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In 2022, the world lost one of the greatest actors to ever appear in front of a camera. He was, and still remains one of the most evergreen figures in classic cinema, who not just reinvented acting, but changed the landscape of it all, fighting stigma throughout his glorious career. Sidney Poitier is the rare terrific force who like Atlas did to the world, can often carry a film on his shoulders.
When we speak about definitive schoolroom films, James Clavell’s ‘To Sir, With Love’ has to be one that shaped the genre. Mark Thackeray has for long tried to become an engineer, but the British Guianese finds rejection more than he can count on his fingers. This never stops him from regarding education as ever-important, and this thought brings him to North Quay, a school in the East End of London with an exceedingly notorious reputation for their students and their misdemeanors. Thackeray is unbothered by the several warnings from the other “adults”- He knows that his boat of patience can survive many a storm. As he tries to get acquainted with his new job, teaching in the twelfth grade, he is tested from the get go. The kids have a collective aim. They all want a reaction, they are fuelled by it, and Thackeray’s non-chalance instigates them furthermore. Every day makes the glass further fragile, until it reaches breaking point. However, it is from then on that Thackeray realises that to call the students “kids” is all but right. At the age of rebellion, perhaps every adult was like them. Thus changes attitude, and the dark night begins to find a light of day in the form of a changed classroom.
You see, To Sir, With Love is not a film that brings forth something you may not have seen in other classroom dramas, but this is one of the films that in fact, created the genre itself- So when you think of many great dramas in schools, you are reminded of the cornerstone that is Clavell’s film. One thing is for certain, in spite of its several universalities, the film has a concerningly mellow approach in gender dynamics – It evidently is a product of its misogynous times. This is not to say that today’s time is not, but you can certainly see the difference in thought of the era here through dialogue. At times, Thackeray’s character has moments of anger that seem to be fuelled by a kind of loneliness that stems out of the lack of love. He realises somewhere, that this is what his students long for too. Although not focusing heavily on the lives of the students outside the classroom, the film captures the years of youth quite right. The flurry of experiences of several are interesting to observe- While one’s mother gives birth to a child, another has lost their mother.
Thackeray’s inevitable impact on the students results in a heartfelt climax and it is here that Poitier’s performance truly crescendoes. Allow yourself to be seated in Thackeray’s class, and let his slow charm sprinkle upon you. A classic that has its heart in the right place, and a reminder to remember our teachers, who whether we realise it now or years after, have had an irreplaceable impact upon our lives
Published – September 08, 2025 04:00 pm IST
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