VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

MichaelMartinDeSapio Schoolroom scenarios: A young high school instructor gets into a classroom altercation with a knife-wielding student who is high on drugs; the same teacher is angrily confronted by the principal about his alleged use of the "N-word" in class; and a student sexually assaults a female teacher, who is a shade too provocatively dressed.News headlines from 2016? Nope: they're scenes from BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, Richard Brooks' classic 1955 drama about juvenile delinquency in an inner city high school.The burning, roiling film packs an enormous punch, thanks in large part to a powerhouse cast. As Rick Dadier, the young teacher, Glenn Ford impresses us as one of the most underrated actors of Hollywood's Golden Era. With his intense straight-arrow style, Ford embodies Dadier's idealism, love for his wife and (soon-to-be) family, and determination to bring healing to the social decay around him. If any actor was destined to become America's first black movie star it was surely Sidney Poitier, whose magnetism, handsomeness and compulsive likability are displayed here at an early stage of his career as upperclassman Gregory Miller (one of three black students in Dadier's class). Equally adept at leading a singing group and fixing an automobile, Miller has more potential than the other toughs in the school. As Dadier takes him under his wing, we root for him to carve out a successful life away from the "jungle." Dadier's chief antagonist is grungy gang leader Artie West, given raw life by Vic Morrow, whose nihilism is so well reasoned out that it almost seems a plausible life option. West's confrontation of Dadier with a switch knife creates the film's climactic scene; his destructive actions are stopped (symbolically perhaps, in light of the film's patriotic commitments) by a large American flat wielded by a resourceful student.The female roles are ably contrasted by young Anne Francis as Anne Dadier, who brings a new child into the world while enduring vicious rumors about her husband's fidelity; and Margaret Hayes, as the slightly mixed-up new teacher who has misguided ways of filling the emptiness of her life, including flirting with Dadier.Most enjoyable among the supporting players is Louis Calhern as the conservative and cynical older teacher who considers his charges a lost cause. You may remember Calhern from the Marx Brothers' DUCK SOUP, among other offerings of the '30s, as well as a '50s film noir with a similar title to this one: THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (with Marilyn Monroe). While Calhern may seem almost too distinguished to be teaching at a high school - especially such a low-grade one as this - his peppery jibes add much wit to the proceedings. A number of recognizable character actors of the past (and future) appear in the cast: John Hoyt as the principled principal; Jamie Farr (of later M*A*S*H fame) and Paul Mazursky as somewhat less dissolute students; and even Richard Deacon (chrome-dome corporate type on Leave It to Beaver and The Dick Van Dyke Show) as a teacher. Not to mention Richard Kiley as poor naïve novice Josh Edwards, who comes to painfully regret bringing his prized record collection into his class.Shot in the best '50s black-and-white documentary realist style, Blackboard moves at a brisk clip and doesn't outstay its welcome. Brooks' screenplay mediates deftly between the civilized world of the adults and the gritty world of the juveniles, replete with earthy examples of mid-century slang (much of it scrubbed up from Evan Hunter's racier novel).With its still-relevant social themes and ground-breaking rock n' roll soundtrack, BLACKBOARD JUNGLE is guaranteed to raise eyebrows and discussions. Show it to anyone whose vision of the '50s is limited to "Ozzie and Harriet."

evanston_dad Probably the granddaddy of all those films about a headstrong teacher who's able to break through to a bunch of underprivileged kids when everyone else has given up on them and, though the oldest, the toughest and most biting of the ones I've seen.Unlike other movies of its kind, where the teacher pretty much becomes the best friend of everyone in his/her class, "Blackboard Jungle" doesn't wrap things up as cosily or tidily. Glenn Ford's teacher certainly earns his class's respect, but not completely their trust. And Ford is not the saint in teacher's clothing that you might think a film from 1955 would make him. In one key encounter with an African-American student (Sidney Poitier) who he has singled out as having the makings of a leader, Ford's character exposes the racism that he knows he shouldn't feel but does anyway. In a decade of films not known for their nuance or subtlety, "Blackboard Jungle" handles the question of race in a somewhat delicate manner and makes a much more complex study of it than audiences who are used to many of the other cinematic offerings from around the same time period would expect.Another thing that struck me about the film was its handling of the World War and its aftermath. In the 1950s, a film could perhaps be critical of war in the abstract, but it would find itself on thin ice if it tried to be too critical of America's involvement in World War II, and it certainly could not suggest that there were serious social problems as a result of the war. This was a decade in which people wanted to believe in the American Dream, that men were proud to serve their country and settle into lives as worker drones and that women were happy to be doting housewives. What to make of a film like "Blackboard Jungle," then, that outright blames the absentee parenting brought about by the social upheaval of the war for juvenile delinquency? And the film is honest too about America's treatment of draftees to its wars. The kids in this film, poor and disenfranchised, know that they'll be the first ones drafted into Korea or whatever war America will be fighting next, treated like grunts, and disposed of when their usefulness expires.Glenn Ford gives a truly terrific performance in "Blackboard Jungle," an award-worthy one that nevertheless went unnoticed for awards attention. The film did garner four Academy Award nominations though it won none of them: Best Screenplay (Richard Brooks, who also directed), Best Art Direction (B&W), Best Cinematography (B&W) and Best Film Editing.Grade: A

haillee-donaby "Blackboard Jungle" is the movie that describes all teachers aggravations. The kids, making assignments, dealing with family,even a pregnant wife,and the stress of other bias teachers. But being a veteran then becoming an English teacher Richard Dadier has a new type of war coming. It's the inner-city school kids that he has to worry about. This movie showed the affect on kids in a poor living environment and not so caring school system. They all put peer-pressure on each other and thinking who wants to be a nerd anyways? Well teacher Mr. Dadier has to figure a way to get these kids to care about getting education. Not so easy but Mr. Dadier wasn't a soldier for nothing. He can handle being roughed up by a few kids. Trying to make his points and show his ways of teaching don't seem to work after all. This movie is the perfect way to show that caring for people can go only a long way. They have to believe it for themselves and this teacher tries with all his heart to show these kids how it feels to be educated. But already with the thoughts of school being not important these kids could care less.

Dagan Freeman Blackboard Jungle, based off of Evan Hunter's book of the same name, is a 1955 film about the potential problems that could face teenagers. The story takes place at North Manual High School, a school full of delinquents and apathetic teachers. Blackboard Jungle begins with Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) , entering the school as a new teacher. He soon faces the problems with teaching at North Manual, but rather than doing nothing, he decides that his students are teachable if he can reach him through the ring leader, Gregory Miller(Richard Portier). Blackboard jungle was very controversial as it was the first movie of its time to talk about school violence. The movie also gained criticism because of the rock and roll song "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets, played at the beginning and end of the movie which indirectly lead to violence and vandalism around the country in theatres. Blackboard Jungle was a great movie. I suggest this movie for anyone who likes a little controversy and violence in movies