To Sir, With Love

Director: James Clavell
Year Released: 1967
Rating: 2.0

Engineer-turned-teacher Sidney Poitier needs a job, so the students he gets stuck with are uncouth 'rejects' from other schools. The sea change the students almost miraculously undergo after one of the girls lights one of her 'personal items' on fire is highly unlikely, as is Poitier's decision to essentially dismiss standard subjects like geography and the like for treating them 'like adults,' talking about real-world problems (how did they graduate if they didn't have grades?). Poitier's good natured presence is an asset, though not even he can make up for Clavell's fixation on teenagers dancing and "Lulu" singing, which make the 'prom' scene the movie ends with all the more irksome.