Wonderful character development!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I am different than many of the reviewers in that I taught high school...though the kids weren't quite like those in "To Sir, With Love". And, while the miraculous change in the kids through the course of the film is hard to believe, there is a certain decency and sweetness about the movie that I could not resist.The story is about Mr. Thackery (Sidney Poitier) and his seemingly impossible job. While he's a trained engineer, he cannot find work....so he decides to become a teacher...at least until something better comes along. The problem is that he's working with a lot of rough teens--teens who see no future for themselves and who have pretty much given up on amounting to anything. At first, the kids are uncivil...little jerks just biding their time until graduation. However, through the course of the term, his students learn to respect others and themselves...and prove that they might have bright futures.As I mentioned above, the change in the students is a bit hard to believe if you think about it. But it's still an excellent film....inspiring even. Well worth seeing and filled with some terrific acting, writing and music. And yes, that IS Lulu not only singing the title song but acting as one of Mr. Thackery's students.

To Sir with Love has one major asset and drawing card in the person of Sidney Poitier, acting icon of the 1960's. The way he walks into the classroom and uses his voice and mannerisms give him presence and authority. The movie did become known for the title song To Sir With Love. This movie and Up the Down Staircase were also movies of the 1960's when education reform aimed to make students the focus of a more stimulating learning environment. But without Sidney Poitier the movie would be long forgotten. Poitier takes a position as a teacher in the docklands of London, while applying to get work in his field of engineering. The work proves to be very unsettling because the challenge of teaching students who seem to have no manners or motivation is a huge hurtle. Only when he realizes that he needs to make a major change in his teaching style does he begin to win them over and make a difference. He asks them what they want to talk about; he gets permission to take his class to the Victoria and Albert Museum; he sets standards of dress and deportment that he says will give them more confidence. All this amounts to a major change in Poitier's students and in himself. The movie is still worth watching, mainly because of the leading character, as played by Sidney Poitier.

Pent up emotions in teenagers need special attention, and it takes a teacher with unique methods to break through those awkward years. Students will test their teachers as fast as a teacher fails a student for doing poorly on their test, and when a teacher passes that test or proves themselves to be extraordinary, that teacher is remembered forever. A teacher isn't a friend or a parent, but a good teacher can be a confidante in issues one cannot tell a friend or a parent. In the case of Sidney Poitier, he's a teacher of enormous patience, of enormous heart, and one who can make learning fun.Poitier has challenges to face on his very first day. His students are more than just rough around the edges. They are downright rude and sassy. Poitier says things to them that would get a teacher instantly fired (as well as sued) today, and that's the shame in the lessons that this film tells. Teachers need a strong hand and serious nature, unique in disciplinary measures, and after breaking through to them, he becomes even more influential on their changes for the better than their own parents.This British drama has many comic moments, whether it being Poitiers's surrounded by a bunch of clicking he's on the bus, the individual moments between the various teachers (which includes "Keeping Up Appearances" and musical comedy star Patricia Routhedge) and students, most memorably Judy Geeson), plus that classic theme song. The world of education HSS been documented on screen many times, and this one is among the best, giving American audiences a look at the educational system of England, with America's documented the very same year in "Up the Down Staircase".

I viewed this movie couple of days before and incidentally my first movie of Mr. Sidney Poitier. Now we are speaking about the period 1967 (49 years) – in the span umpteen films were released globally dealing this umbilical cord (teacher – student relationship). Without being biased, this film deserves appreciation and accolades. It pioneered in the field of speaking in subtlety two generations trying to find their foot with the changing times and values. Subjects conceived to be taboo discussed within the walls of the classroom. One element that needs reference is 'racism' – we speak in volumes even today and struggling to eliminate. Here it is addressed in a more mature fashion. Students had no problem in getting tutored by a 'black teacher' and sharing their problems. Teacher understands the implications of his identity. Taking a wreath to the funeral of their black class fellow's mother is unacceptable; they prefer to send it. The teacher never insisted – he attended the funeral and surprised to seek his entire classroom arrived prior to him. Here, humanity takes precedent than human made elements of caste, creed, culture etc.Now about Mr. Sidney Poitier whose works was oblivious to me was a treat to view. His character as an amateur teacher, taking teaching profession due to necessity not out of love for the job was an artistic narration. It left me awe-stuck, smiling and how easier he was able to think in a positive perspective. He broke the glass ceiling and enabled artists like Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Samuel Jackson, and Will Smith to join the wagon. My thoughts go for the team for the technical and artistic crew for handling a sensitive subject half a century before.