I watched this film for a second time on Talking Pictures this morning. I was only going to watch the first half, but it was such compelling film that I found myself watching it all the way through.
A lot of British films up to 1960 tended to show the more attractive side of life in England during the 1950s. This film really lifted the lid off the reality of life in that era. It not only showed what pupils had to put up with at school, but it showed the seamier side of their home life, as well being bullied in the playground and in the classroom by the teachers.
I went to a Secondary School in Scotland during early 1960s and what the film suggested about children not wanting to learn and just going to school to play about was absolutely true. Secondary Schools were just a "dumping ground" for children who would never amount to anything - most of us were not even given a chance to take 'O' Levels.
Max Bygraves suited the role quite well, even though I kept half expecting him to start singing, using some of the school children's remarks as a cue for a song. As a matter of fact, I noticed the "in joke" at the beginning of the film where the pupils asked him to tell them a story. "I'm going to tell you a story" was Max Bygraves's catchphrase and was one of the first lines of the "pink toothbrush/blue toothbrush" song that he made popular round about the same time that the film was made.
Incidentally, a teacher would not have used the playground toilets. Even as far back as 1960, they would have used the one near the teacher's staff room. Geoffrey Keen's character could have avoided getting locked in the lavatory all night.
If he had been in there all night, he would probably have to have been quarantined afterwards. School toilets in those days were worse than public toilets in a Third World country.
A lot of British films up to 1960 tended to show the more attractive side of life in England during the 1950s. This film really lifted the lid off the reality of life in that era. It not only showed what pupils had to put up with at school, but it showed the seamier side of their home life, as well being bullied in the playground and in the classroom by the teachers.
I went to a Secondary School in Scotland during early 1960s and what the film suggested about children not wanting to learn and just going to school to play about was absolutely true. Secondary Schools were just a "dumping ground" for children who would never amount to anything - most of us were not even given a chance to take 'O' Levels.
Max Bygraves suited the role quite well, even though I kept half expecting him to start singing, using some of the school children's remarks as a cue for a song. As a matter of fact, I noticed the "in joke" at the beginning of the film where the pupils asked him to tell them a story. "I'm going to tell you a story" was Max Bygraves's catchphrase and was one of the first lines of the "pink toothbrush/blue toothbrush" song that he made popular round about the same time that the film was made.
Incidentally, a teacher would not have used the playground toilets. Even as far back as 1960, they would have used the one near the teacher's staff room. Geoffrey Keen's character could have avoided getting locked in the lavatory all night.
If he had been in there all night, he would probably have to have been quarantined afterwards. School toilets in those days were worse than public toilets in a Third World country.