A Breath of Fresh Air (from 32 years ago!!!)

Idealistic teacher in a 1960s inner city school

Haaren High School, 10th Avenue 59th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean

Cher, Karen Black, and Sandy Dennis in Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

Alan Arkin and Sondra Locke in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)

Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis in The Out of Towners (1970)

Peter Falk, Sandy Dennis, Herschel Bernardi, and Michael Parks in A Hatful of Rain (1968)

William Holden and Nancy Kwan in The World of Suzie Wong (1960)

Doris Day and James Garner in The Thrill of It All (1963)

Eva Marie Saint and Don Murray in A Hatful of Rain (1957)

Sandy Dennis in Up the Down Staircase (1967)

I give them tea. At least that's something.

Sandy Dennis and Patrick Bedford in Up the Down Staircase (1967)

Elena Karam in Up the Down Staircase (1967)

Roy Poole and Frances Sternhagen in Up the Down Staircase (1967)

Florence Stanley in Up the Down Staircase (1967)

Candace Culkin in Up the Down Staircase (1967)

Patrick Bedford

Sandy Dennis

Eileen Heckart

Bel Kaufman

Tad Mosel

The experiences of a young female English teacher in an inner-city New York high school.

Robert Mulligan

Up the Down Staircase

It&apos;s hard to compare this movie with other films of the genre. &quot;The Principal&quot;, &quot;Dangerous Minds&quot;, &quot;Lean on Me&quot;, and &quot;Stand and Deliver&quot; really don&apos;t have much in common with UtDS. Nevertheless, this film is very good and Sandy Dennis is outstanding as the young teacher who is starting out in a tough New York City high school.

What makes UtDS unique is that there&apos;s no focus on gang fights, or ghetto culture, or the teachers&apos; private lives. Instead, the story focuses almost entirely on the classroom. More specifically, it focuses on an English teacher (Dennis) and her students. That may seem boring, but this movie is anything but. The student characters are well developed and their relationships with each other, their parents, their teachers, and the school administrators are extremely realistic.

Anyone who is tired of the mindless, inhuman **** being shown in multiplexes all over America should give this film a look. It&apos;ll be a breath of fresh air. It&apos;s a positive, intelligent, engrossing story.

Unfortunately, it&apos;s not likely to be in your local video store. But if you should have the rare opportunity of seeing UtDS - perhaps on premium cable or on a VHS tape from a public library - you will not be disappointed!

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZDY5ZjViZjQtYzBkOS00MGZhLWFmNjEtNzdhODUyYmQxZmQxXkEyXkFqcGdeQVRoaXJkUGFydHlJbmdlc3Rpb25Xb3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg

It's hard to compare this movie with other films of the genre. "The Principal", "Dangerous Minds", "Lean on Me", and "Stand and Deliver" really don't have much in common with UtDS. Nevertheless, this film is very good and Sandy Dennis is outstanding as the young teacher who is starting out in a tough New York City high school.

What makes UtDS unique is that there's no focus on gang fights, or ghetto culture, or the teachers' private lives. Instead, the story focuses almost entirely on the classroom. More specifically, it focuses on an English teacher (Dennis) and her students. That may seem boring, but this movie is anything but. The student characters are well developed and their relationships with each other, their parents, their teachers, and the school administrators are extremely realistic.

Anyone who is tired of the mindless, inhuman **** being shown in multiplexes all over America should give this film a look. It'll be a breath of fresh air. It's a positive, intelligent, engrossing story.

Unfortunately, it's not likely to be in your local video store. But if you should have the rare opportunity of seeing UtDS - perhaps on premium cable or on a VHS tape from a public library - you will not be disappointed!

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Up the Down Staircase

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