The Blackboard Jungle
Director: Richard Brooks
Year Released: 1955
Rating: 2.0
A simple-minded yet calculating drama about a young teacher (a miscast Glenn Ford) who chooses to work in a run-down inner city school with troubled kids. The manipulations are blatant - pregnant wife (surprise!) has a history of miscarriages, the one dopey teacher has a prized collection of records he 'wants to bring in to class', the female teacher dresses seductively and exudes sexuality in front of the kids and Ford - and the preachy nature comes straight out of Stanley Kramer (who buys the ending?). Effective as foreshadowing for today's child/teen-run classrooms, but that's about it.
