to sir, with love

the year: 1967

the genre: drama


the cast: Sidney Poitier (Mark Thackeray); Christian Roberts (Denham); Judy Geeson (Pamela Dare); Suzy Kendall (Gillian Blanchard); Lulu (Barbara Pegg)


the plot: Engineer Mark Thackeray arrives to teach a totally undisciplined class at an East End school. Still hoping for a good engineering job, he's hopeful that he won't be there long. He starts implementing his own brand of classroom discipline: forcing the pupils to treat each other with respect. Inevitably he begins getting involved in the students' personal lives, and must avoid the advances of an amorous student while winning over the class tough. What will he decide when the engineering job comes through?



don't miss: the museum fieldtrip.



watch for: Lulu's chart-topping hit from the film.



listen for: "I believe one should fight for what one believes. Provided one is absolutely sure one is absolutely right."



did you know: The London bus that appears in several sequences at the start of the film, LLU 829, and in some later sequences, still survives today as a preserved vintage vehicle, and can be seen at the East Anglia Transport Museum, Carlton Colville, Lowestoft, England.



extra bonus points: if you know what Columbia Pictures market researchers discovered as the reason for the film's unexpected success in the U.S.