Taglines: A story as fresh as the girls in their minis… and as cool as their teacher had to be!
To Sir, with Love movie storyline. After searching unsuccessfully for work as an engineer, Mark Thackeray accepts a teaching position at a rough, East End London high school. His colleagues warn him about the impossible brutes he will encounter there, but still he enters his classroom unprepared for their horrible defiance. A classic portrayal of teen angst, where these impoverished, battered kids, who have turned out badly, are determined to brutalize everyone around them.
The teachers let them dance between classes to vent some of their aggressive energy, but they all treat the classroom as though it were an unsupervised sandbox. With transcendent dignity, Thackary tames them and teaches them self-respect. As sentimental as the plot may be, the kids’ transition is touching, and Poitier is as cool and classy as ever.
To Sir, with Love is a 1967 British drama film that deals with social and racial issues in an inner city school. It stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall and singer Lulu making her film debut. James Clavell directed from his own screenplay, which was based on E. R. Braithwaite’s 1959 autobiographical novel of the same name.
The film’s title song “To Sir with Love”, sung by Lulu, reached number one on the U.S. pop charts for five weeks in the autumn of 1967 and ultimately was Billboard magazine’s No. 1 pop single for that year. The movie ranked number 27 on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the 50 Best High School Movies. A made-for-television sequel, To Sir, with Love II (1996), was released nearly three decades later, with Poitier reprising his starring role.
About the Story
Mark Thackeray, an immigrant to Britain from British Guiana, must wait a long period to hear about an engineering job he applied for. In the meantime, he accepts a teaching post at North Quay Secondary School in the tough East End of London, as an interim position. Most of the school’s pupils have been rejected from other schools, and their conduct drove the last teacher to resign. The pupils, led by Bert Denham and Pamela Dare, behave badly: their antics range from disruptive behaviour to distasteful pranks.
Thackeray retains a calm demeanour, but loses his temper when he discovers something being burned in the classroom stove (implied to be a used sanitary towel). He orders the boys out of the classroom, then reprimands all the girls, either for being responsible or passively observing, for what he says is their slutty behaviour. Thackeray is angry with himself for allowing his pupils to get the better of him. Changing his approach, he informs the class they will no longer study from textbooks. Until the end of term, when they are due to leave school, he will treat them as adults and expects them to behave as such; they can discuss whatever issues they wish, including relationships, marriage, sex, and applying for jobs. He gradually wins the class over, except for Denham, who continually baits him.
Thackeray arranges a class outing to a Natural History Museum in Kensington which goes well. The trip is represented by a series of still photographs as Lulu sings To Sir With Love. He loses some support when he defuses a potentially violent situation between Potter and a gym teacher, Mr Bell. In class, he demands that Potter apologize directly to Bell, even if he believes Bell was wrong. The group later refuses to invite Thackeray to the class dance. When Seales’ mother dies, the class takes up a collection for a wreath but refuse to accept Thackeray’s donation. The headmaster tells Thackeray that “the adult approach” has failed, and future outings are cancelled. Thackeray is to take over the boys’ gym classes until the headmaster can find a replacement. Meanwhile, Thackeray receives the engineer job offer in the post.
During a gym class, Denham smugly challenges Thackeray to a boxing match. Denham delivers several blows to Thackeray’s face, but the bout comes to an abrupt end when Thackeray delivers one punch to Denham’s mid-section. However, Thackeray compliments Denham’s ability and suggests he teach boxing to the younger pubils next year. Denham expresses his admiration for Thackeray to his classmates; Thackeray regains their respect and is invited to the class dance. Later, when Thackeray attends the funeral of Seales’ mother, he is touched to find that his lectures on personal choices and responsibility have had an effect.
To Sir, with Love (1967)
Directed by: James Clavell
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Judy Geeson, Christian Roberts, Suzy Kendall, Ann Bell, Geoffrey Bayldon, Faith Brook, Patricia Routledge, Christopher Chittell, Adrienne Posta, Fiona Duncan, Rita Webb, Mona Bruce, Edward Burnham
Screenplay by: James Clavell
Production Design by:
Cinematography by: Paul Beeson
Film Editing by: Peter Thornton
Makeup Department: Jill Carpenter, Betty Glasow
Art Direction by: Tony Woollard
Music by: Ron Grainer
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Release Date: June 14, 1967 (US), October 20, 1967 (UK)
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