Haley & His Comets. The film was released on DVD in North America on May 10, 2005.

Cast

• Glenn Ford as Richard Dadier
• Anne Francis as Anne Dadier
• Louis Calhern as Jim Murdock
• Margaret Hayes as Lois Hammond
• John Hoyt as Mr. Warneke
• Richard Kiley as Joshua Edwards
• Emile Meyer as Mr. Halloran
• Warner Anderson as Dr. Bradley
• Basil Ruysdael as Professor A. R. Kraal
• Sidney Poitier as Gregory Miller
• Vic Morrow as Artie West
• Dan Terranova as Belazi
• Rafael Campos as Pete V. Morales
• Paul Mazursky as Emmanuel Stoker
• Horace McMahon as Detective
• Jameel Farah as Santini

This was the debut film for Campos, Morrow and Farah, and one of Poitier's earliest. Farah later changed his name to Jamie Farr (Cpl. Klinger from M*A*S*H (TV series).)

Awards

• 1955 Academy Award Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay; Best Cimematography; Best Art Direction (Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell, Edwin B. Willis, Henry Grace); and Film Editing.

Honors

In 2010, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) listed the soundtrack of the movie on its list of the Top 15 Most Influential Movie Soundtracks of all time. TCM described the impact and the influence of the movie:

"MGM brought Hollywood into the rock 'n'roll era with BLACKBOARD JUNGLE. In search of the kind of music teens like the film's potential delinquents were listening to, director Richard Brooks borrowed a few records from star Glenn Ford's son Peter. When he heard Bill Haley and his Comets perform 'Rock Around the Clock,' he found the perfect theme song -- the first rock song ever used in a Hollywood feature. Teens flocked to the film, dancing in theatre aisles as the song played over the opening credits. Parents may have been shocked by such uninhibited behavior, but things got worse when screenings also inspired violence and vandalism around the world. Thanks to BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, the song hit number one on the Billboard charts, eventually selling 25 million copies and becoming what Dick Clark called 'The National Anthem of Rock’n’ Roll.'"

References

• Rock Around the Clock and Me by Peter Ford

External links

• Blackboard Jungle at the Internet Movie Database
• Destgulch.com
• TCM List of the Top 15 Most Influential Movie Soundtracks