150 Word Review: 'To Sir, With Love' (1967)

Old school

Photo: Columbia Pictures

Sidney Poitier starred in two movies in 1967—Norman Jewison's thriller In The Heat of the Night, which starred Poitier as a straight-shooting Philly detective stranded in the racist South, and director James Clavell's To Sir, With Love, a hard-knocks classroom drama.

The latter may make modern audiences wince with outdated racial and gender tropes, but the movie still possesses gentle wisdom. Clavell, who also wrote the screenplay, demonstrates great compassion for post-war England’s citizens, regardless of ethnicity, class, or accent, and never romanticizes them.

Poitier brings uncommon grace and burning intelligence to his role as an unemployed engineer in between jobs. He finds a temporary gig teaching hoodlums in London's tough and poor East End—they're a bunch of rowdy blokes and disrespectful Eliza Doolittles. He makes a difference, and it isn't easy. To Sir, With Love isn't just about social issues, though. It's about choosing the unexpected path in life.

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3. 'Blackboard Jungle' (1955)

2. 'Stand And Deliver' (1988)

1. ‘To Sir, With Love’ (1967)

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