To Sir, With Love (1967)

To Sir, With Love (1967) –  While waiting for a job as an engineer to open up for him, an idealistic teacher (Sidney Poitier) takes a job teaching inner-city kids in London’s rough East End.  The students run out to be very different than he expected and he turns out to be a different kind of teacher to them.

Directed by James Clavell                                   Starring Sidney Poitier, Lulu, Judy Geeson, Patricia                                                                                                   Routledge

For someone who spent 20+ years of his life working with teens, it’s unsurprising that this movie hits home for me.  Most high school movies prior to this tended to be filled one of two kinds of teens.  The ones who carried switchblades (or some equivalent) or the ones who greeted adults with things like “Gee whiz, mister!”  In “To Sir, With Love” we meet kids who are tough because they have to be to survive.  To survive their families, to survive the streets, or the school system that has given up on them.  Mark Thackery inherits this class because he’s the new guy and no one really wants to teach this class.

The title song became a big hit, although bizarrely while #1 in the US and #2 in Canada, it didn’t chart at all in the UK.  Directed by James Clavell, who is much better known as a novelist and screenwriter (he did the script for the movie), plus the big screen debut of Patricia Routledge (best known in the US as Hyacinth Bucket on “Keeping Up Appearances”).

But this is Poitier’s movie from beginning to end.  The question of race and socio-economic class have been a theme in Poitier’s career and this movie slides very comfortably into that niche.  1967 is a pivotal year for the actor.  With this movie and the two that followed that year (“In the Heat of the Night” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”), he became a major star.  People may consider this one the lightweight of the three but it remains a charming and funny movie.

Yes, here in the cynical 21st Century the movies seems a little naive.  The reality is that Poitier’s character understands these white children of poverty better than either of them realizes.  The key to dealing with youth is entering into a relationship.  And the key to a relationship is truly listening.

Why You Will Like It – Let’s face it, it’s Poitier, Poitier, Poitier.  And that’s not a bad thing at all.  A far more realistic (if dated) depiction of being a teenager, with some great performances along the way.

Rating – **** Recommended