Published: March 1, 1995

Tinseltown Teachers: A Guide To Teachers In Film

Here's the pitch: Idealistic teacher, fresh out of college, gets first teaching job, preferably at hellish inner-city school. Encounters "difficult'' students and cynical colleagues. Tries teaching methods learned in school, to no avail. On verge of giving up when breakthrough occurs with students. Discovers he or she is a "natural'' teacher after all. Decides to sign up for another year.

Or how about this scenario: Idealistic, gifted teacher runs afoul of the administration by teaching students more than just facts and figures. This leads to tragic incident, for which teacher gets blamed. Principal (or headmaster) fires teacher, restoring school to "proper'' order.

Sound familiar? They're Hollywood's favorite plots about teachers, and they form the basis (with some variations, of course) of some of the best-known movies about the profession: Blackboard Jungle; To Sir, With Love; Up the Down Staircase; The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; Conrack; Children of a Less-er God; Stand and Deliver; and Dead Poets Society. Sometimes the formula works,...