Blackboard Jungle (1955)- oldie but goodie

Before I tell about the movie I just have to say I recently watched a rerun of VH1′s 100 Most Shocking Moments in Rock ‘N Roll. Those interested in what the hundred are, the list is at this location:

It’s an interesting list: Michael Jackson, the Stones and the Beatles have four moments on the list each, The Who have three, Elvis also has three, surprisingly Madonna only has two. Also interesting seeing and hearing about those moments too: interesting groupie stories like Van Halen’s 1979 tour, Pamela Des Barres’s tell-all and Led Zeppelin’s ‘mudshark incident’. Drug addiction stories like Boy George’s bout with heroin and Nikki Sixx being dead for two minutes. Performance antics like Iggy Pop’s self-mutilating, Gene Simmons accidentally setting himself on fire and L7′s tampon incident at the 1992 Reading festival. It also cleared up the stories of the deaths of Kurt Cobain, Elvis and Michael Hutchence. Gave interesting tidbits of arrests of James Brown and Rick James. Plus some moments that weren’t funny at all, like Karen Carpenter’s anorexia ordeal, Curtis Mayfield’s on-stage accident and the stampede at the 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati. I was surprised to hear of the Beach Boys’ relation with Charles Manson. I can’t believe there was a photographer there when Ozzy bit the head off the dove. Also the show helped me hate Sinead O’Connor all over again.

But one moment that grabbed my attention got me checking out a movie. No it wasn’t #76. I have not seen the lousy Sgt. Pepper movie but I might when I hold a special Bad Movie festival. Actually it was moment #42 that got me to see Blackboard Jungle. What was moment #42 you may ask?

What does the song “Rock Around The Clock” seem to you? Seems like carefree good-times 50′s rock ‘n roll, right? Well back in 1955 the song was considered an anthem for violence. Why? It was played in the 1955 movie “Blackboard Jungle” which was a story of a teacher in a rough New York high school. It’s portrayal of teen gangs and it’s violence was shocking in the time. And the song inspired violent outburst both onscreen and off. Shocking moment #42 was when Bill Haley and the Comets performed in Berlin in 1958. The teens, who came with sticks in their hands, behaved normally at the concert. Then once the band played “Rock Around The Clock”, many teens came out of their seat, some danced on stage while others looted the stage, destroying the instruments and even causing fights in the audience. In the end 16 were arrested, 18 hospitalized, “Rock Around The Clock” became synonymous with juvenile delinquency and Bill Haley and the Comets were defamed.

With that in mind, I rented “Blackboard Jungle” just to see what it was all about. And why such a movie would cause all this fighting.

It’s an interesting movie about a teacher, Mr. Richard Dadier, who decided to teach at a rough area in the Bronx. He has an extensive background in the military. At the time the spirit of the school is low and it reflects in the attitudes of the teachers. Sometimes the school feels like a war zone. The attitudes of the students vary-some feel like they own the school while others feel like victims. Most of the students feel they won’t have much of the life in the future and end up getting a dead-end job. Meanwhile Richard is doing his best, to get the students to cooperate and to learn and also to live a sedate life with his wife who’s expecting a child.

At first things seem rough but after a while things get easier, albeit slightly easier in teaching the students. Meanwhile many teachers are so frustrated they give up. Some end up being victimized even outside the school.

Richard is very much subject to a lot of the hardships there. He gets messages from the principle of thing he did in class in an attempt to get him fired. He also becomes the victim of violence by a young gang. And a pregnant Mrs. Dadier isn’t safe either as she gets harassing messages suggesting her husband having an affair. At first Greg Miller (played by Sidney Poitier) is seen by Richard as the main culprit, remembering how he caused Dadier some trouble on the first day of school, but a friendship soon develops. But as things heat up, including Mrs. Dadier being caused to give birth prematurely, the main thug has to be caught. As for what happens at the end, I’ll let you see for yourself.

Overall the movie was very well-written and well-acted. It was nominated for four Oscars in 1956. Surprisingly “Rock Around The Clock” was NOT nominated for Best Song. Interesting to note is that same year, Rebel Without A Cause was nominated for three.

The big shocker about this movie is back then, it was seen as a very rough look at tough teens in school. And it’s violence was considered over the top back then. Nowadays the violence in the movie seems tame. As for teen violence, the problem is nowadays situations in schools is happening not just in the rough inner cities but also within suburban schools too. Why do you think a lot of schools have metal detectors students have to go through to get to class? There’s even nastier happenings with gang warfare in suburban, even rural, schools, even killings of teachers. There were student rampages for a while in the late-90′s but that’s died off. But still the state of school violence today makes “Blackboard Jungle” look like the ‘Good Old Days’. It’s crazy how times change. People in the 50′s would be shocked to know that.

Another thing about the movie is that it featured a disclaimer before it started. That was where they stated the reason for the plot and the then-over-the-top violence in the movie. It’s interesting how nowadays there are a lot of movies that, like Blackboard Jungle, try to be a mirror on society and often show the ugliness that’s happening in our world. But it’s also unfortunate how a lot of those movies get dismissed as trying to promote the nasty situations that they show. Quite often when I see those accusations, I wish they’d have a disclaimer just to shut some of those people up.

Anyways even though it may be an older movie, check out “Blackboard Jungle”. It’s worth watching. Oh yeah. some advise for those of you who want to become high school teachers. Whatever you do, keep an unlisted number.