Blackboard Jungle

Blackboard Jungle (1955) is Richard Brooks' hard-edged crime drama, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Richard Dadier takes a teaching job at North Manual, an inner-city school where the staff long ago stopped fighting for the kids.

Dadier tries to reach a classroom that settles everything with fists, and runs straight into hostility. The ringleader West baits him, and the threats eventually reach Dadier's pregnant wife. Cornered, he accuses a Black student, Gregory Miller — even though Miller may be the one boy still worth saving. Glenn Ford keeps the teacher raw and unsure, while a young Sidney Poitier makes Miller proud, guarded and fully human.

Adapted from Evan Hunter's novel, the film caused an uproar in its day: it was the first to blast rock and roll from the screen, with Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" over the opening titles, and it spoke plainly about race, poverty and a broken school. Watch for Vic Morrow and a roomful of soon-to-be-famous faces. Stream Blackboard Jungle (1955) online on iFILM.