This was the first of two films I watched as a tribute to Glenn Ford, one of Hollywood's most likable and underrated stars.
BLACKBOARD JUNGLE was considered a landmark film in its treatment of juvenile delinquency in public schools and also for being the first Hollywood production to feature a rock'n'roll soundtrack (the most memorable being Bill Haley and The Comets' "Rock Around The Clock"). In itself, well enough made and generally compelling - but it has dated quite a bit (the would-be toughness of the kids too often appears cornball and tame rather than intimidating at this juncture) and, coming from MGM, its superficiality was inevitable (the soft underbelly of the whole enterprise being most evident in the relationship between mild-mannered but tenacious schoolteacher Ford and troubled but talented student Sidney Poitier)!
That said, much of the acting still holds up - Ford, cynical veteran Louis Calhern, naive jazz-lover Richard Kiley among the adults, Poitier and especially unrepentant bullying criminal Vic Morrow among the kids. The scenes of violence, too (particularly an attempted rape of a shapely schoolteacher and the climactic classroom 'showdown') - which must have seemed startling at the time - remain undeniable highlights. Even if only surviving minor cast and crew members (or their relatives, in the case of Glenn Ford's son) are involved in the Audio Commentary, it made for a surprisingly engaging listen and was especially perceptive in noting how Ford's role (and haircut!) here basically defined the rest of his acting career as a leading man.
The film can be seen as forming an unofficial Juvenile Delinquency trilogy with two other seminal films of the period: Laslo Benedek's THE WILD ONE (1953) and Nicholas Ray's REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) both, of course, featuring iconic performances from Marlon Brando and James Dean respectively. Furthermore, BLACKBOARD JUNGLE was more or less remade (and quite admirably, too) in a Swinging London setting as TO SIR, WITH LOVE (1967) - with Sidney Poitier now taking on the role of the harassed schoolteacher!
BLACKBOARD JUNGLE was considered a landmark film in its treatment of juvenile delinquency in public schools and also for being the first Hollywood production to feature a rock'n'roll soundtrack (the most memorable being Bill Haley and The Comets' "Rock Around The Clock"). In itself, well enough made and generally compelling - but it has dated quite a bit (the would-be toughness of the kids too often appears cornball and tame rather than intimidating at this juncture) and, coming from MGM, its superficiality was inevitable (the soft underbelly of the whole enterprise being most evident in the relationship between mild-mannered but tenacious schoolteacher Ford and troubled but talented student Sidney Poitier)!
That said, much of the acting still holds up - Ford, cynical veteran Louis Calhern, naive jazz-lover Richard Kiley among the adults, Poitier and especially unrepentant bullying criminal Vic Morrow among the kids. The scenes of violence, too (particularly an attempted rape of a shapely schoolteacher and the climactic classroom 'showdown') - which must have seemed startling at the time - remain undeniable highlights. Even if only surviving minor cast and crew members (or their relatives, in the case of Glenn Ford's son) are involved in the Audio Commentary, it made for a surprisingly engaging listen and was especially perceptive in noting how Ford's role (and haircut!) here basically defined the rest of his acting career as a leading man.
The film can be seen as forming an unofficial Juvenile Delinquency trilogy with two other seminal films of the period: Laslo Benedek's THE WILD ONE (1953) and Nicholas Ray's REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) both, of course, featuring iconic performances from Marlon Brando and James Dean respectively. Furthermore, BLACKBOARD JUNGLE was more or less remade (and quite admirably, too) in a Swinging London setting as TO SIR, WITH LOVE (1967) - with Sidney Poitier now taking on the role of the harassed schoolteacher!