Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 American social drama film about teachers in an interracial inner-city school, based on the 1954 novel The Blackboard Jungle by Evan Hunter and adapted for the screen and directed by Richard Brooks.It is remembered for its innovative use of rock and roll in its soundtrack, for casting grown adults as high school teens, and for the unique breakout role …
Blackboard Jungle, American social-commentary film, released in 1955, that highlighted violence in urban schools and also helped spark the rock-and-roll revolution by featuring the hit song “ Rock Around the Clock” (1954) by Bill Haley and His Comets. It was the first major film to feature rock music on its sound track. Richard Dadier (played by Glenn Ford) is a well-meaning New …
Mar 28, 2020 · Blackboard Jungle follows similar threads as other teen focused movies at the time. Glenn Ford plays a war veteran turned school teacher who has to whip the rowdy students of a New York City high school into shape. Like its predecessors in the genre, the film features all manner of rebellious teens but Blackboard Jungle sets itself apart by addressing the racial …
The film, Blackboard Jungle, was released in 1955 and is considered one of the very first high school films in popular culture. It has become the quintessential model for many urban school films that followed it. The movie stars Glenn Ford, as Mr. Dadier, an English teacher who gets a job working in an inner city school in New York.
The American drama film Blackboard Jungle (1955) is a social commentary that highlighted violence in urban schools and also helped spark the rock-and-roll revolution by featuring the hit song “Rock Around the Clock” (1954) by Bill Haley and His Comets. It was the first major film to feature rock music on its sound track. Richard Dadier (played by Glenn Ford) is a well-meaning …
Blackboard Jungle, American social-commentary film, released in 1955, that highlighted violence in urban schools and also helped spark the rock-and-roll revolution by featuring the hit song “Rock Around the Clock” (1954) by Bill Haley and His Comets.
Rock Around the ClockBlackboard JungleEdited byFerris WebsterMusic byMax C. Freedman, Jimmy DeKnight (song "Rock Around the Clock") (uncredited), Willis Holman (song “Blackboard Jungle”), Jenny Lou Carson (song "Let Me Go, Lover!"; uncredited)Production companyMetro-Goldwyn-MayerDistributed byLoew's Inc.13 more rows
It was not until 1955, when "Rock Around the Clock" was used under the opening credits of the film Blackboard Jungle, that the song truly took off.
Although set in 'New York', 'North Manual High School' never existed outside the MGM backlot in LA. In fact, almost the entire film was shot here in the studio. The only real location comes when Mr Dadier (Glenn Ford) returns to his old middle-class school for advice.
Blackboard Jungle was based on a popular 1954 novel by Evan Hunter. The film hit a nerve with its unusually brutal depiction of the social conditions of urban schools, and the music and the theme made the movie hugely popular with teenage audiences. Fights and riots broke out in many towns in England where the movie was shown.
Blackboard Jungle, American social-commentary film, released in 1955, that highlighted violence in urban schools and also helped spark the rock-and-roll revolution by featuring the hit song “ Rock Around the Clock ” (1954) by Bill Haley and His Comets. It was the first major film to feature rock music on its sound track.
It was the first major film to feature rock music on its sound track. Richard Dadier (played by Glenn Ford) is a well-meaning New York City teacher assigned to a high school where teenage delinquents led by Artie West ( Vic Morrow) terrorize students and teachers alike.
Blackboard Jungle follows similar threads as other teen focused movies at the time. Glenn Ford plays a war veteran turned school teacher who has to whip the rowdy students of a New York City high school into shape. Like its predecessors in the genre, the film features all manner of rebellious teens but Blackboard Jungle sets itself apart by addressing the racial injustice of the time. It’s not just the rocking soundtrack that connected with audiences, it was the way that the film acknowledged the real life struggles of young people in the 1950s. Peter Ford, son and biographer of Glenn Ford explained the film’s reach to the Calgary Herald:
Pretty much everyone involved with Blackboard Jungle has taken credit for the film’s use of rock and roll and the cultural significance of the film but it’s most likely that the use of “Rock Around the Clock” was inspired by Glenn Ford’s son Peter who was only seven years old at the time of the film’s release. After principal photography, producers were searching for a sound to inspire the audience, and Glenn Ford borrowed some albums from his son - including the “Thirteen Women” single. However, Ford was under the impression that “Rock Around the Clock” was the A-side thanks to his son’s constant spinning of the track. Producers loved the song and placed it on the opening and closing credits while basing the opening moments of the trailer around it.
With the release of Blackboard Jungle in 1955, the sound became codified and teenagers recognized that a new sound was pounding through their speakers.
There must have been plenty of adults who enjoyed Blackboard Jungle, or at the very least recognized that it wasn’t the end of society as we know it. That being said, many adults were horrified by the actions on display in Blackboard Jungle. They were terrified of teenagers and embarrassed that the United States was being presented this way.
Jacob Shelton is a Los Angeles based writer. For some reason this was the most difficult thing he’s written all day, and here’s the kicker – his girlfriend wrote the funny part of that last sentence. As for the rest of the bio? That’s pure Jacob, baby. He’s obsessed with the ways in which singular, transgressive acts have shaped the broader strokes of history, and he believes in alternate dimensions, which means that he’s great at a dinner party. When he’s not writing about culture, pop or otherwise, he’s adding to his found photograph collection and eavesdropping on strangers in public.
Rock Around The Clock wasn’t a hit until it was used in Blackboard Jungle. Despite the fact that “Rock Around the Clock” is the basis of the sound of Blackboard Jungle it wasn’t written for the film the way you might assume. The song had been bouncing around the country for nearly a year as a b-side to a track called "Thirteen Women ...
The film, Blackboard Jungle, was released in 1955 and is considered one of the very first high school films in popular culture. It has become the quintessential model for many urban school films that followed it. The movie stars Glenn Ford, as Mr. Dadier, an English teacher who gets a job working in an inner city school in New York.
In the very first few seconds of the film there is a blatant rationale displayed in text scrolling across the screen. The message of the film being pushed on its audience is far from subtle with such a clear display of purpose. This purpose has continued over time in popular culture and media but it is not quite as forth coming.
At the same time there were aspects of the film that did not coincide with the historical context of a stereotypical 1955 film. For example, an African American played the student hero, Gregory Miller. In juxtaposition to this role of student hero was a white Irish student, West, who played the troublemaker and who pulled a knife on the teacher.
Blackboard Jungle was such an interesting film because of the time period in which it was created. It is curious
One of the most intriguing issues that this film brought to the surface was gender roles and cultural norms