also about self-respect and love. Love the movie, it's message and Mr Poitier. HIs death has me grieving. I'm 67 and somehow thought he'd be with us forever. At least his work lives on. Watch to film, it's very well done.
@@sarahdee374 yes, this was about so much more than color. Poitier was black, the supposed underclass then, but actually was a higher-class character than the students. This movie bent the conventions all over the place - and, of course, Poitier portrayed the character brilliantly.
This film takes place in the UK and while prejudiced exist there as well it was definitely different and the movie wasn't really about prejudice. It's the classic story of a teacher getting unruly students in a bad neighborhood and teaching them the joy of learning. The short-haired girl in the clips is the singer, Lulu. She was married to Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, around the time this film was made. She was and is a huge star in the UK
This wasn’t a story about him being disrespected for his race. The students disrespected all authority & were acting as what society had written them off as - lost causes. He helped them find self respect. But I do agree that the film’s message to society of the time was the wonderful portrayal of a Black man as heroic, intellectual, compassionate, upholder of values and agent of positive change for his students regardless of their race. Another of his films with a similar message is A Patch of Blue where he befriends a young white blind girl from a dysfunctional home and helps her to become strong young woman with options to shape her own life. I saw it on a date when I was a teen myself and we liked it so much we went back the next week to see it again.
He wasn't the FIRST black actor, but he was the first to win an Academy Award in a leading role, in 1964. One of the classiest acts who ever lived, and he paved the way for future legends like Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. RIP Sidney.
Before the Sidney Poitier there were others, but not considered "stars". Lincoln Perry (1902-1985) is often credited as the world’s first Black movie star. Using the stage name Stepin Fetchit, he is also said to be the first Black actor to become a millionaire. You are correct.
This story is about a Black male teacher, Sidney Poitier, who went to college to be an engineer, but can't land a job in that field. So, he goes into teaching to pay his bills. He gets a teaching job in a really rough area of London, which is all White, except for one Hispanic teenage boy in the class. This teacher has his work cut out for him, but his patience, wisdom, and concern for what is happening in his students' personal lives finally wins them over. When Lulu sings this song to Sidney Poitier at the school dance at the end of the school year, it brings happy tears to my eyes... every time I watch it. 😊❤
You’re are so on point and I think at the end, he did get a letter for the engineer position, and he ripped it up at the end I’m guessing the impact will have on young adults is more important 👏👏👏 hooray for him💪💪💪
@@arveypeterson3349 I saw the movie many years ago and came away from it thinking he was resigning from his teaching position there. I seem to recall that he wrote it some days or probably weeks before the end of the school year when he was experiencing incredible pushback from the kids. After graduation he debated on submitting it and then finally just ripped it up. I could be wrong though! Such a beautiful movie and even after years of not hearing that song it still brings a smile and a tear whenever I hear it. Lulu nailed it.
So sad that we've just lost Sidney Poitier. He was a great man in his kindness and constant fighting for civil liberties - as well as being a great actor!
At times SIDNEY is my favorite actor of all time. Dive deep into his movies ! He’s brilliant ! You’ll love TO SIR WITH LOVE.. Lulu is in the cast and The tune is in the movie as part of the movie. ENJOY !!!
Not sad. He lived long, lived well, did incredible things, left a lasting impression. We will MISS him for sure, but please... celebrate the man and his achievements and impact! Don't imagine he wasn't ready to move on.
@@scottski51 I need to remember that any life lived for a long time is a good life. Plus. if you left the world better for having been in it, you did good, no matter how many years you were granted on earth.
His class was comprised of low-income students that everyone had given up on. It also shows him trying to get them to understand their value as human beings. Lulu played a role in the film (she has the short hair) It is a wonderful film so do yourselves a favor and watch it. Rip to Sidney Poitier one of my favorite actors.
@@jacklewis5452 The there was a TV movie sequel that took place in an American city - I believe Chicago. It is essentially the same movie but bookends his career. In TSWL, he was at the first year of his teaching career. In TSWL2, he spent thirty years teaching in London and retired, came to America to tie up loose ends in his life and winds up in a classroom again. Same premise - low-income students the system has essentially given up on but Mark Thackeray to the rescue again to help them learn to value themselves. While not as good as the first, for a TV movie, it's pretty good.
Race isn't overly much of an issue in this film - in fact, I believe he wanted the role because it wasn't a "black role" as such. It's an inspirational teacher role. The part was a good one that could have been played by an actor of any ethnicity - the character and his difficulties/achievement would have been much the same. You absolutely should watch this film - I think you'd both really enjoy it.
People have been manipulated to think in ways that separate, especially racially these days. Thanks for pointing out the movie wasn't solely about race.
The fact that the movie was made in the UK and not the USA is undoubtedly why the race factor wasn't the focus of the movie. Most Americans watching this clip automatically assume it was about him being black when that's not the case at all. Watch and learn America.
@@patrickwells8349 Climb down, high horse. Calling a black man's blood 'ink' says you're not so much in a position to lecture. Have you SEEN the movie?
Like you, I'm a retired teacher. I can truthfully say this is one of the reasons I became a teacher. At the time I saw this movie, I had never seen a Black male teacher. It told me I can reach for teaching as a career.
The movie is about a teacher who takes over a seemingly incorrigible classroom of kids and ends up leaving a deep connection with them by the end of the film. Definitely worth watching. Later that year, he made an even more important film, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" about an interracial relationship where both sets of parents are taken aback by the news.
Don't forget his third great and important movie that same year, In The Heat of the Night. When Rod Steiger won an Oscar for his performance, he credited Poitier for being his mentor and teaching him about what it feels like to be on the receiving end of prejudice, which made his performance as Gillespie more nuanced.
Right. I haven't seen this since it was new, but I think Sidney's character was given this hopeless class to set him up to fail. Lulu was one of the blonde young ladies in the class.
@@debjorgo I think it was more that he wasn't a teacher he was an engineer but couldn't find a job so had to take the teaching gig at a dead end school for the dead end class.
@@kvoltti He was an engineer, not a teacher. Hmm? I remembered there was another element making success more of a task for Sydney. I just couldn't remember what it was.
This movie changed my life. I still have a crush on Sidney Poitier. He was an inexperienced teacher and the unruly class of students soon learned that learning was valuable. The song mentions "took me from crayons to perfume," illustrating his teaching style to bring accountability to the classroom. I wanted be a teacher after that. This came out my sophomore year of high school and I will never forget the impact on me. Thank you for reminding me of the values I gained from this film.
While not as deep as To Sir With Love, another film from the same time with a similar theme (teacher with an unruly class who wins their respect) was Up the Down Staircase.
This movie was about a teacher (Sidney Poitier) who come to teach in a really rough school in London! They disrespect him at every corner. He decides to teach them about life instead of typical school curriculum! When they are going to graduate Lulu (the redhead with the shirt hair) sings this song to him as they call him Sir! Also Lulu was married to Maurice Gibb for a while! So that makes her Barry’s former sister-in-law!
They were not against him because he was black. They were all from the lower classes and treated as lesser, he taught them to respect themselves and to demand respect from others.
He's in England in a tough school of lower class students nearly graduated. He's only teaching for as long as he needs to before getting a job as an engineer. But he turns these kids around and they show him he has a gift for teaching. This is one of the most touching movies of all time.
And, as a twist: this movie could never have been made in America at the time. They had to take the plot to England for it to work in 1967. Much of the U.S. still found it difficult to accept integration of the races, much less having a Black teacher of White students, just as Star Trek's interracial kiss was in the context of a science fiction setting. People still didn't like it in some areas, but it was a degree removed from home, so to speak.
Poitier's character in this movie was actually based on a real life teacher and the challenges he faced with his troubled students, back in the days of post-war London, following WW2. However, I don't recall this movie having necessarily anything to do with race. Poitier's character was simply a man who happened to be Black, but his race was not really played up beyond that, which that in itself was groundbreaking.
The movie was as stunning and poignant as this master vocal piece by LuLu. Sidney Poitier is absolutely one of the greatest actors ever. This song could teach as much today as when it was released.❤Sidney and Lulu, part of the magical 60s, when our generation thought anything was possible.
This Movie gives me all the feels. It has since I was a child. Sidney Poitier is a Class act. This song is EVERYTHING! You MUST SEE THIS MOVIE! Everyone needs to see this movie. We need this lesson! Thanks!
It was an iconic movie. It wasn't about prejudice against him....it was about him teaching them to respect each other. It was about a very tough area of England. They came to love him for showing them a better way to live their lives.
You guys gotta watch the film, I am a 63 yo Caribbean male and this is my favorite move of all time, gets me choked up everytime. The song is one of my favorites as well. Sidney Poitier is my fave actor of all time. The setting of the film is London, England.
It wasn't only about racial prejudice. The kids he was teaching were from one of the poorer working class sections of London. He was teaching them to respect themselves and each other as they move into adulthood. Please watch the movie. He is a great actor.
"From crayons to perfume" was the line, not crowns to perfume. Sidney's character, Mark, is taking a temporary position as a teacher in a tough neighborhood in the East End of London. As soon as the music begins, before the vocal sounds it brings back memories and sentiments. The word "Sir" was used to address those in authority. This movie in 1967 has a surprising number of featured players still living. For a film that's almost 55 years old, that is distinctive.
We streamed "To Sir With Love 2" (the 1996 sequel) last night and it's as incredible as the 1st one. The story takes place in Chicago, after his retirement in England. (Lulu also appeared in it.)
@@NJbakintheday I didn't know either until my daughter discovered it yesterday. We were blown away by how many movies this icon starred in over the years. He was in usually no less than 2 and sometimes 3 or 4 movies a year, for decades. I think it's time for a little Poitier binge watching!
Lulu is Scottish but she doesn't sing with an accent. At least not usually, anyway. I subscribe to a channel called Scottish History Tours, the presenter is a guy caled Bruce Fummey and he has an unmistakable Scottish accent that confuses the heck ot of TH-cam's auto-captioning - he actually has someone redo the captions for the public videos It does make me wonder if Lulu's Scottish accent had anything to do with hearing "crowns".
You should absolutely watch this movie. I've probably seen this movie 20 times, and I cry every time. Sidney Poitier was an amazing actor, and a beautiful human. You should also watch "In the Heat of thr Night" and "A Patch of Blue." And yes, Lulu has a beautiful voice.
this was not about the students disliking the black teacher, because he was black - it was about underclass kids who nobody gave a shit about, and this teacher making them believe they had self-worth. not a race movie at all, it was about classes in society
A Patch of Blue is a great movie with great acting. It's from 1965 about the friendship between an educated black man (played by Sidney Poitier) and an illiterate, blind, white 18-year-old girl (played by Elizabeth Hartman), and the problems that plague their friendship in a racially divided America against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement.
If you didn’t know, the schoolgirl in the Purple Sweater is “Lulu” the singer of this song. This takes place in London England in the ‘60’s. It was only suppose to be a Temporary Teaching job at a Hard ass school, but he gets their respect and love so you see him tear up his transfer letter and decides on staying there. Yes, Please watch the movie!…..SanJoséBob
'''Sir" wasn't being transferred to another school, he tears up the letter from an engineering job he had applied for, which was his training. He couldn't get an engineering job initially so took a teaching job temporarily until he could find a job in his field. In the end, he decides to stay at the school instead.
It's actually based on a true story. E. R. Braithwaite was a Guyanan recently demobbed after WW2 who unable to get a job in engineering took a temporary job in teaching. He had a privileged upbringing attending top schools and gained a masters degree from Cambridge. This along with impeccable manners put him in a totally different world to the deprived kids of bombed out east London. His tale was moved from post war era to the sixties probably to make it more relevant to the time but also I think to take best advantage of Lulu. He later became a social worker and then a diplomat and had success with three autobiographies each about these careers.
Also while prejudice is definitely addressed, it isn’t the main part of the story in his one. The kids keep,chasing away all their teachers. I would say it’s much more about their social strata and access to education and mentors in their lives who show them what is possible. Now, an earlier Sidney Poitier movie called Blackboard Jungle has prejudice as am very core theme . Poitier plays a high school student in that one with Glenn Ford as the teacher. Very good movie too
Yes. He wins over the kids not by insisting just that they treat him with respect, but that they treat each other with respect. The respect they both give and receive gradually opens their eyes to their own self-worth.
Yes, about a class of students with disciplinary problems, who live and attend school in a lower working class section of London. Basically the London version of a rough-inner city school in a rough inner-city neighborhood.
@@debjorgo I have always loved the way rock around the clock is used in that film both at the beginning and to close it out . Blackboard jungle really seems quite controversial for its time and worth remembering
Sadly he was one of a kind and we're entering an age where we need men like him in wholesale lots. His finest movies could not be made today. People with an agenda cannot tolerate the intellectual and emotional honesty that made them classics.
It's based on a 1959 autobiographical novel by E. R. Braithwaite set in the East End of London. He's an engineer who can't find work in post-war England and takes a teacher's position. He requires them to address him as "Sir". A singer very similar to Lulu is Petula Clark who had a hit with "Downtown."
Petula Clark is another great singer. She also acted in another great movie about a teacher as well, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" starring together with Peter o'Toole. Check out Petula Clark's music like Downtown, This is my Song, Kiss Me Goodbye
I have always loved this song! Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees was married to Lulu the singer of the song! They stayed good friends after their divorce. Lulu was in the movie To Sir with love
He was the teacher that moved mountains with these kids. They grew to respect and love him. Lulu sang this song for him when they graduated to show their love and respect from him. One of my favorite movies that brought me to tears.
The original Guess Who's Coming For Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, The Defiant Ones - so many great movies worth checking out. He's an absolute icon.
In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Sidney Poitier's outburst in anger toward his father was the first time in an era of Leave to Beaver and My Three Sons that I'd heard a parent be put in their place by their child so passionately. I can imagine how shocking that film was in 1960's theatres. One of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite actors!
I was born in the 50's. This man was the epitome of class. He won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field. But "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" changed attitudes in this country. You have to watch it. He was the first black actor to win Best Actor in a Leading Role. Hattie McDaniel won Supporting Actress in Gone With The Wind. His daughters are successful directors. I usually tell young people he was the first Denzel Washington.
We lost a national treasure in Sidney Poitier. The movie To Sir with Love was, and still is, iconic, and this song is as beautiful now as it was then. In the context of the movie, it still makes my eyes water.
Crayons to perfume. Black man, in a tough, poor neighborhood. About giving kids with no future, a sense of being. The desire to be seen and heard. We called teachers like this, 'progressive teachers'. I had 2 of these teachers at schools i attended, and their input into my life was and is, still there. Open your mind to the four corners of the universe. Anything at all is possible.... This song still brings a tear to my eye. Not sure why?
'Crayons to Perfume' lyrics refer to how he brought his students from immature/childish behaviours to repect themselves (and each other) as more mature young men and women. Great movie in its time. Sydney Poitier had great screen presence and charisma. Very popular with the ladies! RIP.
I usually make up songs for my siblings' birthdays... for my next youngest sister a few years ago, I used this song, and changed the lyrics to say "how can you forgive someone who used to STEAL your crayons and perfume..." - just a joke, but I ended with "To Sis with Love" -- kind of fun to do...
I loved this song. Another nuance of the movie is that the students lived in a working class neighborhood in England. They were considered rotten, hudlum kids who couldn't be taught. So teacher and students had to see beyond what society socialized them to believe about each other. He made them see how intelligent they really were. Kudos to all who teach, from kindergarten through post-doc. And thanks to Mr. Poitier, who amazed me at age 7, seeing a man like us in the movies for the first time. R.I.P., Sir. Sydney.
Very true! One of my favorite movies. When I left the fast track after thyroid cancer, I decided to do something that made a difference and became a vocational teacher of adults. I have to say that I used many of the techniques in the movie, and they work. It's called the Halo Effect. People will rise to your expectations of them; you have to show them a picture of themselves as intelligent and capable of great things so realistically that they believe it; then they change their self-image. It was my favorite job I ever had.
Thank God for real-life teachers who see youth for who they really are….and what they really can become!! These youth in this movie were filled with gratitude for what he had done for them….may there be more of this.
I find it amusing that Americans instantly assume this is a film about race and is referring to the slavery of the American history. This was a social change film about working class children learning that they have the same abilities and chance of improvement as anyone else. Self worth and self determination not being the monopoly of the upper classes or the wealthy. The race of the teacher was not important but his educating abilities were. Prejudice was not exclusive to colour although it certainly existed at the time. Unfortunately Americans have a very limited knowledge of the history of other countries and tend to see and judge everything according to their views and customs. This is a brilliant film and deserves to be seen. 🇬🇧
@@kimwilson3863 Dude, did you read the comment you responded to?No one said anything about slavery but you. I was literally talking about the class dynamics through which the youth were viewed in their society. Portier's character would also have likely been viewed through a biased lens, but not the same bias present here in the U.S. It's true we Americans can be pretty ignorant of history but this time, I think the ignorance falls on you.
@@elainewaller-rose9707 Please forgive me if I mistakenly answered a comment, I was commenting on the reaction not anyones comment so my apologies if it looked like it was a reply to a particular comment. Not a dude by the way lol. I watch lots of reactions many of them American and find most view the world and other cultures as similar to theirs and that what happened in American history is somehow known and relevant to them and their country. It does come as quite a shock to them that those things which are foremost in the minds of Americans are anathema to much of the rest of the world. This is probably because of the education system in the USA.and not a reflection on it's people. It is a very insular country but it's people are curious and inquisitive with a thirst for knowledge and understanding of other people and cultures. I wish my countrymen had the same interest but we are quite arrogant and find it risible that Americans know so little of other nations rather than emulating their curiosity. 🇬🇧
The movie “To Sir With Love” was about the students being out of control from lack of Discipline, love and understanding from their homes and family members. The actor Sidney Poitier in the movie play the part of the teacher trying to get through to them so they can move forward to become decent productive intelligent Adults. Definitely should see the movie and also I love the song sung beautifully by Lulu’s. The movie & song was release in 1967.
Right, it wasnt really about prejudice. They were the poor badly behaved kids who gave all teachers a hard time. Then over time they warmed to this teacher and liked him. People are so brainwashed with narratives they see race/sex/gender in everything. These reaction channels are dumb, now I remember why I stopped watching them ages ago.
Agreed. Sidney P broke boundaries just being a teacher that HAPPENED to be black. I never got the impression that there was prejudice involved. The story was that they were a tough group to control from I think London. (Yeah, they don't look like hoods but they were notoriously unruly before he got there.). Reading too much race into it, presumptions of racism that does not apply. . See the movie.
A piece of trivia: The young woman w/short blonde hair is Lulu & she sang this song. She was also married to Maurice Gibb of the always great BeeGees! 💖
Lulu didn't know Maurice Gibb at the time this movie was made. He didn't even arrive in the UK until February 1967, after this movie was filmed. They started dating late in 1967, broke up, got back together in '68, got married in '69.
I never got the impression that there was prejudice involved. The story was that they were a tough group to control from I think London. (Yeah, they don't look like hoods but they were notoriously unruly before he got there.). Reading too much race into it, presumptions. See the movie.
Amber nailed it. This film, and "Sir", as the great Sidney Poitier was so aptly named in the film, was a great source of pride and inspiration for young people of color. It cannot be overstated, the impact this man had on Hollywood and the world through the medium of movies. You must watch his movies, To Sir With Love, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Patch of Blue, Lillie's of the Field, and In The Heat of the Night. All amazing, and groundbreaking. He has many other great movies, those will get you started. Whether you react to his movies, or not, you owe it to yourself to check them out. No regrets, you'll love them all. Enjoy. Peace.
In the movie, "Sir" had an engineering degree and, even after taking the teaching job, he was applying for positions in his preferred field. That envelope he tore up near the end of the video was a corporate acceptance letter. He decided to remain a teacher.
"They call me, Mr. Tibbs!" Always loved that scene in "Heat of the night." Both he and Rod Steiger nailed those roles! Worth watching if and when you start your movie reaction vlog.
"To Sir with Love" is a British film set in London in the late 1960s. At the beginning of the movie he only takes the teaching role while he is waiting for a job he really wants. Throughout the school year he changes the students and they change him. It's a little sad that you hadn't heard of him until just now and it makes me think of all the great actors you might have missed. Maybe you should react to some classic films (made before 1980)...you will be surprised at all the gems out there.
Both this movie and this song made me cry uncontrollably as a child!!!!! the world people deserve so much less pain and so much more love ☮️❤️🙏🌎🌏🌍🇺🇸❤️☮️
4:05 nope nope nope…. this was not an American film. This was a British film. The British kids in the class were considered hoodlums and therefore useless to society and teacher gave them back their dignity and then they loved him for it….. to Sir with love☮️❤️🙏
He had the "bad" kids, the rebellious ones, in their final year of school. He started trying to teach to the book but realized it was too late for that so he started teaching them about life and adulthood. How to budget your money and pay your bills. Personal responsibility and respect, both how to give it and how to earn it. How to be an adult at a young age instead of being a child at an adult age. Hence the line, "from crayons (childhood) "to perfume" , (adulthood). His other great early move was Lilies of the Field.
Can't listen to this song without shedding a tear. The film is fantastic. Well worth seeing. Even more than racism, this was a story of disaffected youth and how he reaches them.
I’m glad that someone else sheds a tear. I’ve been watching the video every day since I heard of his death. The words of the song and the singer is perfect
This is a true story. I read the book after watching the film, which is brilliant too. The writer was E.R. Braithwaite. Was written in 1959. He came over to UK from British Guiana just before World War II. Served in war as aircrew in the Royal Air Force. He was an Engineer, but work was difficult to find with so many leaving the forces after the war. He went to work as a Teacher in the East End of London - the poorest and probably toughest area of the Capital. It's lovely to know that he really did change these kids lives and how much he was respected.
Always loved the song but never had access to the movie. It may have been the times as someone else alluded to. Slavery was abolished much earlier in England. I remember my grandfather with his new wife, superintendent of schools, as she played the piano, both singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children". I believed it. My father was in the military so we moved several times and life took me to schools with American Indians, Blacks, and Chinese but I always had that faith even when I learned that not all the family approved. Now I must hunt the movie up!
If you've seen the movie, this song is deeply emotional. By the time they get to this point in the movie, everything has changed for all the characters. This song never fails to make me a little misty. It's such a deep and emotional point in a deep and emotional movie.
I remember watching this film when it first came out. It’s still one of my all-time favorite movies and songs. Deeply moving. It was set in a troubled neighborhood in England - a slum. All the kids had challenges. Graduating high school was rare. Sidney Poitier played an overqualified engineer who couldn’t get a job in his field because he was black, so to make ends meet who took a job as a teacher. Their teacher. The entire movie is about how he taught them to believe in themselves - and how he found his own true calling. Masterfully acted and filmed. Lulu was already famous when she accepted the role of one of his students and sang this, one of her most well-known songs.
This is a beautiful song! You two should pop some popcorn and watch this movie... as teachers and coaches you will appreciate his struggle to help his students. It is a FANTASTIC film!
You do really need to watch the movie “ to Sir with love“. It was deeper than color, it was about growing up in the times, and finding ways for you to be able to get through school, and go on and be prepared for a better life outside of school. Sidney Poitier who they called sir was a significant aspect in their lives. He prepared them for life, and yes he gained their respect while doing so. A very special movie!!
As a couple of others have mentioned, Poitier's role in To Sir With Love was a twist on the role he'd had a decade earlier in Blackboard Jungle, where he'd played one of the incorrigible students being taught by another teacher (played by Glenn Ford) trying to bring out the best in them. Both movies also tapped into the popular music and culture of their times. Rock Around The Clock was the theme music for Blackboard Jungle, and the students were very much in the mode of the "greaser" types later popularized by James Dean, Elvis, and later by Henry Winkler as Fonzie in Happy Days. To Sir With Love showed high school students caught up in the fashion and music of the Swinging London of the 60s, and one of them was played by Lulu, who was a huge pop/rock star of that time and place.
Lulu was 18-19 when she starred in To Sir With Love and recorded the song. Her signing career launched when she was 14 with a cover of SHOUT! Yeah the Isley brothers song. He is her first adult crush and yeah he had the 'bad kids' in his first year and being young enough he was able to reach and cross the gap a bit. Keep in mind that in UK you finish at 16 NOT 18 for the required creds then you have university or trade school of apprenticeship or you walk into what ever biz is around.
You could leave school at 16, or even 15 then, but to go to university you would have had to stay until you were 18ish and do A’Levels, just like now. Or perhaps you could have enrolled at a technical college ( but there were really more vocationally based or night school to get the requisite qualifications after leaving school, many (most) I suspect did not!
@@annaparry4045 Thank you for the clarification. We Americans can be tone deaf and are easily confused by variances in the system. I'm married to a retired teacher, and oldest is a classroom and basketball coach, so I guess I better dig into the history of how we wound up with system that goes for at years (6-18 = or - minus depending on date of birth), and how not only UK but most of Europe landed on one that tends to put people in either the work/training force or higher education a bit sooner
This song wasn't just the theme song of the movie, it was a very popular song that was played on the radio. So beautiful! Expressing the emotions and gratitude of how he made them better people. Something a lot of teachers do. I imagine the two of you included!
I remember as a young black boy in the 6o's, how my Mother was infatuated with Sidney Poitier. The way he spoke. That he stood tall. His even manner. And his pride in being a black man. These are things I to construct my own image and character as I grew up. His quiet command for respect was not to be mistaken for weakness. He stood up for himself. He stood up for others. He stood for what was right. And he did it with dignity and grace. Some black people didn't think he was radical enough. Or militant enough. But he was both in his own quiet manner. Much like Jackie Robinson before him, he recognized that he was the right man at the right time of history to bring us all forward. But I wanted to impress my Mom. So I followed his cues and learned to navigate my own path as my family traveled to many states during our 2o years in the military. It made her proud to see me get along with any number of people from a variety of backgrounds. But there was someone else I learned from who was even more important. My own Mother. I try to remember that I represent her everyday. And I owe it to her to be the best person I can be. So when I saw that Sidney passed away, yesterday I wanted to take a minute and remember them both. May they rest in peace.
Your mother seems to have been an amazing woman and your own ethos, certainly seems to echo her's, and you sound like an amazing person, too. Yes, we lost a strong but quiet light in the world when Mr Poitier died... but it sounds like it's still there in folk like you.
The boy he hugged had lost his mother, not the boy who was about to assault someone. All his students grew to respect him. He modeled respect and fairness. They learned these from him as well as academic subjects. One of the best movies I ever watched, meaning much to me as a retired teacher.
He wasn't the first black actor, he was the first black actor to win an academy award. His movies, A Raisin in the Sun, and In the Heat of the Night, are two of his best.
He was a school teacher in a school where the students weren't interested in learning or being respectful to others. He found a way to reach them and they not only learned but become such better human being. One of the best movies to watch and learn from.
This movie was set in London. He was an Engineer trying to find a job when he took this teaching assignment. This class was made up of students no one wanted to teach and they were rough on any teacher that stepped in the door. There was a black white issue but primarily this movie was about learning to treat each other with respect and to conduct oneself with dignity.
I remember seeing this movie in the 1960s. It's a movie about rejection. He took a teaching position in England because there were limited opportunities for him in America. It was a job no other teacher wanted because the students were delinquents, and anti-authority. He was able to connect with the students in a way that others couldn't. Great movie. Great life lessons. Reminds us that people shouldn't be discarded, regardless of where they come from.
Limited opportunities in America had nothing to do with this film. In the movie Sir (Sidney Poitier) is from the British Crown Colony of the Bahamas he moved to London for an engineering job, which fell through. Broke he reluctantly took the teaching job until he could get an engineering job. The letter you see him ripping up is from an engineering company offering him a job, however by this point the teaching job has grown on him. This movie was made in the late 1960's while the Bahamas were still a British Crown Colony, the Bahamas gained their independence in 1973.
@@richardcramer1604 Thanks for the clarity. It's been 40 years since I last viewed the movie. I didn't recall him moving from the Bahamas to London. I just assumed from the USA. Now that you mention it, I do remember that he was waiting for an engineering job, and temporarily took the teaching job.
I'm an ex-pat black brit now living in Canada, I was born in London, England and went to school in the 60's before moving to Canada in 72'. We refer our male Teachers as "SIR" and female teachers as MISS or MRS. We never talked back to teachers if not the strap, no fighting or cussing teachers out. When we moved to Canada, we saw there were little or no respect to teachers.
Lulu is the first girl shown in the video, in the purple top. Her real name is Anne Marie Laughlin Lawrie. He first hit was as a girl of fifteen called ‘Shout’. Lulu is still going today in her 70’s
Especially as teachers, you should watch (and will love) this movie . . . it's not just a black & white thing - so much more. Lulu is one of the students and sings this to him as part of the classes gift to him - exceptional movie. Thanks for the great reaction, as always, guys!
OMG what a Spectacular Song and the Movie to Sir With Love. This is so popular in my day. The movie is like Freedom Writers. The Students are a rough bunch and the surroundings also. Sir teaches them to be Proper Adults. Like in Freedom Writers She Taught the UnRuliest bunch To Rebuke all the Negative thoughts stated about them and see themselves archiving Greatness first in thier Families. Got to see both and Fall in Love
R.I.P Sir Sidney Poitier This movie and indeed this song was about kids who grew up without decent roll models and how Sidney's character breaks through the anger and disillusion and points the kids in the right direction to have a decent future. The fact that he was black is really inconsequential to the message of the movie because these kids rejected any form of authority. But by showing concern and guidance at the right times he is able to wake up self-pride in them and a yearning to do better in every aspect of their lives. Parallel to today and we have kids so far off the rails due to indoctrination by weird cult-like philosophies and more and more kids have no moral compass but only the brainwashing of people who are determined to destroy the family structure and create followers that will accept everything the "cult" says as absolute fact.
You said what I wanted to say so beautifully! I can't add anymore to it. I just LOVED Sidney Poitier (and he was a REAL "SIR" as he was knighted by the Queen) and "To Sir With Love" is my very favorite movie of his, I NEVER tire of it and it is shown often on TV.
'To Sir With Love' is an autobiographical book by ER Braithwaite, a black, Guyanan RAF pilot who took a teaching job in tough post-war, East End London. It was the first 'grown-up' book I bought and enjoyed at 12 years old. (I got it off the 6d {£0.02.5p} shelf at Woolworths, that dates me!) I was a hardened Manchester slum kid, so it resonated with me and helped shape my favourable view of black folks. The film was fairly faithful to the book (though set in the 1960s, not the 40s} but glossed over much of the seedier aspects of slum life as was some of the racism, and was overly sentimental. But of course, Poitier was good in any film he was in. Looks like I've remembered another classic book to revisit. Thanks for the reaction, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
He made a lot of Great movies, but A Patch of Blue was the only one I saw in a theater and I saw it twice, ON CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS! Probably just me, but I thought it was that good!
I'm sure others have already said this, but I highly recommend that you find, and watch, this movie. It's a very powerful piece of film history. His need to earn their respect had less to do with his race than it did with the fact that they were "difficult" students. The lovely blonde girl (played by Judy Geeson) developed a crush on the teacher. You have no idea how difficult it is for me to not give away too much, and spoil your enjoyment when you finally get to see the movie for yourselves.
Definitely check out the movie. Yes, he's coming into a school with underperforming students with some prejudices. It was a growing time for both a teacher dealing with the prejudices and students as a guide to maturing young adults and not kids anymore. Another great movie he was in, "They call me Mr Tibbs."
This was about a group of hard core kids that ran all the other teachers off.He stayed and stood his ground.He taught the boys to be gentlemen to get jobs and made the girls into ladies to be respected. At the end he finally get a great job but the new class of rough kids show up and he gets rid of the job papers and takes on the new class.Brilliant movie.Sidney was a great actor.
The band backing Lulu up in this song were called the Mindbenders. They had a hit in the 60s with Groovy Kind of Love, which became a hit for Phil Collins in the 80s.
This song makes me cry whenever I hear it. The movie was perfect in every way. Watch it if you can....you'll be very moved by it especially since you both are teachers. Thanks for remembering Sidney. I bid a sincere RIP, to "Sir, With Love". Take care and be well, guys. Peace.
I have always loved this song. Sidney Poitier is a towering figure in movie history. The first black man to win the Oscar for best actor. He starred in many great films. He always had an air of dignity and respectability about him. He will be missed.
This is a "coming of age" movie. This group of kids had "run over EVERY teacher and were felt to be to "lost" & useless. So, when a black man came in, they REALLY thought they had a target. They didn't realize his character or that he'd just left the military. The singer is the short-haired red head, Lulu, who was married to MAURICE GIBB of Bee Gee's fame for the next 6 years. They met in the recording studio! 😊
The movie is worth the watch, and Sidney Poitier was an amazing actor. He was knighted in 1974, so he really did carry the title Sir. RIP Sir Sidney Poitier. 💙
@@henrikechers9995 Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 1974. Poitier grew up in the Bahamas, then a British Crown colony. His birth in the United States entitled him to US citizenship, so he was a dual citizen. Both countries proudly claim him as their citizen.
Sidney Poitier was a man with pure class. He commanded respect and was a person with grace and style. One of his greatest lines in film, "They call me, MISTER Tibbs." demanding the respect he deserved.
There are only two songs that can bring a tear to my eyes from the opening bar, Love Is A Losing Game by Amy Winehouse and this one by Lulu. Already a hugely popular singer in the U.K, this was her first attempt to break into acting and although she was stunning in her part, she`s the bright ginger girl in the purple shirt, I don`t remember seeing her in a movie after this. A couple of years later she went on to become the first Mrs Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees in a short lived marriage . As for the wonderful Mr Poitier, he was a huge star at the time this came out and would soon start a production company called First Artists with Barbra Streisand and Paul Newman which produced some of the biggest movies of the day including Barbra`s version of A Star Is Born. He was a first in so many ways, truly a giant trail blazer who paved the way for so many . R.I.P Sir.
He was in a movie called "In The Heat Of The Night" this later became a TV series with Carole O'Conner playing the Sheriff. He was the first Black Actor to win an Oscar and went on to make many, many more movies. Real big in the 60s and 70s.
Since your young and have not seen the movie, I can tell you this movie had much more to do with a young single teacher from another place dealing with rambunctious teenagers who were rebelling. The main character of Sidney Poitier just happened to be black. Prejudice was hardly the point of the movie and it's interesting how much of the race issue is more emphasized today than was inferred back then for this movie. Its truly a great movie that teaches the values that never change on how to treat one another regardless. The very word respect simply means to listen.
Another master piece by Sidney. "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner". Another must watch. He had a marvellous way of showing not that our differences don't matter... but rather that we have no differences. We are all children of God.
Saw this movie in a Saturday afternoon matinee in 1967 as a teenager. Sidney Poitier who studied to be an engineer takes a teaching job to support himself in lower class London to kids from troubled backgrounds. The students fight him at every turn, but he finally finds a way to communicate with them and impresses them to respect themselves and others. It's a wonderful movie. Poitier was class.
RIP Sydney Portier . What an amazing actor and an amazing human being, he acheived so much for so many. Will go back and watch this film again now. Great song and a great reaction. Your discussion was so good.
The line in the song is, "and how do you thank someone who has taken you from CRAYONS to perfume" (Not "crowns"). If you read it in this context, it makes a helluva lot more sense....
"From crayons to perfume" just means from childhood to young adulthood. How do you ever thank someone (a teacher) who changes your life so profoundly? You gotta see the film, it's so good!!!
This movie was excellent & I highly recomend it. Sidney Poitier was wonderful in it & it was sad about his passing. LuLu can really sing & this song really launced her career & she still is singing today. On a side note Maurice Gibb was married to LuLu for 4-5 years, I thought you guys would find this interesting being how much you love the Bee Gees. Great song choice & reaction. If you want to hear another great one from LuLu- The Man With The Golden Gun, from a James Bond movie.
This is one of the most touching songs ever written and I am so glad you are reacting to this. I requested this months ago. Now you will be amazed and in tears!!
This was a wonderful movie. I remember hearing this song in my youth and then the movie coming out. Sidney Poitier was loved and much respected by all people of all races.
One of my favorite movies. The song is perfect. Lulu, the singer, is also one of the students. You should definitely watch the movie if you haven’t already.
This film was so deep on so many levels. It was beyond simple black and white. It was also about class and dignity. It was soo sooo meaningful.
also about self-respect and love. Love the movie, it's message and Mr Poitier. HIs death has me grieving. I'm 67 and somehow thought he'd be with us forever. At least his work lives on. Watch to film, it's very well done.
@@sarahdee374 yes, this was about so much more than color. Poitier was black, the supposed underclass then, but actually was a higher-class character than the students. This movie bent the conventions all over the place - and, of course, Poitier portrayed the character brilliantly.
@@KenOtwell excellent explanation! I own the DVD and will watch it again soon in honor of Mr. Tibbs!
Yes this was such a fabulous film I wish Jordan had posted right at such a beautiful moment in the song but he does that all the time
This film takes place in the UK and while prejudiced exist there as well it was definitely different and the movie wasn't really about prejudice. It's the classic story of a teacher getting unruly students in a bad neighborhood and teaching them the joy of learning. The short-haired girl in the clips is the singer, Lulu. She was married to Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees, around the time this film was made. She was and is a huge star in the UK
This wasn’t a story about him being disrespected for his race. The students disrespected all authority & were acting as what society had written them off as - lost causes. He helped them find self respect. But I do agree that the film’s message to society of the time was the wonderful portrayal of a Black man as heroic, intellectual, compassionate, upholder of values and agent of positive change for his students regardless of their race. Another of his films with a similar message is A Patch of Blue where he befriends a young white blind girl from a dysfunctional home and helps her to become strong young woman with options to shape her own life. I saw it on a date when I was a teen myself and we liked it so much we went back the next week to see it again.
Very well said Carol ! You saved me a lot of writing and I could not have said it better
Oh I love A patch of blue, one of my favourites. Shelley Winters won an Oscar for her portrayal as the girls mother
My feelings also. But better expressed.
A Patch of Blue is one of my most favorite movies from my childhood. Sydney Poitier was magnificent.
you said it better than I could have. thumbs up on your comment
He wasn't the FIRST black actor, but he was the first to win an Academy Award in a leading role, in 1964. One of the classiest acts who ever lived, and he paved the way for future legends like Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington. RIP Sidney.
Before the Sidney Poitier there were others, but not considered "stars". Lincoln Perry (1902-1985) is often credited as the world’s first Black movie star. Using the stage name Stepin Fetchit, he is also said to be the first Black actor to become a millionaire. You are correct.
Nope Hattie McDaniel won best supporting actress in Gone With The Wind!
@@smedleybutler1969 I said "in a leading role". But yes, you are correct, Hattie was the first African-American to win an Oscar for acting.
Exactly. Denzel Washington proudly claims that Poitier meant everything to him. He was our North Star he liked to say.
Please let's not forget Paul Robeson - Singer, Athlete, Actor, Activist. How a movie has never been made about this man's life is incredible
This story is about a Black male teacher, Sidney Poitier, who went to college to be an engineer, but can't land a job in that field. So, he goes into teaching to pay his bills. He gets a teaching job in a really rough area of London, which is all White, except for one Hispanic teenage boy in the class. This teacher has his work cut out for him, but his patience, wisdom, and concern for what is happening in his students' personal lives finally wins them over. When Lulu sings this song to Sidney Poitier at the school dance at the end of the school year, it brings happy tears to my eyes... every time I watch it. 😊❤
The boy (Seales) is actually not Hispanic, his father is Black, his mother is white. But otherwise, yes to the rest.
@@mysticalmargaret6105 also Asian and a Chinese girl student in the class
You’re are so on point and I think at the end, he did get a letter for the engineer position, and he ripped it up at the end I’m guessing the impact will have on young adults is more important 👏👏👏 hooray for him💪💪💪
@@arveypeterson3349 I saw the movie many years ago and came away from it thinking he was resigning from his teaching position there. I seem to recall that he wrote it some days or probably weeks before the end of the school year when he was experiencing incredible pushback from the kids. After graduation he debated on submitting it and then finally just ripped it up. I could be wrong though! Such a beautiful movie and even after years of not hearing that song it still brings a smile and a tear whenever I hear it. Lulu nailed it.
Tears bigtime!!!
So sad that we've just lost Sidney Poitier. He was a great man in his kindness and constant fighting for civil liberties - as well as being a great actor!
It is very sad, but he had 94 years on this earth and made it better for having been here. Definitely a life worth celebrating
At times SIDNEY is my favorite actor of all time. Dive deep into his movies ! He’s brilliant ! You’ll love TO SIR WITH LOVE.. Lulu is in the cast and The tune is in the movie as part of the movie. ENJOY !!!
Not sad. He lived long, lived well, did incredible things, left a lasting impression. We will MISS him for sure, but please... celebrate the man and his achievements and impact! Don't imagine he wasn't ready to move on.
@@scottski51 I need to remember that any life lived for a long time is a good life. Plus. if you left the world better for having been in it, you did good, no matter how many years you were granted on earth.
@@scottski51 You're right of course but I'm still allowed to feel sad.
His class was comprised of low-income students that everyone had given up on. It also shows him trying to get them to understand their value as human beings. Lulu played a role in the film (she has the short hair) It is a wonderful film so do yourselves a favor and watch it. Rip to Sidney Poitier one of my favorite actors.
Correct and they were in a high school in England not the US.
@@jacklewis5452 The there was a TV movie sequel that took place in an American city - I believe Chicago. It is essentially the same movie but bookends his career. In TSWL, he was at the first year of his teaching career. In TSWL2, he spent thirty years teaching in London and retired, came to America to tie up loose ends in his life and winds up in a classroom again. Same premise - low-income students the system has essentially given up on but Mark Thackeray to the rescue again to help them learn to value themselves. While not as good as the first, for a TV movie, it's pretty good.
I cried and cried when I heard the news. Especially knowing his background story when he came to America
I was surprised to see Patricia Rutledge in this film. I just knew her from the British sitcom “ Keeping Up Appearances” as Hyacinth Bucket (Bouquet)
Lulu played Barbara 'Babs' Pegg in the movie.
Race isn't overly much of an issue in this film - in fact, I believe he wanted the role because it wasn't a "black role" as such. It's an inspirational teacher role. The part was a good one that could have been played by an actor of any ethnicity - the character and his difficulties/achievement would have been much the same. You absolutely should watch this film - I think you'd both really enjoy it.
People have been manipulated to think in ways that separate, especially racially these days. Thanks for pointing out the movie wasn't solely about race.
The fact that the movie was made in the UK and not the USA is undoubtedly why the race factor wasn't the focus of the movie. Most Americans watching this clip automatically assume it was about him being black when that's not the case at all. Watch and learn America.
@@patrickwells8349 Climb down, high horse. Calling a black man's blood 'ink' says you're not so much in a position to lecture. Have you SEEN the movie?
The "What did you expect, idiot? INK?" says it was also about race, as an overt subtext.
@@OneVoiceMore What the hell are you talking about? Do you have me confused with someone else?
As a 69 year old, semi-retired educator this song and those movie clips still brings me to tears.
Like you, I'm a retired teacher. I can truthfully say this is one of the reasons I became a teacher. At the time I saw this movie, I had never seen a Black male teacher. It told me I can reach for teaching as a career.
It's such a great film!
Retired warehouseman and I agree 100%.
ha, me too...the ultimate evergreen
Memories.😊
The movie is about a teacher who takes over a seemingly incorrigible classroom of kids and ends up leaving a deep connection with them by the end of the film. Definitely worth watching. Later that year, he made an even more important film, "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" about an interracial relationship where both sets of parents are taken aback by the news.
This movie is one of his best.
Don't forget his third great and important movie that same year, In The Heat of the Night. When Rod Steiger won an Oscar for his performance, he credited Poitier for being his mentor and teaching him about what it feels like to be on the receiving end of prejudice, which made his performance as Gillespie more nuanced.
Right. I haven't seen this since it was new, but I think Sidney's character was given this hopeless class to set him up to fail. Lulu was one of the blonde young ladies in the class.
@@debjorgo I think it was more that he wasn't a teacher he was an engineer but couldn't find a job so had to take the teaching gig at a dead end school for the dead end class.
@@kvoltti He was an engineer, not a teacher. Hmm? I remembered there was another element making success more of a task for Sydney. I just couldn't remember what it was.
This movie changed my life. I still have a crush on Sidney Poitier. He was an inexperienced teacher and the unruly class of students soon learned that learning was valuable. The song mentions "took me from crayons to perfume," illustrating his teaching style to bring accountability to the classroom. I wanted be a teacher after that. This came out my sophomore year of high school and I will never forget the impact on me. Thank you for reminding me of the values I gained from this film.
Yes, I saw this movie when I was a kid and I still remember the intensity with which it struck me.
While not as deep as To Sir With Love, another film from the same time with a similar theme (teacher with an unruly class who wins their respect) was Up the Down Staircase.
This movie was about a teacher (Sidney Poitier) who come to teach in a really rough school in London! They disrespect him at every corner. He decides to teach them about life instead of typical school curriculum! When they are going to graduate Lulu (the redhead with the shirt hair) sings this song to him as they call him Sir! Also Lulu was married to Maurice Gibb for a while! So that makes her Barry’s former sister-in-law!
Check out Lulu singing 1st of May with Maurice.
They were not against him because he was black. They were all from the lower classes and treated as lesser, he taught them to respect themselves and to demand respect from others.
He's in England in a tough school of lower class students nearly graduated. He's only teaching for as long as he needs to before getting a job as an engineer. But he turns these kids around and they show him he has a gift for teaching. This is one of the most touching movies of all time.
Exactly what you said. Rough times for all back then.
Yes
And, as a twist: this movie could never have been made in America at the time. They had to take the plot to England for it to work in 1967. Much of the U.S. still found it difficult to accept integration of the races, much less having a Black teacher of White students, just as Star Trek's interracial kiss was in the context of a science fiction setting. People still didn't like it in some areas, but it was a degree removed from home, so to speak.
Not England. LONDON to be precise, there are loads of Cities in England just like America and all are totally different
@@davetherave3511 Thanks! I said "England" because I wasn't sure exactly where in England it was set in.
You gotta watch the movie to fully appreciate the song. Both are fabulous.
I can't believe they didn't watch it first. WTF?
Poitier's character in this movie was actually based on a real life teacher and the challenges he faced with his troubled students, back in the days of post-war London, following WW2. However, I don't recall this movie having necessarily anything to do with race. Poitier's character was simply a man who happened to be Black, but his race was not really played up beyond that, which that in itself was groundbreaking.
I believe the movie was based on a book... and a true story.
@@rebeccasimantov5476 It was.
There were some references to race but it was not the main theme
The movie was as stunning and poignant as this master vocal piece by LuLu. Sidney Poitier is absolutely one of the greatest actors ever. This song could teach as much today as when it was released.❤Sidney and Lulu, part of the magical 60s, when our generation thought anything was possible.
This Movie gives me all the feels. It has since I was a child. Sidney Poitier is a Class act. This song is EVERYTHING! You MUST SEE THIS MOVIE! Everyone needs to see this movie. We need this lesson! Thanks!
Tears whenever I hear this song.
Literally cry every single time I watch this movie or hear this song. Sydney Poitier was a beautiful actor.
Me too!
Me too!
I'm crying now 😢
Tears Right Now.
Yup, same. It's been one of my favorites since I was a kid.
It was an iconic movie.
It wasn't about prejudice against him....it was about him teaching them to respect each other. It was about a very tough area of England. They came to love him for showing them a better way to live their lives.
And to respect themselves.
Exactly. It was about him teaching these kids self-respect and respecting others. He took them from kids going nowhere to adults with a future.
You guys gotta watch the film, I am a 63 yo Caribbean male and this is my favorite move of all time, gets me choked up everytime. The song is one of my favorites as well. Sidney Poitier is my fave actor of all time. The setting of the film is London, England.
It wasn't only about racial prejudice. The kids he was teaching were from one of the poorer working class sections of London. He was teaching them to respect themselves and each other as they move into adulthood. Please watch the movie. He is a great actor.
"From crayons to perfume" was the line, not crowns to perfume.
Sidney's character, Mark, is taking a temporary position as a teacher in a tough neighborhood in the East End of London.
As soon as the music begins, before the vocal sounds it brings back memories and sentiments. The word "Sir" was used to address those in authority.
This movie in 1967 has a surprising number of featured players still living. For a film that's almost 55 years old, that is distinctive.
We streamed "To Sir With Love 2" (the 1996 sequel) last night and it's as incredible as the 1st one. The story takes place in Chicago, after his retirement in England. (Lulu also appeared in it.)
In some regions of the US "crayons" is pronounced like "crowns". I assumed that was what was happening and that the captioning got it wrong.
@@avidrdr5640 What?? There's a sequel? I had no idea. Gotta see it. Thanks!
@@NJbakintheday I didn't know either until my daughter discovered it yesterday. We were blown away by how many movies this icon starred in over the years. He was in usually no less than 2 and sometimes 3 or 4 movies a year, for decades. I think it's time for a little Poitier binge watching!
Lulu is Scottish but she doesn't sing with an accent. At least not usually, anyway. I subscribe to a channel called Scottish History Tours, the presenter is a guy caled Bruce Fummey and he has an unmistakable Scottish accent that confuses the heck ot of TH-cam's auto-captioning - he actually has someone redo the captions for the public videos It does make me wonder if Lulu's Scottish accent had anything to do with hearing "crowns".
You should absolutely watch this movie. I've probably seen this movie 20 times, and I cry every time. Sidney Poitier was an amazing actor, and a beautiful human. You should also watch "In the Heat of thr Night" and "A Patch of Blue." And yes, Lulu has a beautiful voice.
this was not about the students disliking the black teacher, because he was black - it was about underclass kids who nobody gave a shit about, and this teacher making them believe they had self-worth. not a race movie at all, it was about classes in society
and by the way, this movie was filmed in England and about English kids at school, not about the United States.
In the Heat of the Night one of the top 10 movies in American cinema.
A Patch of Blue is a great movie with great acting. It's from 1965 about the friendship between an educated black man (played by Sidney Poitier) and an illiterate, blind, white 18-year-old girl (played by Elizabeth Hartman), and the problems that plague their friendship in a racially divided America against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement.
Do young people these days bother going beyond headlines and highlight reels :-) it's all insta this, tik tok that.
Lulu is doing her final tour at 80 . Her voice is still powerful.
Lulu was born Nov 3 1948 so she's 75 nowhere near 80 yet.
The only reason I even had any idea who Lulu was is from seeing her on "Absolutely Fabulous"! 🤣
I'm 58 now.
Saw movie when I was a lot younger.
That song always make want to cry.
If U want to cry this is an awesome movie to watch!
@@WildStar2002 I always wondered how many other Americans would recognize Lulu after seeing AbFab.
God love her.
If you didn’t know, the schoolgirl in the Purple Sweater is “Lulu” the singer of this song. This takes place in London England in the ‘60’s. It was only suppose to be a Temporary Teaching job at a Hard ass school, but he gets their respect and love so you see him tear up his transfer letter and decides on staying there. Yes, Please watch the movie!…..SanJoséBob
'''Sir" wasn't being transferred to another school, he tears up the letter from an engineering job he had applied for, which was his training. He couldn't get an engineering job initially so took a teaching job temporarily until he could find a job in his field. In the end, he decides to stay at the school instead.
You’re exactly right, he taught those kids to have self respect.
And Jimmy Page played guitar on her records!
It's actually based on a true story. E. R. Braithwaite was a Guyanan recently demobbed after WW2 who unable to get a job in engineering took a temporary job in teaching. He had a privileged upbringing attending top schools and gained a masters degree from Cambridge. This along with impeccable manners put him in a totally different world to the deprived kids of bombed out east London. His tale was moved from post war era to the sixties probably to make it more relevant to the time but also I think to take best advantage of Lulu. He later became a social worker and then a diplomat and had success with three autobiographies each about these careers.
@@martinbatley9512 His book was excellent
Also while prejudice is definitely addressed, it isn’t the main part of the story in his one. The kids keep,chasing away all their teachers. I would say it’s much more about their social strata and access to education and mentors in their lives who show them what is possible. Now, an earlier Sidney Poitier movie called Blackboard Jungle has prejudice as am very core theme . Poitier plays a high school student in that one with Glenn Ford as the teacher. Very good movie too
Yes. He wins over the kids not by insisting just that they treat him with respect, but that they treat each other with respect. The respect they both give and receive gradually opens their eyes to their own self-worth.
Yes, about a class of students with disciplinary problems, who live and attend school in a lower working class section of London. Basically the London version of a rough-inner city school in a rough inner-city neighborhood.
Yes! Exactly that was not the point of the movie! The whole point was about him as the teacher he happened to be black was all!
Blackboard Jungle! The film that launched the song Rock Around the Clock. Very historic!
@@debjorgo I have always loved the way rock around the clock is used in that film both at the beginning and to close it out . Blackboard jungle really seems quite controversial for its time and worth remembering
Sidney Poitier was a living legend who broke the color barrier in film internationally and paved the way for generations of black actors.
Sadly he was one of a kind and we're entering an age where we need men like him in wholesale lots. His finest movies could not be made today. People with an agenda cannot tolerate the intellectual and emotional honesty that made them classics.
Sidney was a wonderful actor. Check out In the Heat of the Night.
Harry Belafonte' singing his iconic song 'Banana Boat'
th-cam.com/video/H5dpBWlRANE/w-d-xo.html
Yes a great actor, 9ne of the best!
he was a beautiful man
This film is classic, and shows just how much influence one person can have on another’s life. One of my all time favorites. And Lulu…❤️❤️❤️
It's based on a 1959 autobiographical novel by E. R. Braithwaite set in the East End of London. He's an engineer who can't find work in post-war England and takes a teacher's position. He requires them to address him as "Sir".
A singer very similar to Lulu is Petula Clark who had a hit with "Downtown."
Petula Clark is another great singer. She also acted in another great movie about a teacher as well, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" starring together with Peter o'Toole. Check out Petula Clark's music like Downtown, This is my Song, Kiss Me Goodbye
@@chriswtever5356 - And Don't Sleep In The Subway, my favourite.
@@chriswtever5356 I saw her on stage as Norma Desmond in the Sunset Boulevard musical.
I have always loved this song! Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees was married to Lulu the singer of the song! They stayed good friends after their divorce. Lulu was in the movie To Sir with love
He was the teacher that moved mountains with these kids. They grew to respect and love him. Lulu sang this song for him when they graduated to show their love and respect from him. One of my favorite movies that brought me to tears.
You both need to watch to sir with love
The original Guess Who's Coming For Dinner, In the Heat of the Night, The Defiant Ones - so many great movies worth checking out. He's an absolute icon.
"Lillys of the Field" was also great..
In Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Sidney Poitier's outburst in anger toward his father was the first time in an era of Leave to Beaver and My Three Sons that I'd heard a parent be put in their place by their child so passionately. I can imagine how shocking that film was in 1960's theatres. One of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite actors!
Also 'A Patch Of Blue'
I was born in the 50's. This man was the epitome of class. He won the Oscar for Lilies of the Field. But "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" changed attitudes in this country. You have to watch it. He was the first black actor to win Best Actor in a Leading Role. Hattie McDaniel won Supporting Actress in Gone With The Wind. His daughters are successful directors. I usually tell young people he was the first Denzel Washington.
And he was sooooo handsome.
We lost a national treasure in Sidney Poitier. The movie To Sir with Love was, and still is, iconic, and this song is as beautiful now as it was then. In the context of the movie, it still makes my eyes water.
Me too 😭
Crayons to perfume. Black man, in a tough, poor neighborhood. About giving kids with no future, a sense of being. The desire to be seen and heard.
We called teachers like this, 'progressive teachers'. I had 2 of these teachers at schools i attended, and their input into my life was and is, still there.
Open your mind to the four corners of the universe. Anything at all is possible.... This song still brings a tear to my eye. Not sure why?
He carried himself with such dignity that he demanded and received great respect
'Crayons to Perfume' lyrics refer to how he brought his students from immature/childish behaviours to repect themselves (and each other) as more mature young men and women. Great movie in its time. Sydney Poitier had great screen presence and charisma. Very popular with the ladies! RIP.
I usually make up songs for my siblings' birthdays... for my next youngest sister a few years ago, I used this song, and changed the lyrics to say "how can you forgive someone who used to STEAL your crayons and perfume..." - just a joke, but I ended with "To Sis with Love" -- kind of fun to do...
I loved this song.
Another nuance of the movie is that the students lived in a working class neighborhood in England. They were considered rotten, hudlum kids who couldn't be taught. So teacher and students had to see beyond what society socialized them to believe about each other. He made them see how intelligent they really were. Kudos to all who teach, from kindergarten through post-doc. And thanks to Mr. Poitier, who amazed me at age 7, seeing a man like us in the movies for the first time. R.I.P., Sir. Sydney.
Very true! One of my favorite movies. When I left the fast track after thyroid cancer, I decided to do something that made a difference and became a vocational teacher of adults. I have to say that I used many of the techniques in the movie, and they work. It's called the Halo Effect. People will rise to your expectations of them; you have to show them a picture of themselves as intelligent and capable of great things so realistically that they believe it; then they change their self-image. It was my favorite job I ever had.
Thank God for real-life teachers who see youth for who they really are….and what they really can become!! These youth in this movie were filled with gratitude for what he had done for them….may there be more of this.
I find it amusing that Americans instantly assume this is a film about race and is referring to the slavery of the American history. This was a social change film about working class children learning that they have the same abilities and chance of improvement as anyone else. Self worth and self determination not being the monopoly of the upper classes or the wealthy. The race of the teacher was not important but his educating abilities were. Prejudice was not exclusive to colour although it certainly existed at the time. Unfortunately Americans have a very limited knowledge of the history of other countries and tend to see and judge everything according to their views and customs. This is a brilliant film and deserves to be seen. 🇬🇧
@@kimwilson3863 Dude, did you read the comment you responded to?No one said anything about slavery but you. I was literally talking about the class dynamics through which the youth were viewed in their society. Portier's character would also have likely been viewed through a biased lens, but not the same bias present here in the U.S.
It's true we Americans can be pretty ignorant of history but this time, I think the ignorance falls on you.
@@elainewaller-rose9707 Please forgive me if I mistakenly answered a comment, I was commenting on the reaction not anyones comment so my apologies if it looked like it was a reply to a particular comment. Not a dude by the way lol. I watch lots of reactions many of them American and find most view the world and other cultures as similar to theirs and that what happened in American history is somehow known and relevant to them and their country. It does come as quite a shock to them that those things which are foremost in the minds of Americans are anathema to much of the rest of the world. This is probably because of the education system in the USA.and not a reflection on it's people. It is a very insular country but it's people are curious and inquisitive with a thirst for knowledge and understanding of other people and cultures. I wish my countrymen had the same interest but we are quite arrogant and find it risible that Americans know so little of other nations rather than emulating their curiosity. 🇬🇧
She is a wonderful voice. Look at her video singing this song for even more enjoyment
The movie “To Sir With Love” was about the students being out of control from lack of Discipline, love and understanding from their homes and family members. The actor Sidney Poitier in the movie play the part of the teacher trying to get through to them so they can move forward to become decent productive intelligent Adults. Definitely should see the movie and also I love the song sung beautifully by Lulu’s. The movie & song was release in 1967.
Agree, race actually has very little to do with the movie.
Right, it wasnt really about prejudice. They were the poor badly behaved kids who gave all teachers a hard time. Then over time they warmed to this teacher and liked him. People are so brainwashed with narratives they see race/sex/gender in everything. These reaction channels are dumb, now I remember why I stopped watching them ages ago.
Agreed. Sidney P broke boundaries just being a teacher that HAPPENED to be black. I never got the impression that there was prejudice involved. The story was that they were a tough group to control from I think London. (Yeah, they don't look like hoods but they were notoriously unruly before he got there.). Reading too much race into it, presumptions of racism that does not apply. . See the movie.
A piece of trivia: The young woman w/short blonde hair is Lulu & she sang this song. She was also married to Maurice Gibb of the always great BeeGees! 💖
Lulu didn't know Maurice Gibb at the time this movie was made. He didn't even arrive in the UK until February 1967, after this movie was filmed. They started dating late in 1967, broke up, got back together in '68, got married in '69.
Actually, Lulu's short hair was rather a ginger more than blonde. 🙂
She also wrote and Tina Turner sang "I Don't Want to Fight."
Wow, did not know that.
I never got the impression that there was prejudice involved. The story was that they were a tough group to control from I think London. (Yeah, they don't look like hoods but they were notoriously unruly before he got there.). Reading too much race into it, presumptions. See the movie.
Amber nailed it. This film, and "Sir", as the great Sidney Poitier was so aptly named in the film, was a great source of pride and inspiration for young people of color. It cannot be overstated, the impact this man had on Hollywood and the world through the medium of movies. You must watch his movies, To Sir With Love, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Patch of Blue, Lillie's of the Field, and In The Heat of the Night. All amazing, and groundbreaking. He has many other great movies, those will get you started. Whether you react to his movies, or not, you owe it to yourself to check them out. No regrets, you'll love them all. Enjoy. Peace.
Lilies Of The Field is one of my all time favorites. Great movie.
Agreed. Sidney Poitier movies are a must watch element of American Cinema at it's best. Databyter
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is also a must see!
I own it and have watched it many times. Wonderful film!
So true..Sidney Poitier's films are brilliant!
This movie is so heartbreakingly beautiful. Can’t hear this song without welling up a bit. Love it. Thanks. 💐
In the movie, "Sir" had an engineering degree and, even after taking the teaching job, he was applying for positions in his preferred field. That envelope he tore up near the end of the video was a corporate acceptance letter. He decided to remain a teacher.
Exactly
I always thought it was his resignation letter.
"They call me, Mr. Tibbs!" Always loved that scene in "Heat of the night." Both he and Rod Steiger nailed those roles! Worth watching if and when you start your movie reaction vlog.
"To Sir with Love" is a British film set in London in the late 1960s. At the beginning of the movie he only takes the teaching role while he is waiting for a job he really wants. Throughout the school year he changes the students and they change him. It's a little sad that you hadn't heard of him until just now and it makes me think of all the great actors you might have missed. Maybe you should react to some classic films (made before 1980)...you will be surprised at all the gems out there.
Both this movie and this song made me cry uncontrollably as a child!!!!! the world people deserve so much less pain and so much more love
☮️❤️🙏🌎🌏🌍🇺🇸❤️☮️
Well, you should check out him and Gregory Peck to kill a Mockingbird acting on a level seldom seen today!
4:05 nope nope nope…. this was not an American film. This was a British film. The British kids in the class were considered hoodlums and therefore useless to society and teacher gave them back their dignity and then they loved him for it….. to Sir with love☮️❤️🙏
He had the "bad" kids, the rebellious ones, in their final year of school. He started trying to teach to the book but realized it was too late for that so he started teaching them about life and adulthood. How to budget your money and pay your bills. Personal responsibility and respect, both how to give it and how to earn it. How to be an adult at a young age instead of being a child at an adult age. Hence the line, "from crayons (childhood) "to perfume" , (adulthood). His other great early move was Lilies of the Field.
True nowadays young adults do not lead a responsible life. Forever adolescents and in 'college'.
It wasn’t so much as these kids being prejudiced but more about them being troubled kids and being rebellious. He was able to tame them so to speak.
They were considered "throw away kids"
Can't listen to this song without shedding a tear. The film is fantastic. Well worth seeing.
Even more than racism, this was a story of disaffected youth and how he reaches them.
I’m glad that someone else sheds a tear. I’ve been watching the video every day since I heard of his death. The words of the song and the singer is perfect
Same. It get me every time.
This is a true story. I read the book after watching the film, which is brilliant too. The writer was E.R. Braithwaite. Was written in 1959. He came over to UK from British Guiana just before World War II. Served in war as aircrew in the Royal Air Force. He was an Engineer, but work was difficult to find with so many leaving the forces after the war. He went to work as a Teacher in the East End of London - the poorest and probably toughest area of the Capital. It's lovely to know that he really did change these kids lives and how much he was respected.
Always loved the song but never had access to the movie. It may have been the times as someone else alluded to. Slavery was abolished much earlier in England. I remember my grandfather with his new wife, superintendent of schools, as she played the piano, both singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children". I believed it. My father was in the military so we moved several times and life took me to schools with American Indians, Blacks, and Chinese but I always had that faith even when I learned that not all the family approved. Now I must hunt the movie up!
True story. Didn't know that. Thanks for that info. Actually does make it a bit more special, doesn't it?
If you've seen the movie, this song is deeply emotional. By the time they get to this point in the movie, everything has changed for all the characters. This song never fails to make me a little misty. It's such a deep and emotional point in a deep and emotional movie.
I still get tears. No matter how many times (and it's a lot) I get tears when Lulu starts singing.
I remember watching this film when it first came out. It’s still one of my all-time favorite movies and songs. Deeply moving. It was set in a troubled neighborhood in England - a slum. All the kids had challenges. Graduating high school was rare. Sidney Poitier played an overqualified engineer who couldn’t get a job in his field because he was black, so to make ends meet who took a job as a teacher. Their teacher. The entire movie is about how he taught them to believe in themselves - and how he found his own true calling. Masterfully acted and filmed. Lulu was already famous when she accepted the role of one of his students and sang this, one of her most well-known songs.
Most well put, thank you!
Lulu was Maurice Gibbs’ ( of The Bee Gees) first wife.
You described movie quite well
@@yvonnehall6972 Wow i didn't know that!
A good nutshell description. I too saw it when it first came out.😊
This is a beautiful song! You two should pop some popcorn and watch this movie... as teachers and coaches you will appreciate his struggle to help his students. It is a FANTASTIC film!
These two are *really* teachers? Poor students.
You do really need to watch the movie “ to Sir with love“. It was deeper than color, it was about growing up in the times, and finding ways for you to be able to get through school, and go on and be prepared for a better life outside of school. Sidney Poitier who they called sir was a significant aspect in their lives. He prepared them for life, and yes he gained their respect while doing so. A very special movie!!
As a couple of others have mentioned, Poitier's role in To Sir With Love was a twist on the role he'd had a decade earlier in Blackboard Jungle, where he'd played one of the incorrigible students being taught by another teacher (played by Glenn Ford) trying to bring out the best in them. Both movies also tapped into the popular music and culture of their times. Rock Around The Clock was the theme music for Blackboard Jungle, and the students were very much in the mode of the "greaser" types later popularized by James Dean, Elvis, and later by Henry Winkler as Fonzie in Happy Days. To Sir With Love showed high school students caught up in the fashion and music of the Swinging London of the 60s, and one of them was played by Lulu, who was a huge pop/rock star of that time and place.
Lulu was 18-19 when she starred in To Sir With Love and recorded the song. Her signing career launched when she was 14 with a cover of SHOUT! Yeah the Isley brothers song. He is her first adult crush and yeah he had the 'bad kids' in his first year and being young enough he was able to reach and cross the gap a bit. Keep in mind that in UK you finish at 16 NOT 18 for the required creds then you have university or trade school of apprenticeship or you walk into what ever biz is around.
Back then a lot left school at 14
You could leave school at 16, or even 15 then, but to go to university you would have had to stay until you were 18ish and do A’Levels, just like now. Or perhaps you could have enrolled at a technical college ( but there were really more vocationally based or night school to get the requisite qualifications after leaving school, many (most) I suspect did not!
@@annaparry4045 Thank you for the clarification. We Americans can be tone deaf and are easily confused by variances in the system. I'm married to a retired teacher, and oldest is a classroom and basketball coach, so I guess I better dig into the history of how we wound up with system that goes for at years (6-18 = or - minus depending on date of birth), and how not only UK but most of Europe landed on one that tends to put people in either the work/training force or higher education a bit sooner
This song wasn't just the theme song of the movie, it was a very popular song that was played on the radio. So beautiful! Expressing the emotions and gratitude of how he made them better people. Something a lot of teachers do. I imagine the two of you included!
I think that it's one of the most emotive pop songs ever recorded. Lulu is outstanding.
@@frankrusso9200 UTTERLY BEAUTIFUL!
I remember as a young black boy in the 6o's, how my Mother was infatuated with Sidney Poitier. The way he spoke. That he stood tall. His even manner. And his pride in being a black man. These are things I to construct my own image and character as I grew up. His quiet command for respect was not to be mistaken for weakness. He stood up for himself. He stood up for others. He stood for what was right. And he did it with dignity and grace. Some black people didn't think he was radical enough. Or militant enough. But he was both in his own quiet manner. Much like Jackie Robinson before him, he recognized that he was the right man at the right time of history to bring us all forward. But I wanted to impress my Mom. So I followed his cues and learned to navigate my own path as my family traveled to many states during our 2o years in the military. It made her proud to see me get along with any number of people from a variety of backgrounds. But there was someone else I learned from who was even more important. My own Mother. I try to remember that I represent her everyday. And I owe it to her to be the best person I can be. So when I saw that Sidney passed away, yesterday I wanted to take a minute and remember them both. May they rest in peace.
What a wonderfully written comment!
Your mother seems to have been an amazing woman and your own ethos, certainly seems to echo her's, and you sound like an amazing person, too. Yes, we lost a strong but quiet light in the world when Mr Poitier died... but it sounds like it's still there in folk like you.
The boy he hugged had lost his mother, not the boy who was about to assault someone. All his students grew to respect him. He modeled respect and fairness. They learned these from him as well as academic subjects. One of the best movies I ever watched, meaning much to me as a retired teacher.
He wasn't the first black actor, he was the first black actor to win an academy award. His movies, A Raisin in the Sun, and In the Heat of the Night, are two of his best.
He was a school teacher in a school where the students weren't interested in learning or being respectful to others. He found a way to reach them and they not only learned but become such better human being. One of the best movies to watch and learn from.
This movie was set in London. He was an Engineer trying to find a job when he took this teaching assignment. This class was made up of students no one wanted to teach and they were rough on any teacher that stepped in the door. There was a black white issue but primarily this movie was about learning to treat each other with respect and to conduct oneself with dignity.
I remember seeing this movie in the 1960s. It's a movie about rejection. He took a teaching position in England because there were limited opportunities for him in America. It was a job no other teacher wanted because the students were delinquents, and anti-authority. He was able to connect with the students in a way that others couldn't. Great movie. Great life lessons. Reminds us that people shouldn't be discarded, regardless of where they come from.
Limited opportunities in America had nothing to do with this film. In the movie Sir (Sidney Poitier) is from the British Crown Colony of the Bahamas he moved to London for an engineering job, which fell through. Broke he reluctantly took the teaching job until he could get an engineering job. The letter you see him ripping up is from an engineering company offering him a job, however by this point the teaching job has grown on him. This movie was made in the late 1960's while the Bahamas were still a British Crown Colony, the Bahamas gained their independence in 1973.
@@richardcramer1604 Thanks for the clarity. It's been 40 years since I last viewed the movie. I didn't recall him moving from the Bahamas to London. I just assumed from the USA. Now that you mention it, I do remember that he was waiting for an engineering job, and temporarily took the teaching job.
@@richardcramer1604 The film is actually based on an autobiographical book by the same title, by Richard Braithwaite.
I'm an ex-pat black brit now living in Canada, I was born in London, England and went to school in the 60's before moving to Canada in 72'. We refer our male Teachers as "SIR" and female teachers as MISS or MRS. We never talked back to teachers if not the strap, no fighting or cussing teachers out. When we moved to Canada, we saw there were little or no respect to teachers.
He wasn’t from the US , I believe it was British country in Africa
Lulu is the first girl shown in the video, in the purple top. Her real name is Anne Marie Laughlin Lawrie. He first hit was as a girl of fifteen called ‘Shout’. Lulu is still going today in her 70’s
Lulu still seems younger than her years. She was married to Maurice Gibb for several years in the early 1970’s.
Lulu was singing on new years eve on Jools Hollands Hootenanny, i watched most of the show.
She was also married to Maurice Gibb at one point
73 last November and looking 3 decades younger. Still touring.
Lulu knocked it out of the ball park wuth this gorgeously sang tune and when i was young my mom and i loved Sidney Poitiet
Especially as teachers, you should watch (and will love) this movie . . . it's not just a black & white thing - so much more. Lulu is one of the students and sings this to him as part of the classes gift to him - exceptional movie. Thanks for the great reaction, as always, guys!
OMG what a Spectacular Song and the Movie to Sir With Love. This is so popular in my day. The movie is like Freedom Writers. The Students are a rough bunch and the surroundings also. Sir teaches them to be Proper Adults. Like in Freedom Writers She Taught the UnRuliest bunch To Rebuke all the Negative thoughts stated about them and see themselves archiving Greatness first in thier Families. Got to see both and Fall in Love
R.I.P Sir Sidney Poitier
This movie and indeed this song was about kids who grew up without decent roll models and how Sidney's character breaks through the anger and disillusion and points the kids in the right direction to have a decent future.
The fact that he was black is really inconsequential to the message of the movie because these kids rejected any form of authority.
But by showing concern and guidance at the right times he is able to wake up self-pride in them and a yearning to do better in every aspect of their lives.
Parallel to today and we have kids so far off the rails due to indoctrination by weird cult-like philosophies and more and more kids have no moral compass but only the brainwashing of people who are determined to destroy the family structure and create followers that will accept everything the "cult" says as absolute fact.
You said what I wanted to say so beautifully! I can't add anymore to it. I just LOVED Sidney Poitier (and he was a REAL "SIR" as he was knighted by the Queen) and "To Sir With Love" is my very favorite movie of his, I NEVER tire of it and it is shown often on TV.
Very well stated. A thumbs up didn't do your post justice. Maybe after seeing it dozens of times I'm biased though.
'To Sir With Love' is an autobiographical book by ER Braithwaite, a black, Guyanan RAF pilot who took a teaching job in tough post-war, East End London. It was the first 'grown-up' book I bought and enjoyed at 12 years old. (I got it off the 6d {£0.02.5p} shelf at Woolworths, that dates me!) I was a hardened Manchester slum kid, so it resonated with me and helped shape my favourable view of black folks. The film was fairly faithful to the book (though set in the 1960s, not the 40s} but glossed over much of the seedier aspects of slum life as was some of the racism, and was overly sentimental. But of course, Poitier was good in any film he was in. Looks like I've remembered another classic book to revisit.
Thanks for the reaction, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
From "crayons to perfume" pretty big change, brilliant movie, great song.
I'm sat here with a tear in my eye, fyi.
He had so much class. "A patch of blue" and " Guess who's coming to dinner" was another great movie
He made a lot of Great movies, but A Patch of Blue was the only one I saw in a theater and I saw it twice, ON CONSECUTIVE NIGHTS! Probably just me, but I thought it was that good!
I'm sure others have already said this, but I highly recommend that you find, and watch, this movie. It's a very powerful piece of film history. His need to earn their respect had less to do with his race than it did with the fact that they were "difficult" students. The lovely blonde girl (played by Judy Geeson) developed a crush on the teacher. You have no idea how difficult it is for me to not give away too much, and spoil your enjoyment when you finally get to see the movie for yourselves.
Definitely check out the movie.
Yes, he's coming into a school with underperforming students with some prejudices. It was a growing time for both a teacher dealing with the prejudices and students as a guide to maturing young adults and not kids anymore.
Another great movie he was in, "They call me Mr Tibbs."
This was about a group of hard core kids that ran all the other teachers off.He stayed and stood his ground.He taught the boys to be gentlemen to get jobs and made the girls into ladies to be respected. At the end he finally get a great job but the new class of rough kids show up and he gets rid of the job papers and takes on the new class.Brilliant movie.Sidney was a great actor.
The band backing Lulu up in this song were called the Mindbenders. They had a hit in the 60s with Groovy Kind of Love, which became a hit for Phil Collins in the 80s.
This song makes me cry whenever I hear it. The movie was perfect in every way. Watch it if you can....you'll be very moved by it especially since you both are teachers. Thanks for remembering Sidney. I bid a sincere RIP, to "Sir, With Love". Take care and be well, guys. Peace.
One of my favorite songs & it still makes me get chills & tears.
I have always loved this song. Sidney Poitier is a towering figure in movie history. The first black man to win the Oscar for best actor. He starred in many great films. He always had an air of dignity and respectability about him. He will be missed.
He wasnt the first black actor though, there was heaps of them going back to when movies started.
This is a "coming of age" movie. This group of kids had "run over EVERY teacher and were felt to be to "lost" & useless. So, when a black man came in, they REALLY thought they had a target. They didn't realize his character or that he'd just left the military. The singer is the short-haired red head, Lulu, who was married to MAURICE GIBB of Bee Gee's fame for the next 6 years. They met in the recording studio! 😊
Something nobody has mentioned about Lulu is that she is Scottish thru and thru
The movie is worth the watch, and Sidney Poitier was an amazing actor. He was knighted in 1974, so he really did carry the title Sir. RIP Sir Sidney Poitier. 💙
Sir Sidney what a georgous man love him s
He can not be knighted. Only The British can be Knighted, and he was American
@@henrikechers9995 Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 1974. Poitier grew up in the Bahamas, then a British Crown colony. His birth in the United States entitled him to US citizenship, so he was a dual citizen. Both countries proudly claim him as their citizen.
I stand corrected - thank You
@@xzonia1
@@henrikechers9995 my pleasure :)
Sidney Poitier was a man with pure class. He commanded respect and was a person with grace and style. One of his greatest lines in film, "They call me, MISTER Tibbs." demanding the respect he deserved.
There are only two songs that can bring a tear to my eyes from the opening bar, Love Is A Losing Game by Amy Winehouse and this one by Lulu. Already a hugely popular singer in the U.K, this was her first attempt to break into acting and although she was stunning in her part, she`s the bright ginger girl in the purple shirt, I don`t remember seeing her in a movie after this. A couple of years later she went on to become the first Mrs Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees in a short lived marriage .
As for the wonderful Mr Poitier, he was a huge star at the time this came out and would soon start a production company called First Artists with Barbra Streisand and Paul Newman which produced some of the biggest movies of the day including Barbra`s version of A Star Is Born. He was a first in so many ways, truly a giant trail blazer who paved the way for so many . R.I.P Sir.
He was in a movie called "In The Heat Of The Night" this later became a TV series with Carole O'Conner playing the Sheriff. He was the first Black Actor to win an Oscar and went on to make many, many more movies. Real big in the 60s and 70s.
Since your young and have not seen the movie, I can tell you this movie had much more to do with a young single teacher from another place dealing with rambunctious teenagers who were rebelling. The main character of Sidney Poitier just happened to be black. Prejudice was hardly the point of the movie and it's interesting how much of the race issue is more emphasized today than was inferred back then for this movie. Its truly a great movie that teaches the values that never change on how to treat one another regardless. The very word respect simply means to listen.
One of my favorites
Another master piece by Sidney. "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner". Another must watch. He had a marvellous way of showing not that our differences don't matter... but rather that we have no differences. We are all children of God.
And Lilies of the Field, The Defiant Ones, In the Heat of the Night and A Patch of Blue to name a few.
Saw this movie in a Saturday afternoon matinee in 1967 as a teenager. Sidney Poitier who studied to be an engineer takes a teaching job to support himself in lower class London to kids from troubled backgrounds. The students fight him at every turn, but he finally finds a way to communicate with them and impresses them to respect themselves and others. It's a wonderful movie. Poitier was class.
oh yes
RIP Sydney Portier . What an amazing actor and an amazing human being, he acheived so much for so many. Will go back and watch this film again now. Great song and a great reaction. Your discussion was so good.
The line in the song is, "and how do you thank someone who has taken you from CRAYONS to perfume" (Not "crowns"). If you read it in this context, it makes a helluva lot more sense....
"From crayons to perfume" just means from childhood to young adulthood. How do you ever thank someone (a teacher) who changes your life so profoundly? You gotta see the film, it's so good!!!
This movie was excellent & I highly recomend it. Sidney Poitier was wonderful in it & it was sad about his passing. LuLu can really sing & this song really launced her career & she still is singing today. On a side note Maurice Gibb was married to LuLu for 4-5 years, I thought you guys would find this interesting being how much you love the Bee Gees. Great song choice & reaction. If you want to hear another great one from LuLu- The Man With The Golden Gun, from a James Bond movie.
This is one of the most touching songs ever written and I am so glad you are reacting to this. I requested this months ago. Now you will be amazed and in tears!!
You have to watch the film. Beautifully acted beautifully done. Not everyone knows by Lulu was Maurice Gibbs wife at this time. Yeah from the Bee Gees
Love Lulu, love the song, love the movie! ❤️ …and love Mr Sidney Poitier without question.
This was a wonderful movie. I remember hearing this song in my youth and then the movie coming out. Sidney Poitier was loved and much respected by all people of all races.
such an amazing movie. Basically this song is about respect and love for a teacher that changed their lives
Along with Miss Petula Clark, one of England's greatest voices ever.
Oh thanks for remembering Petula. Outstanding voice and still around. A child star in the 1940s, incredible. ❤
One of my favorite movies. The song is perfect. Lulu, the singer, is also one of the students. You should definitely watch the movie if you haven’t already.