Spare the Rod

A British drama; A story about an inexperienced teacher determined to win the respect and confidence of his pupils, is advised by experienced colleagues to apply discipline and punishment to maintain control. This social drama set in the East End of London in the late 1950s draws on source material from the 1954 novel by Michael Clark. It is a portrayal of second tier education at a time when UK establishments were largely starved of attention and resources from education authorities. Its story subject aims to give a lesson to educators about the effect of the excesses of corporal punishment. Max Bygraves brings sincerity and attractiveness though he sometimes lacks potency as a lead character in his scenes with Geoffrey Keen's menacing schoolmaster and Donald Pleasance's headmaster of lost ideals. As an aside, Max Bygraves personally funded the making of the film after being inspired by the novel and by his own upbringing in the East End of London.

I enjoyed Blackboard Jungle and To Sir, with Love, but hadn't got around to seeing this counterpart until recently. I remember Max Bygraves mentioning it years ago on TV which always intrigued me. Bygraves is actually quite suited to his role, any shortcomings in his performance largely compensated for by the nature of the role he is playing. Donald Pleasence is marvellous as always and I'm sure Geoffrey Keen enjoyed every moment as the preening Mr Gregory. The book it is based upon did stir up the debate on the use of corporal punishment in schools when it came out, and although the cane is never likely to reappear, recent creative developments in school discipline suggest that another film along these lines may soon be needed to temper the fine balance between rectification and reprisal.

Max Bygraves did not enter movies that often. In CHARLIE MOON (1956) he had a role as a young lover with a hit song. SPARE THE ROD was very different. Directed by Leslie Norman, who was a grid workmanlike director, Bygraves plays an orphan boy made good as he takes up the role of a supply teacher at one of London's toughest schools. The temptation might have been to sentimentalise the material, but to his credit Norman suggests that friendships are few and far between in this discipline-dominated institution, presided over by a head teacher (Donald Pleasance) with a fondness fir a big stick and tyrannical rule. His sidekick (Geoffrey Keen) is a teacher of the old school, where the cane does most of the talking. Bygraves enters a knife-edge atmosphere, where learner rebellion is perpetually imminent, and semi-succeeds at his job by listening to the learners and taking their ambitions in mind. Needless to say, he doesn't succeed where others have failed, his over-zealous temper getting the better of him in the end when he attempts to defend a learner against an unwarranted beating from a teacher. At the end it is left undecided whether he will stay or not, but he remains popular by combining strictness with understanding. The film Has its share of educational cinematic cliches, but remains refreshingly

"Spare the Rod" may not qualify as a masterpiece but it's still worth seeing all the same. The story about an inexperienced school teacher who has the task of teaching a difficult class, usually makes for fairly engaging drama. I believe the above film achieves this, thanks to a good script and a solid performance from Max Bygraves. I've no idea why he didn't appear in more movies like "Spare the Rod," he would have been good. Even though Donald Pleasence is billed second in the cast, he hasn't much to do and his character isn't part of the storyline. Geoffrey Keen does quite well as a rather brutal teacher colleague who relishes the chance to use his cane. After a while, he manages to partly redeem himself. The classroom scenes are the best in my opinion, as the dramatic tension between teacher and rebellious pupils is at its best. You won't see much location photography around London, which is good as the narrative can remain focused upon the films main setting - that being of the school. One scene which must have raised an eyebrow or two, is the one where that blonde schoolgirl makes a pathetic attempt to seduce her own teacher. I'm surprised the B.B.F.C didn't demand the scene be removed. Obtaining this film on DVD is next to impossible but if you can watch it on TV, don't miss it.

Gritty 1950s/1960s film are often described as "kitchen sink dramas" but here we have a "school desk drama" every bit as depressing as a kitchen sink one. It was difficult who to feel the most sorry for, the teachers or the pupils, but it's probably the pupils as they had more miserable years ahead of them than the much older teachers. Two years after this film Richard O'Sullivan appeared the Burton and Taylor extravaganza "Cleopatra" playing Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, could there be a bigger contrast in lifestyle between these two characters played by O'Sullivan?