Blackboard Jungle has been tainted somewhat by the countless imitators that followed it. It's difficult to see this movie in context as the shocking "exposé" that it felt like in 1955. Compared to the latest "remakes," like Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds, the shocking urban delinquents in Jungle seem more Happy Days than street gang. But in its time, Blackboard Jungle, along with Rebel Without a Cause (also 1955) and The Wild One (1954), showed the mainstream public a scary and unfamiliar fringe of the youth movement. Even without the historical context, this is still a fine drama with excellent performances. Vic Morrow (as Artie West -- a tough guy named Artie?) and the impressive Sidney Poitier are both remembered for their quality performances as two of the students, but it is Glenn Ford who holds the movie together. Ford, who was at about the height of his popularity when this picture came out, draws on his past roles in Westerns and noir thrillers to remain resolute while letting just enough of the menace get to him to be human. Writer/director Richard Brooks made a number of excellent films between the mid-'50s and the mid-'70s, but surprisingly he was never awarded an Academy Award for his directing. He did win an Oscar for his scripting of Elmer Gantry.