The Blackboard Jungle

[Lincsong]

The film was made in 1954 and dealt with all the problems that we face today; drugs, gangs, disrespect for teachers, a gang rape of a teacher. Plus it introduced Bill Haley and the Comets. When we think of the '40's and 50's I keep hearing it was such a socially repressed time. But, this film shatters that misconception. So what was the true state of society; Our Miss Brooks or Blackboard Jungle?

 

[Doh!]

I don't know the answer to your question, but this is another classic movie! That scene where a very young Vic Morrow breaks the teacher's collection of 78s is tough to watch, even to this day.

That kid was bad news, I tell ya'.

 

[Harry Lime]

The film was made in 1954 and dealt with all the problems that we face today; drugs, gangs, disrespect for teachers, a gang rape of a teacher. Plus it introduced Bill Haley and the Comets. When we think of the '40's and 50's I keep hearing it was such a socially repressed time. But, this film shatters that misconception. So what was the true state of society; Our Miss Brooks or Blackboard Jungle?

What myth of social repression does this shatter exactly? I'm afraid I have no idea what you're going for here. Judging from the one reply you've had I think you need to clarify if you want any action on this thread.

Harry Lime

 

[Andykev]

It wasn't exactly Wally and The Beaver

I think the idea is that many people wrongfully believe the "Leave it To Beaver" society existed, or "Pleasantville". In reality, things were in many cases just as troubled as they are today. And marginally better, if at all, for some.

In 1954, I believe that movie was very "controversial"...as problems were more often ignored or dismissed, than openly confronted and challenged. IMHO

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

We have that misconception.

That everything was just swell back in the day, but we have always had gangsters and criminals in our midst. Maybe today, it just seems worse because the number of miscreants increases with the increase in the population in general. The so-called law of averages. And then also we have a much more efficient news media network today to distribute all that bad news.
The gangsters of the past just don't seem so real,or virulent, to us today as we are so far removed from the actual events. The U.S. Army actually had to be called in to put down the gangs in NYC. Must have been a serious problem to say the least.

 

[Feraud]

The U.S. Army actually had to be called in to put down the gangs in NYC. Must have been a serious problem to say the least.

When did this happen?

I doubt Hollywood ever accurately reflects society. I hope I can ad Touch of Evil into the discussion. This film also shows another less than perfect face of society in the 50's. It deals with racism, police corruption, and drug use in a Texas border town.

We can not discuss Heston's bad tan..

 

[Lincsong]

One America

Even if you study Twilight Zone episodes or The Fugitive you find that there are a lot of touchy subjects that would not be found on Leave it to Beaver or Ozzie and Harriet. But then again, not all television shows were the "typical" nuclear family; Bachelor Father, My Three Sons, Make Room for Daddy, Hazel, Petticot Junction, Beverly Hillbillies all had single parent households. In the movies we don't see the "typical" society that seems to be idealized when we talk of the good old days; Rebel Without a Cause brings to mind the henpecked father, domineering mother and mother-in-law that is the antithesis to Hugh Beaumont. Twelve Angry Men shattered a lot of myths. Another movie that I find fascinating is The Young Savages. This deals with a lot of subjects that even people today don't want to touch. Someone mentioned Crash in the Song of the South thread as a movie today that deals with racism. Watch The Young Savages and it deals with a different kind of racism. Thanks for all the comments.

 

[Lincsong]

I doubt Hollywood ever accurately reflects society. I hope I can ad Touch of Evil into the discussion. This film also shows another less than perfect face of society in the 50's. It deals with racism, police corruption, and drug use in a Texas border town.

I never heard of this one. I read the summary of it and it sounds great. I'll have to get a copy of it. Sounds like a Texas version of The Young Savages.

 

[Lincsong]

I think the idea is that many people wrongfully believe the "Leave it To Beaver" society existed, or "Pleasantville". In reality, things were in many cases just as troubled as they are today. And marginally better, if at all, for some.

In 1954, I believe that movie was very "controversial"...as problems were more often ignored or dismissed, than openly confronted and challenged. IMHO

I had seen where some segments in society objected to the movie because when the movie began and Rock Around the Clock was played teenagers got out of their seats and were dancing. But, if we hear about a socially repressed time where people were regimental in dress, speech, mannerisms and place in society this movie shatters that idea. We have ethnic white and black gangs. No race riots though. Somewhat trampy looking girls. It just goes against the pure image we are told about the time; the Ozzie and Harriet box, that so many people like to yearn for or decry.

 

[Andykev]

This is a must see

Touch of Evil is one of Orson Well's best. It has the longest, uncut opening live beginning of any film. Charlton Heston is great. Orson Wells plays the corrupt, sleazy sheriff excellently. I recommend this as a Must See. And Janet Lee (Jamie Lee Curtis's mom) is a beauty.

 

[Harry Lime]

There have been plenty of films over the years that dealt with topics yesterday that still resonate today, many even before Black Board Jungle. Bogart in Knock on Any Door deals with a slum kid who faces anti-Italian prejudice. Criss Cross is even earlier; it deals with anti-Semitism, a change from the play where the topic was anti-homosexuality. Edge of the City with John Cassavetes tackles racism, as does Odds Against Tomorrow. The Wild One dealt with the juvenile delinquent problem before Rebel, in 1954.

If the question is did these problems exist, yes, they obviously did. Much earlier even. However the comfort level in discussing them or getting people to pay money for them at the theatre was very different. Popular tastes toward G-rated entertainment and topics was obviously more the norm. And again, The Movement hadn't gained full force at this date. Undesirable topics and "undesirables" were much easier to ignore.

Harry Lime

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

It was 1863 I believe.

When did this happen?

I doubt Hollywood ever accurately reflects society. I hope I can ad Touch of Evil into the discussion. This film also shows another less than perfect face of society in the 50's. It deals with racism, police corruption, and drug use in a Texas border town.

We can not discuss Heston's bad tan..

The so-called Draft Riots. Here's a link to some gang history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historical_gang_members_of_New_York_City

 

[ITG]

Wonderful movie. I just watched it this month (Got it in December for my mom and am kicking myself for waiting so long to watch it). While watching it, I got so mad at the gang kids for their level of disrespect toward their teachers. Many of the behaviors exhibited by the kids in Blackboard Jungle are ones I see daily at my school and it made me think of specific students I've encountered in the last few years teaching junior high. When Glenn Ford had that baseball nearly hit him, that happened to me last year but it was an Almond Joy candy bar.

 

[Not-Bogart13]

Almond Joys can kill... especially when frozen!
I saw it in college as part of my teacher education program. Should have also been part of the social issues courses. Awesome and relevent film, even today.
NB

 

[Fatdutchman]

Actually not a bad movie, for what it is.

One thing I'm sick of hearing is the oft-recited line to the effect that "Leave it to Beaver" and "Ozzie and Harriet" were total fantasies. Life was never like that. Nobody lived like that. Things were just as awful then as they are now, if not more so, etc.

B.S.

Guess what? Things REALLY WERE like that!!! People did live in happy families. Father worked, mother stayed home and took care of the kids and made the meals, and they were happy about it. There really were families that got together at Thanksgiving without arguing with one another. There really were families that weren't battling teenage pregnancies or alcoholism or other drug addiction. There really were husbands and wives that got along with one another. There really were "model families"...Lots of them. And you know what? I know it may be hard for some of you to believe, but there still are! Oh, not nearly as many, relatively speaking, as there used to be, but there still are the quintessential Norman Rockwell families. The idea that this type of existence is merely the imaginings of TV producers and the unattainable ideal just drives me nuts.

I grew up in one of these families....I'm still in one of these families! Are there problems in my family now? Of course, but that doesn't tear down the rest of family life, or make the "ideal" seem out of reach, even out of sight, as so many today think it is.

Did they have problems years ago? Obviously. There have been these problems since the dawn of time, and there will be for some time to come, but I gotta tell 'ya, when I look back at "the good old days", you know what I see? I really see the good old days! I can look back even to my own childhood in the '70's and see the changes made from then to today...most of them not for the better, I must say. Oh, we have more technology, we have more wealth, we have more comfort, but unlike so many, I don't see this as the be all and end all of existence.

 

[funneman]

A Touch of Evil

I had the pleasure of seeing this film on the big screen when it's was on limited theatrical release about ten years ago.

Truly one of the most beautifully photographed films of the genre.

The opening scene, all one, un-edited shot, continues on for what seems like five minutes.

Some of the other camera shots and framing are classic Wells.

I highly recommend.

 

[Forrestal]

Hey Daddy-O…I think Jamie Farr’s first movie was the Blackboard Jungle.
Regards,
Forrestal

 

[SFSEAN]

Blackboard Jungle

The film was made in 1954 and dealt with all the problems that we face today; drugs, gangs, disrespect for teachers, a gang rape of a teacher. Plus it introduced Bill Haley and the Comets. When we think of the '40's and 50's I keep hearing it was such a socially repressed time. But, this film shatters that misconception. So what was the true state of society; Our Miss Brooks or Blackboard Jungle?

I first saw this movie when I was 7-8 and I remember asking my mother why was Dad in the movie? He looked very much like Glen Ford. I on the other hand, have been told I look like Gordan Clapp aka Detective Medavoy in NYPD Blue.

 

[beaucaillou]

So what was the true state of society; Our Miss Brooks or Blackboard Jungle?

Perhaps you are asking rhetorically but, both. Which is why they were both created. Each is a brand of truth that exists in our society.

 

[miss1934]

Blackboard Jungle is one of my favorite movies, althrough I cannot watch the record scene, I have to leave the room, it is basically physically painful. Just another note, this was the first movie to feature a rock n' roll song. THe featuring of Bill Halley and the Comet's Rock around the Clock and this would actually even lead to the vehicle movie Rock Around the Clock which would be released the next year.
I am a huge Sidney Poitier fan and love all of his films but this one allways comes to mind along with in the heat of the night as really defining the points in which they were made. This portrayal of the youth that were mixing in the cities speaks volumes of the existing tention in the cities. Not only was this taking place in the wake of the great migration of african americans up to the major cities, but also during the flight to the suburbs by people that could afford the lower classes and the grit of schools and situations like these.
I too get irked when people blow off the leave it to beaver family, but there will probably be some sort of crisis reached at some point during a marriage, and this is what movies are made of. You can make a happy movie about people who did not have to struggle or at least confront the changing society around them, but not only will it not sell, but it will not be remembered. Leave it to beaver worked on the basis that it was a television program, but it was one of many, most of which actually portrayed the lower classes or ethnic groups in the early years of television.