Sidney Poitier stars in “To Sir, With Love”

To Sir, With Love (1967) is a British drama directed by James Clavell who also wrote the screenplay based on the autobiographical novel (1959) by the same name by E. R. Braithwaite. Sidney Poitier stars as a teacher in an inner-city school. The all-British supporting cast includes Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall, Patricia Routledge, and Lulu.

Mark Thackery (Poitier) has had no success obtaining an engineering position after a long 18-month job search. He accepts a teaching position for Class 12 at North Quay Secondary School in the East End of London. He took the position as a stop-gap, still hoping to get an engineering position, even though he has no previous teaching experience.

The students Thackery has to teach are a tough bunch. He does his best to reach them despite their negative attitudes toward him and the school in general. 

Will Thackery be able to connect to his students or will he leave teaching for the engineering job that finally comes?

  

James Clavell (1921 – 1994) was an Australian-born British writer (later an American citizen), screenwriter, and director. Clavell is best known for his novels, especially his Asian Saga novels. He wrote the screenplays for The Fly (1958), The Great Escape (1963), and The Satan Bug (1965). Clavell’s novel Shogun (1965) was made into a TV miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain. The series achieved huge ratings.

 

Sidney Poitier (1927 - 2022) was an American actor and director. He was the first black man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field (1963). Poitier made his film debut in No Way Out which launched him on a path to movie stardom. Other early films include Cry, The Beloved Country  (1951), Blackboard Jungle (1955), and Edge of the City (1957). Another breakthrough came with The Defiant Ones (1958) where he co-starred with Tony Curtis. Both actors were nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award, with Poitier’s nomination the first for a black man. In 1959, he starred in the first production of A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway. He starred in the film version in 1961. That same year he starred with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in Paris Blues. Other film roles include The Bedford Incident (1965) and A Patch of Blue (1965) co-starring Elizabeth Hartman and Shelley Winters. Poitier’s big year was 1967. He had three hits: To Sir, with Love, In the Heat of the Night, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. The popularity of these three films made him the top box office draw of the year. Later in his career, Poitier started directing films like Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Stir Crazy (1980). Poitier was a recipient of an Honorary Academy Award for his contribution to the motion picture industry.

 

Sidney Poitier and Judy Geeson

 

To Sir, With Love trivia

• The British Museum wouldn’t let the producers film inside. They did allow still photography which resulted in the montage that appears in the film.
• Lulu performed the title song which was a number-one single in the U.S.
• Sidney Poitier earned a flat fee of $30,000 plus 10% of the gross. Due to the film’s huge success, he earned the equivalent of $45M in today’s dollars.

 

Click HERE to watch the film on YouTube.

 

 

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Discussion questions

1. The film was set in the late-1960s. Do you think this was a realistic portrayal of what it was really like?
2. Sidney Poiter was surrounded by an all-British cast. How do you think his performance holds up?
3. Did you have a favorite student in Thackery’s class?
4. The movie was a huge and unexpected hit. Did this surprise you?
5. Does the film remind you of any other films you’ve seen?
6. Did you have a favorite scene or piece of dialogue?