To Sir, with Love

For other uses, see To Sir, with Love (disambiguation).

To Sir, with Love
One of theatrical release posters
Directed by	James Clavell
Produced by	James Clavell
Written by	James Clavell
Based on	To Sir, With Love  by E. R. Braithwaite
Starring	Sidney Poitier Christian Roberts Judy Geeson Suzy Kendall Lulu
Music by	Ron Grainer
Cinematography	Paul Beeson
Editing by	Peter Thornton
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	14 June 1967 (1967-06-14) (US) 29 October 1967 (1967-10-29) (UK)
Running time	105 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	$640,000
Box office	$42,432,803

To Sir, with Love is a 1967 British drama film starring Sidney Poitier that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. James Clavell both directed and wrote the film's screenplay, based on the semi-autobiographical novel To Sir, With Love by E. R. Braithwaite.

The film's title song "To Sir With Love", sung by Lulu, reached number one on the U.S. pop charts, and ultimately was Billboard magazine's No. 1 pop single for the year, 1967. The movie ranked number 27 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.

A television film sequel, To Sir, with Love II, was released in 1996.

Plot

Mark Thackeray (Poitier) is an unemployed engineer looking for work when he applies for a teaching position at the North Quay Secondary School in the tough East End of London. He comes from British Guiana via California, and holds a degree in Communication Engineering.

Thackery learns from the staff of North Quay that while the students are mostly good kids, they come from rough homes, and excel at riding roughshod over teachers. The headmaster explains they have been principally rejected from other schools and their antics drove their last teacher to resign.

The students more than live up to their reputation. Led by Bert Denham (Christian Roberts) and Pamela Dare (Judy Geeson), the pupils are an unruly mob who view the classroom as their domain, not Thackeray's. As the students' antics progress from simple disruptive behaviour to distasteful pranks, Thackeray retains his calm manner but a turning point comes one morning when he discovers something, presumably a sanitary pad, burning in the classroom grate. He loses his temper with the class but this leads him to a new idea and, he subsequently informs them that from now on they will be treated as adults and allowed to discuss issues of their own choosing for the remainder of the term, based on ideas of 'citizenship'.

Thackeray wins the class over, except for Denham who continues to bait him. Thackeray then suggests a class outing to a museum; the headmaster is reluctant but obtains approval for the outing, and Thackeray arrives on the morning of the trip to find a classroom of well-dressed, well-scrubbed students and the trip is a success.

Thackeray however loses some of this new-found support when he defuses a potentially violent situation between Potter (Chris Chittell) and a gym teacher, Mr Bell. In class, he demands that Potter apologise directly to Bell for the incident even if he believes Bell was wrong. The group refuse to invite Thackeray to the class dance, and when Seales' (Anthony Villaroel, the only black student in the class) mother dies, the class takes up a collection for a wreath but refuses to accept Thackeray's donation. At this point, the headmaster advises him that he feels 'the adult approach' has failed, that future class outings are cancelled, and that Thackeray will take over the boys' gym classes.

Thackeray's search for an engineering position has continued throughout the movie, and at this low point in his relationship with his students, he is ecstatic to receive a job offer in the mail.

Thackeray however starts to win the students back after he beats Denham in a boxing match but tells him that he has genuine boxing ability and suggests that Denham teaches boxing to the younger students next year. Denham is clearly impressed, and expresses his admiration for Thackeray to his fellow students. By winning Denham over, Thackeray wins back the respect of the rest of the class, and he is invited to the class dance.

At the dance Barbara Pegg (Lulu) announces a "ladies' choice" dance and Pamela singles out Thackeray as her partner. The class present him with a gift whilst Lulu sings the movie theme. Thackeray is too moved for words and retires to his classroom.

Two youths rush into the classroom, and upon seeing Thackeray they begin mocking his gift and joking that they will be in his class next year. Thackeray realises that he has a job to do and he tears up the job offer letter, signifying that he is going to stay on at the school.

Cast

• Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackeray
• Christian Roberts as Bert Denham
• Judy Geeson as Pamela Dare
• Suzy Kendall as Gillian Blanchard
• Ann Bell as Mrs. Dare
• Lulu as Barbara "Babs" Pegg
• Geoffrey Bayldon as Theo Weston
• Faith Brook as Grace Evans
• Patricia Routledge as Clinty Clintridge
• Chris Chittell as Potter
• Adrienne Posta as Moira Joseph
• Rita Webb as Mrs. Joseph
• Marianne Stone as Gert
• The Mindbenders

Reception

The movie opened to positive reviews and good box office returns in both Britain and the U.S. Some felt the film was a little routine, but did like Poitier as the teacher in the film. It premiered and became a hit one month before another film about troubled schools, Up the Down Staircase, appeared. Halliwell's Film and Video Guide describes it as "sentimental non-realism" and quotes a Monthly Film Bulletin review (possibly contemporary with its British release) which claims that "the sententious script sounds as if it has been written by a zealous Sunday school teacher after a particularly exhilarating boycott of South African oranges". The Time Out Film Guide says that it "bears no resemblance to school life as we know it" and the "hoodlums miraculous reformation a week before the end of term (thanks to teacher Poitier) is laughable". Although agreeing with the claims about the film's sentimentality, and giving it a mediocre rating, the Virgin Film Guide asserts "What makes [this] such as enjoyable film is the mythic nature of Poitier's character. He manages to come across as a real person, while simultaneously embodying everything there is to know about morality, respect and integrity.

To Sir, with Love holds a 92% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. The film grossed $42,432,803 at the box office in the United States, yielding $19,100,000 in rentals, on a $640,000 budget, making it the eighth highest grossing picture of 1967 in the US.

Awards and nominees

Awards

Laurel Awards

• Sleeper of the Year: 1968
• Female New Face – 2nd place: Judy Geeson – 1968

Nominees

Directors Guild of America

• Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: James Clavell – 1967

Laurel Awards

• Male New Face: Christian Roberts – 1968

Grammy

• Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show: 1968

Soundtrack

To Sir, with Love
Soundtrack album by various
Released	1967
Genre	Traditional pop
Label	Fontana Records (UK)
Singles from To Sir, with Love
"To Sir, with Love" Released: 1967

The soundtrack album features music by Lulu, The Mindbenders, and incidental music by Ron Grainer. The original album was released on Fontana Records. It was only re-released onto CD once in 1995. Allmusic rated it three stars out of five.

1. To Sir, with Love - Lulu
2. School Break Dancing "Stealing My Love from Me" - Lulu
3. Thackeray meets Faculty, Then Alone
4. Music from Lunch Break "Off and Running" - The Mindbenders
5. Thackeray Loses Temper, Gets an Idea
6. Museum Outings Montage "To Sir, with Love" - Lulu
7. A Classical Lesson
8. Perhaps I Could Tidy Your Desk
9. Potter's loss of temper in gym
10. Thackeray reads letter about job
11. Thackeray and Denham box in gym
12. The funeral
13. End of Term Dance "It's Getting Harder all the Time" - The Mindbenders
14. To Sir With Love - Lulu

External links

• To Sir, with Love at the Internet Movie Database
• To Sir, with Love at AllRovi