Glenn Ford is a teacher, sent to a boys' high school in a bad neighborhood. After a disastrous first day, he's temped to leave and try and find work in another area. But, as he and his pregnant wife Anne Francis know, there's no position available anywhere else. If there were, he would have gone there in the first place. So, as his fellow teachers Louis Calhern, Margaret Hayes, and Richard Kiley, advise him, he just has to keep his head down and survive the school year. They're not teaching boys who have dreams of college, a career, or a lustrous life; their students are hoodlums who get in daily fights and bring knives to class.Glenn Ford was such a prolific actor and made memorable classics in several genres, but Blackboard Jungle is one of his most iconic roles. He's naturally sincere and passionate and delivers his lines so convincingly it's as if he thought of them on the spot instead of reciting Richard Brooks's script. When he tries to help the lost-cause students, you're inspired, when he singles out one of the kids to try and get an ally in the classroom, you see the same potential, and when he finally looses his temper, you're similarly enraged.While there have been dozens of remakes throughout the decades about a do-good-er teacher who is sent to a school in the slums and tries to make a difference, Blackboard Jungle was the first. It was particularly gritty for its time, but even now it's still extremely suspenseful and hard to watch. As if the boundary-pushing subject matter wasn't reason enough to make this classic famous, it propelled Sidney Poitier to stardom. It wasn't his first movie, but the film was nominated for four Oscars and became very famous. In case you've never seen this film and naturally assumed Sidney was cast as the noble teacher because of his famous classic To Sir, with Love, which is one of the more famous remakes in the genre, he's actually one of the unruly students! So if you've only seen him in strictly good-guy roles, you might want to rent this one and see him in a different part.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to gritty violence I wouldn't let my kids watch it. Also, there may or may not be a rape scene.

Juvenile Deliqnency is always a good movie subject because you can do so much with it. In this movie, they went all out showing armed robbery, assault, gangs, drinking, mayhem, attempted rape and even what appears to be attempted murder. Of course New York city is the prime area for all this and the 50's times make it real enough. Being a non-conformist and a rebel was considered cool, a badge of honor and the way to be. The problem was that if you got too good at it you didn't graduate so the kids pushed it to the limit to get away with as much as they could within limits. Here, some teachers, a school principal and others take a stand and try to turn it around. One man does an exceptional job of it but at a cost which turned out to be worth it but could just as easily taken his life. At some point in the movie, one of the wayward kids says something like this when talking to a teacher after school: out here, this is my classroom and I can flunk you for real which has a chilling affect of realism. Reaching children of any age takes skill and commitment and the this movie makes that point and then some. Enjoy the supporting cast. Good snack movie and of course with a tasty drink. I never cared much for school because I didn't understand what was required or why. The school of life appealed to me more...enjoy

The movie that created the "Teacher reforms delinquent kids" genre, launched the career of Sidney Poitier and introduced many people to rock 'n roll (thanks to Rock Around the Clock, by Bill Haley and the Comets, being in the soundtrack). However, for all this, it is idealistic, heavy-handed and very frustrating. It just doesn't feel like the real world. The abuse the teachers suffer seems over-the-top, just for effect. Worse still, they just grin and bear it. eg A teacher gets assaulted by students and can identify them, yet doesn't identify them to the cops as he would rather "reform" them. Oh, please. They should all have gone to jail. (Plan B: a posse of teachers with baseball bats evens the score...).Has a decent ending, but that would be it.

Blackboard Jungle, based off of Evan Hunter's book of the same name, is a 1955 film about the potential problems that could face teenagers. The story takes place at North Manual High School, a school full of delinquents and apathetic teachers. Blackboard Jungle begins with Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) , entering the school as a new teacher. He soon faces the problems with teaching at North Manual, but rather than doing nothing, he decides that his students are teachable if he can reach him through the ring leader, Gregory Miller(Richard Portier). Blackboard jungle was very controversial as it was the first movie of its time to talk about school violence. The movie also gained criticism because of the rock and roll song "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets, played at the beginning and end of the movie which indirectly lead to violence and vandalism around the country in theatres. Blackboard Jungle was a great movie. I suggest this movie for anyone who likes a little controversy and violence in movies