For Master, with Love is a 1967 British drama dealing with social and racial issues in a city school. The film stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall and Lulu singers who make their film debut. James Clavell (who had written The Children's Story three years earlier) was directed from his own scenario, based on the autobiographical novel E. R. Braithwaite in 1959 with the same title.
The title song of the movie "To Sir With Love", sung by Lulu, reached number one on the US charts for five weeks in the fall of 1967 and in the end was the Billboard no 1 pop magazine for that year. The film ranks 27th on the Entertainment Weekly list of 50 High School Movies.
The sequel made for television, To Sir, with Love II (1996), was released almost three decades later, with Poitier repeating his starring role.
Video To Sir, with Love
Plot
Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier), an unemployed, proposes a job in the field of engineering but will be long before the decision is made. He also applies to, and is given, teaching positions at North Quay Secondary School in London's tough East End. He is from British Guiana via California.
Thackeray learned from North Quay's staff that most students have been rejected from other schools, and their antics pushed their last teacher to resign. Students live up to their reputation. Led by Bert Denham (Christian Roberts) and Pamela Dare (Judy Geeson), their antics evolved from annoying behavior (banging the table caps to solve Thackeray's thoughts) into unpleasant jokes. One student, Williams, casually wears sunglasses right in the classroom; Thackeray, as a joke, keeps removing it for her. Thackeray maintained his calm demeanor but a turning point came one morning when he entered the classroom and found something burned on the stove. (It is recommended that one of the female students burn the sanitary napkin used, but never confirmed.) Though she did, Thackeray lost her temper; he ordered the children out of the classroom and then reprimanded, not only the unknown girl who caused the fire but also the other girls for being deliberate and deliberately allowing him to do so. Thackeray was more angry with himself than with his students, because he let them get better from him. By changing his approach, he tells the students that he will treat them as adults - and allows them to discuss issues of their own choosing - for the rest of the time period. Future classes discuss what students expect after they graduate... like how to complete a resume.
Thackeray wins the class, except for Denham, who keeps fishing. Thackeray suggested an outing class to the museum, which turned out to be a success. He lost some of this new support when he defuses potentially violent situations between Potter (Chris Chittell) and an exercise teacher, Mr. Bell. In class, he demanded that Potter apologize directly to Bell over the incident even though he was convinced Bell was wrong. The group refused to invite Thackeray to the dance class, and when Seales's mother (Anthony Villaroel) died, the class took the collection for a bouquet but refused to accept Thackeray's donations. At this point, the principal advised him that he felt the "adult approach" had failed; future outing classes are canceled, and Thackeray will take over the boys' gym class until the principal can find a replacement. In the meantime, Thackeray accepted the offer of an engineer's job in the mail.
He starts winning pupils back after he defeats Denham in a boxing match, but tells him that he has authentic boxing skills and shows that Denham teaches boxing to younger students next year. Denham expressed his admiration for Thackeray to his fellow disciples; Thackeray won back their respect and was invited to a class dance. Then, when Mr. Thackeray attends the funeral of his student's mother, he is touched to discover that his lecture on personal choice and responsibility has been taken to heart, and the whole class has also come despite the stigma they will receive to enter the house of the colored person.
In the dance Barbara Pegg (Lulu) announces a "women's choice" dance and Pamela chooses Thackeray as her dance partner. While Miss Pegg sings the movie theme song, the class then presents a gift with Thackeray and she is too moved for words and retires to her class.
Two young men rushed into the classroom, and after seeing Thackeray they started ridiculing his prize, the silver tankard and the "To sir, with love" card with the students' signatures, and joked that they would be in class next year. After they left, Thackeray pulled out a job offer. He then took the flowers from the vase on his desk, put it on his collar and went back to the dance.
Maps To Sir, with Love
Cast
- Sidney Poitier as Mark Thackeray
- Christian Roberts as Bert Denham
- Judy Geeson as Pamela Dare
- Suzy Kendall as Gillian Blanchard
- Lulu as Barbara "Babs" Pegg
- Ann Bell as Mrs. Dare
- Geoffrey Bayldon as Theo Weston
- Faith Brook as Grace Evans
- Patricia Routledge as Clinty Clintridge
- Chris Chittell as Potter
- Adrienne Posta as Moira Joseph
- Edward Burnham as Florian
- Rita Webb as Mrs. Joseph
- Fred Griffiths as Market Stallholder
- Anthony Villaroel as Seales
- Michael Des Barres as Williams
- Gareth Robinson as Tich Jackson
- Lynne Sue Moon as Miss Wong
- Stone Marianne as Gert
- The Mindbenders
Reception
After its release in the US, Bosley Crowther started his review by contrasting the film with the role and performance of Poitier in the 1955 movie Blackboard Jungle; unlike the previous film, Crowther said "the colorful fresh air includes this beautiful color film, and Mr. Poitier provides a great example of being right and turning the other cheek.Although he controls himself with difficulties in some confrontations with his class, and even lit on one occasion, he never acted like a boor, as one of his fellow teachers did (played by Geoffrey Bayldon) Except for some comments written by the second, there was little disturbance or discussion of race issues: This as it is played secretly like so many other tensions in this school. To Master, with Love comes as a comfortable, good-humorous and unreliable little story. "
Film and Video Guide Halliwell describes it as "sentimental non-realism" and cites the Bulletin Bulletin News (possibly contemporary with its English release), which claims that the manuscript sounds as if it were written by a excited Sunday school teacher after a very encouraging boycott of South African oranges ".
The Time Out Film Guide says that "there is no resemblance to school life as we know it" and "thug preman magic thugs a week before the end of the semester (thanks to Poitier's teacher) is ludicrous." Despite agreeing with the claims about film sentimentality, and giving it a mediocre judgment, the Virgin Film Guide asserted: "What makes [this] such a delightful film is the mythical character of the Poitier character. come across as a real person, while simultaneously realizing all there is to know about morality, respect, and integrity. "
The film premiered and became a hit a month before another movie about troubled schools, Up the Down Staircase , appeared.
For Tuan, with Love holds a "Fresh" rating of 92% on the aggregate website of Rotten Tomatoes review. The film grossed $ 42,432,803 at the box office in the United States, generating $ 19.1 million in rentals, with a budget of $ 640,000, making it the eighth best-selling picture of 1967 in the United States. Poitier mainly benefited from the film's success considering he agreed with a $ 30,000 fee in exchange for 10% of the dirty box office and thus set one of the most memorable gifts in film history. In fact, although Columbia insisted on paying an annual $ 25,000 to Poitier to fulfill that percentage period, the studio was forced to revise the deal with Poitier when they calculated that they would commit to the 80-year payout.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack album featured music by Lulu, The Mindbenders, and incidental music by Ron Grainer. The original album was released at Fontana Records. It was re-released to CD in 1995. AllMusic rated it three stars out of five.
The title track is number one 100 Cash Box Top number for three weeks.
- To Master With Love (Lyrics: Don Black/Music: Marc London) - Lulu
- School Break Dancing "Steal My Love from Me" (Lyrics & Music: Marc London) - Lulu
- Thackeray meets Faculty, Then Alone
- Music from Lunch Break "Off and Running" (Lyrics: Toni Wine/Music: Carole Bayer) - The Mindbenders
- Thackeray Loses Temper, Get an Idea
- Outings Montage Museum "To Sir, with Love" - ââLulu
- Classical Lessons
- Maybe I Can Tidy Up Your Desk
- Potter loses patience at the gym
- Thackeray reads a letter about work
- Thackeray and Denham boxes in the gym
- Funeral
- End of Term Dance "It's getting harder all the time" (Lyrics: Ben Raleigh/Music: Charles Abertine) - The Mindbenders
- To Master With Love - Lulu
Awards and honor
Awards
Laurel Awards
- Sleeper of the Year : 1968
- New Woman Face - second place : Judy Geeson - 1968
Nominated
Board of Directors of Guild of America
- Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movable Image : James Clavell - 1967
Laurel Awards
- New Men's Face : Christian Roberts - 1968
10th Annual Grammy Awards
- Best Original Score of Motion Picture or Television Shows : 1968
More awards
The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in this list:
- 2004: AFI 100 Years... 100 Songs:
- "To Sir With Love" - âââ ⬠<â â¬
- "To Sir With Love" - âââ ⬠<â â¬
See also
- The Hindi Imtihan Movie (1974) starring Vinod Khanna as teacher, and Tanuja as her love interest, inspired by the movie
- Dangerous Thought
- Egyptian Comedy Madrast Al-Mushaghebeen , inspired by the film.
References
External links
- Dear Sir, with Love â â¬
- For Master, with Love at AllMovie
- Dear Sir, with Love in the TCM Film Database
- Christian Roberts and Judy Geeson discussed the making of To Sir, with Love on their 50th anniversary, The Spectrum , Accessed June 7, 2017.
Source of the article : Wikipedia