Its great to be young if this rose colored view of school days is anything to go by.Well spoken,pleasant children in smart uniforms grace the screen.The sun always seems to be shining and ethnic minorities are non existent,Britain in the mid fifties was a vastly different place.Sex never gets a mention in any shape or form except perhaps when one of the girls is caught knitting baby clothes at the back of the classroom."Its for my married sister Sir" she tells a much relieved Mr Dingle (John Mills) Drugs of course are completely off the radar.
The only fly in the ointment is the new headmaster Mr Frome (Cecil Parker) who does not approve of the school orchestra and who not unreasonably thinks that exam results and scholarships are more important than knocking out a bit of Mozart on a violin.This of course leads to an ongoing conflict with Mr Dingle the music master which escalates when Mr Dingle is discovered playing a honky tonk piano (dubbed by Winifred Atwell) in a local pub to raise money for the school instruments.The final straw comes when Mr Frome hears the orchestra playing jazz.They are of international standard which is not surprising seeing that they are dubbed by Humphrey Lyttleton and his band.
Mr Dingle and Mr Frome have a full and frank discussion which finishes up with Mr Dingle being sacked.
The pupils stage a sit in in the gymnasium,all very polite and genteel.The pupils from all the local schools join the protest in support waving banners and shouting "We want Mr Dingle back".
The headmaster, who I personally have a lot of sympathy for, realises that he may have been a little hasty and goes to see Mr Dingle and explains that the situation is getting out of hand and that he only wants what is best for the school.The last thing he wants is to involve the Police and would Mr Dingle return to school and talk some sense into the children.
Mr Dingle agrees,returns to the school and really reads the riot act to the crestfallen children.He asks them what makes them think he wants to come back.
The headmaster says he hopes Mr Dingle will come back,Mr Dingle agrees to do so,everyone is happy,and we all left the cinema feeling good.
This is a wonderful film all in glorious color.Angel Hill School seems to be a wonderful place with acres of playing fields and given the fine weather one would think the children would rather be out playing cricket or football,oh well no accounting for taste.The cast is uniformly brilliant,Jeremy Spencer as Nicky and Dorothy Bromley as Paulette play the leading youngsters and as a matter of interest a young Richard O'Sullivan plays a spotty little oike called Lawson.He plays a mean tuba.Three years later he played another revolting oike in the comedy "Carry on Teacher".In this one they wanted the headmaster to stay.Later again he played a troubled youngster in the film "Spare the Rod",it was no blackboard jungle but for a British school film it was quite harrowing.
Jeremy Spencer,a highly gifted actor,in the early fifties seen as a British version of James Dean, completely disappeared from our screens in the mid sixties,I was a big fan of his and I hope he is still around,he must be about seventy six by now,I hope all is well with him and that he has led a happy life.
The only fly in the ointment is the new headmaster Mr Frome (Cecil Parker) who does not approve of the school orchestra and who not unreasonably thinks that exam results and scholarships are more important than knocking out a bit of Mozart on a violin.This of course leads to an ongoing conflict with Mr Dingle the music master which escalates when Mr Dingle is discovered playing a honky tonk piano (dubbed by Winifred Atwell) in a local pub to raise money for the school instruments.The final straw comes when Mr Frome hears the orchestra playing jazz.They are of international standard which is not surprising seeing that they are dubbed by Humphrey Lyttleton and his band.
Mr Dingle and Mr Frome have a full and frank discussion which finishes up with Mr Dingle being sacked.
The pupils stage a sit in in the gymnasium,all very polite and genteel.The pupils from all the local schools join the protest in support waving banners and shouting "We want Mr Dingle back".
The headmaster, who I personally have a lot of sympathy for, realises that he may have been a little hasty and goes to see Mr Dingle and explains that the situation is getting out of hand and that he only wants what is best for the school.The last thing he wants is to involve the Police and would Mr Dingle return to school and talk some sense into the children.
Mr Dingle agrees,returns to the school and really reads the riot act to the crestfallen children.He asks them what makes them think he wants to come back.
The headmaster says he hopes Mr Dingle will come back,Mr Dingle agrees to do so,everyone is happy,and we all left the cinema feeling good.
This is a wonderful film all in glorious color.Angel Hill School seems to be a wonderful place with acres of playing fields and given the fine weather one would think the children would rather be out playing cricket or football,oh well no accounting for taste.The cast is uniformly brilliant,Jeremy Spencer as Nicky and Dorothy Bromley as Paulette play the leading youngsters and as a matter of interest a young Richard O'Sullivan plays a spotty little oike called Lawson.He plays a mean tuba.Three years later he played another revolting oike in the comedy "Carry on Teacher".In this one they wanted the headmaster to stay.Later again he played a troubled youngster in the film "Spare the Rod",it was no blackboard jungle but for a British school film it was quite harrowing.
Jeremy Spencer,a highly gifted actor,in the early fifties seen as a British version of James Dean, completely disappeared from our screens in the mid sixties,I was a big fan of his and I hope he is still around,he must be about seventy six by now,I hope all is well with him and that he has led a happy life.