Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

To Sir, with Love Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 19, 2015

1967 saw two films which covered many of the same subjects in somewhat different manners, perhaps (appropriately) like two different teachers schooling their students in varied ways. In July of 1967, a time when the Summer of Love was in full flower (children), the film version of Bel Kaufman’s huge best seller Up the Down Staircase opened, featuring Sandy Dennis as a dewy eyed, idealistic (if just slightly neurotic) new teacher attempting to deal with a horribly overcrowded and underserved public high school in New York City. Up the Down Staircase might have been a major hit, especially given the fact that Kaufman’s novel was so popular, had it not been for the fact that another well meaning cinematic teacher working with underprivileged kids had had the temerity to show up in cineplexes just a few weeks before Kaufman’s Sylvia Barrett did. In June of 1967, To Sir, With Love opened to rapturous reviews and strong box office, in part of what turned out to be something of an annus mirabilis for star Sidney Poitier. Poitier managed a rare filmic hat trick that year, starring in three of 1967’s biggest hits, this film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and the movie that would go on to become 1967’s Best Picture Academy Award winner, In the Heat of the Night. Much like Up the Down Staircase, To Sir, With Love thrusts a neophyte teacher, this time one Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier), into the wild and wooly world of high school, albeit now in London’s (then) lower class East End.

Though it’s only referred to somewhat discursively, Mark Thackeray is not in fact a teacher by trade, but an engineer who has been down on his luck and unable to find a job in his chosen field. His fall back position is taking a job at North Quay Secondary School, hardly a tony establishment (though as the Judy Geeson commentary on this Blu-ray gets into, even a less than glamorous English school can look pretty darned nice when compared to some American public establishments). Thackeray may in fact have simply jumped out of the fire (namely, unemployment) into the frying pan in taking this job, however, for he’s soon confronted by a student body of rejects, outcasts and street toughs.

Films that lionize teachers are hardly a new idea (they weren't even in 1967, as evidenced by Up the Down Staircase itself). What sets To Sir, With Love at least partially apart from its educational kin is in its portrayal of the kind of desperately out of control “lower class” youths who populate the school. These kids may seem quaint to modern day eyes, ironically in much the same way that the “juvenile delinquents” (including Poitier) in 1955’s The Blackboard Jungle probably did to 1967 audiences who may have caught that film on television. But there’s a refreshing amount of vigor (for want of a better term) in several of the youthful characters, chief among them Bert Denham (Christian Roberts), a kid who seems destined to end up in prison if something (or someone) doesn’t intervene. It may be politically incorrect that it’s boxing that “saves” Denham, especially in light of the fact that it’s Mark doing the “teaching” in the ring, but the slow transition from resentment to admiration in Denham’s response to Mark is handled quite effectively.

Perhaps a little more rote is the film’s detailing of Mark’s relationship with two of his young female charges. Lulu, who became an international superstar courtesy of this film and her hit rendition of the title song, is on hand as Babs Pegg, a smart mouth lass who’s kind of consigned to the sidelines until she has to sing. More central to the plot is Judy Geeson’s Pamela, a girl with obvious inherent smarts who is perhaps weighed down by her socioeconomic status. Even the film’s “adult” relationship, between Mark and fellow teacher Gillian Blanchard (Suzy Kendall), is a bit on the trite side, though there’s a very naturalistic, enjoyably low key chemistry between Poitier and Kendall.

Somewhat surprisingly To Sir, With Love was completely snubbed at the Academy Awards that year. This is probably nowhere more surprising than in the Best Song category which (in those days at least) tended to be especially aware of the marketplace and chart activity. In fact none of the ultimate nominees that year enjoyed anything close to To Sir, With Love’s success, with eventual winner Talk to the Animals not even making the Hot 100 Billboard charts in any of the many cover versions it received. In fact, the only close call would be nominee The Look of Love, which did fairly well for Dusty Springfield, getting to number 22, but which finally got into the Top 5 in a different version by Sergio Mendes & Brasil ‘66 after they performed it on the Oscar telecast in early 1968.

To Sir, with Love Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

To Sir, With Love is presented on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Quite heavily grainy most of the time (with the opening optically printed credits sequence featuring the expected most amount of grain), this is an appealing presentation that offers a kind of gritty ambience completely in keeping with film's setting. Close-ups reveal excellent fine detail (see screenshot 1). Colors are generally accurate looking, but things look slightly purple-blue quite a bit of the time, something that pushes flesh tones into a kind of ruddy territory occasionally (see screenshot 2, where Lulu is admittedly lit somewhat unusually). There are no issues with image instablity, nor are there any compression artifacts of any note.

To Sir, with Love Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

To Sir, With Love's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track presents the film's dialogue and sung moments perfectly well. There's just a hint of narrowness when comparing the music on this track to the more fulsome DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 iteration offered on the isolated score track. There are no issues with problematic dropouts, pops or cracks. Fidelity is excellent, though dynamic range is somewhat subdued.

To Sir, with Love Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries:

  Judy Geeson is joined by Twilight Time's Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman. They provide the bulk of the background information here while Geeson contributes a number of fun anecdotes about the shoot.

  E.R. Braithwaite, who wrote the original novel To Sir, With Love, discusses how the story plays off of his real life experiences, along with author/teacher Salome Thomas El.

• Isolated Score Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0.


• E.R. Braithwaite: In His Own Words (1080p; 23:46) is a really interesting piece featuring the author reading from his book and then discussing his background.


• Lulu and the B-Side (1080p; 5:07) is a really fun (if too brief) interview with the singer, who discusses how serendipitous it was that "To Sir, With Love" became Number One on both sides of the Atlantic.


• Miniskirts, Blue Jeans and Pop Music (1080p; 15:21) focuses on the swinging sixties in London.


• To Sidney With Love from Marty Baum (1080p; 5:44) is a fond remembrance of Poitier by agent Marty Baum.


• Principal El: He Chose to Stay (1080p; 11:00) features commentator Salome Thomas El, who discusses how important it is to give underprivileged kids a commitment.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 3:17)

To Sir, with Love Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

To Sir, With Love is unabashedly old fashioned, and in fact was probably just that even in 1967. Its tale of a hard working, caring teacher breaking through the facades of a bunch of tough but ultimately lovable kids is obviously a hoary cliché, but that perhaps makes the film's heartfelt achievement all the more remarkable. James Clavell may be best remembered for Shogun (and perhaps for those who actually read credits, The Great Escape), but To Sir, With Love proves what a capable director he was. Technical merits are generally strong on this release, and the supplemental package is excellent. Highly recommended.