Movie #125 - To Sir with Love

"A story as fresh as the girls in their minis. . .and as tough as the kids from London's East End!"

I must admit, I haven't seen this movie since I was probably around 15 years old, back when my older sister was obsessed with movies from the 60's and 70's. I am happy to convey that there isn't much to this film. Teacher tries to reach out to a bunch of troubled kids and succeeds in the end.

Although this plot line is similar to many films that have been produced in recent years, its obviously one of the first movies to try to do it. You can loosely tie this plot line to films such as Dangerous Minds, although I'm sure the original producers would not want to be affiliated with such a bad film from the 90's.

As you can see from the trailer below, Sidney Poitier is the main driving force behind this film's promotion. In the 60's, Poitier was one of the most highly coveted actors of his generation, starring in a number of pivotal movies of the era such as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and In the Heat of the Night - all made in 1967 like this film. Poitier is an acclaimed actor and won an Academy Award in 1963 for Lilies on the Field and was nominated for 1958's The Defiant Ones.

However, as you can see with the promotion of this movie, the producers intended to position it more as a teen angst film, casting a British pop singer, Lulu as one of the characters who also sang the famous score of the movie. In the end, this movie accomplishes that feat, however, the adaptation intended probably wasn't captured. There are too many fluff 60's scenes: inopportune dance sequences, singing montages, etc. The film doesn't have an identity and because of that, it falls flat for intention. Poitier looks grossly out of place in this film and I believe its one he'd be willing to hide from his dramatic acting resume.