Up the Down Staircase (1967)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Robert Mulligan

Writers:

Bel Kaufman (novel)
Tad Mosel (screenplay)

Release Date:

19 July 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Simple words that start a war: "Good morning. My name is Miss Barrett. I am your Home Room teacher..."

Plot:

The experiences of a young female English teacher in an inner-city New York high school.

Plot Keywords:

Teacher | New York | Student | News | Book

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Sandy Dennis	...	Sylvia Barrett
Patrick Bedford	...	Paul Barringer
Eileen Heckart	...	Henrietta Pastorfield
Ruth White	...	Beatrice Schacter
Jean Stapleton	...	Sadie Finch
Sorrell Booke	...	Dr. Bestor
Roy Poole	...	James J. Mc Habe
Florence Stanley	...	Ella Friedenberg
Vinnette Carroll	...	The Mother
Janice Mars	...	Miss Gordon
Loretta Leversee	...	Social Studies Teacher
John Callahan
Denis Fay
Otto Lomax
Martha Greenhouse	...	Albert Kagan
María Landa	...	Carole Blanca
Robert Levine	...	Mr. Osborne
Elena Karam	...	Nurse Frances Eagen
Frances Sternhagen	...	Charlotte Wolf (as Francis Sternhagen)
Candace Culkin	...	Linda Rosen
Lew Wallach	...	Lou Martin
John Gerstad
Dan Morgan
Joey Sacks
Salvatore Rasa	...	Harry A. Kagan
Jeff Howard	...	Joe Ferone
Ellen O'Mara	...	Alice Blake
Jose Rodriguez	...	Jose Rodriguez
John Fantauzzi	...	Eddie Williams
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Merle Exit	...	Merle
Lance Herle	...	Bob Whiteside
Daniel Nugent	...	Tough student in slyvia barretts class
Esmeralda Santiago	...	Esmeralda
Bud Cort	...	Student (uncredited)
Linda Gillen	...	Student (uncredited)
Bel Kaufman	...	Teacher talking to Mr. McHabe (uncredited)
Jeffrey Walker	...	Student who shoves Sandy Dennis (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Mulligan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bel Kaufman		novel
Tad Mosel		screenplay

Produced by
Alan J. Pakula	....	producer

Original Music by
Fred Karlin

Cinematography by
Joseph F. Coffey

Film Editing by
Folmar Blangsted

Art Direction by
George Jenkins

Costume Design by
Ann Roth

Production Management
George Justin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tom Christie	....	second assistant director
Robert J. Koster	....	second assistant director
Don Kranze	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Dennis Maitland	....	sound
Dan Wallin	....	sound re-recording mixer

Music Department
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Tony Major	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Park Place Production

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Warner Home Video (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

USA:124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

El Barrio, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Park Place Production

Trivia:

Bel Kaufman, in the Preface to the 25th anniversary edition of the book, writes: "The movie was filmed in New York City, in and around Haaren High School, which had been emptied for the summer."

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the opening montage establishing the first day of school in September in a New York high school, several shots were obviously filmed in dead of winter with extras in heavy coats, gray skies, etc. contrasting wildly with scenes of sunny skies and lightweight costumes of main characters.

Quotes:

Paul Barringer: They say a writer should stick to what he knows. What nonsense. What did Dickens know about French Revolutions? What did Shakespeare know about Moors in Venice? If he stuck to what he knew, we'd have no Othello, we'd have no Alice in Wonderland, we'd have no Treasure Island...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Replacements: Hollywoodn't (#3.11)" (2008)

To Miss with Love

Similar to "To Sir With Love", but well worth watching, a veritable symphony of characters. Each character is rather pathetic, but all of them together make something beautiful. What I particularly liked was its not wanting to prove anything, just telling a story about real people. And Sandy Dennis is her usual humane self. This intimate film has more glamor than flashier ones. It's the glamor of grittiness and real life.