Spare the Rod (1961) User Reviews

Max In The Movies.

[screenman · 6/10 · 3 August 2008]

It may just be that Max Bygraves wasn't particularly interested in acting, because he was otherwise an extremely successful all-round performer. He could sing, dance and tell jokes as well as funny stories. His friendly, cheerful and inoffensive personality won him his own show and innumerable guest appearances in top-bill variety such as the London Palladium. For a few years during the 1960's and 70's he was something of a staple in television light entertainment. Then he seemed th fade very quickly.

'Spare The Rod' was one of his few starring roles in a feature film. In it he played the part of a young teacher with what was then called a 'progressive' outlook on teaching. As the title implied, he didn't approve of corporal punishment. We see him in his first post at what was also then called a 'secondary modern' school, meaning a school for kids who had failed their 11+ exam and were effectively written-off any academic aspiration. They were destined to be the also-rans of society. Mostly they would find jobs as apprentices, labourers and 'assistants'.

He is surrounded by teachers who have long experience of 'traditional' teaching methods. For them, caning is an integral part of education. It's necessary for discipline. And it didn't do them any harm. They scorn his liberal attitudes. The kids themselves are used to rough treatment. They've come up through the rough-and-tumble of working-class experience. Which, in those days, was tough. Parental beatings were likely to be far more severe than anything handed down by 'sir'. They slept several to a bed in unheated homes. Often they had lice, fleas, diseases and malnutrition.

His liberal attitude causes confusion amongst the kids. They don't know if it's a strength or a weakness. Eventually his convictions are tested, and in a moment of crisis he strikes one of them. As the confusion deepens it is decided to get rid of him and the kids respond with a riot.

It's actually quite a good movie. Bygraves is perfectly cast in the role. He dresses and genuinely 'looks' like a teacher. And he brings a honest credibility to the part. As a comparison with the similar 'To Sir, With Love', he is much more believable as an ordinary guy trying to break the teaching mould for good reason. Although lacking Sidney Poitier's evident charisma, he is much more plausible in the role.

I can't find it listed on VHS or DVD anywhere, but if you get the chance it's well worth a whizz if only as a reminder of what teaching was like before the swinging 60's kicked-in. Bygraves was a much more capable actor than he was allowed, or perhaps believed himself, to be.

IYou Need Hands

[malcolmgsw · 6/10 · 1 December 2013]

This is actually a fairly decent film ,made at a time when films about schools were very popular,eg St Trinians,Carry On Teacher,Bottoms Up.Maybe because there were so many of us at school at that time.I was at a grammar school but I recognised some of my old teachers in the characters shown here.On the one hand the disciplinarian and on the other the friendly teacher who made lessons interesting.There were many schools just like that shown in the film.Kids could leave at age 14 so some of them were just waiting till they could get their freedom.Bygraves,Keen and Pleasance all give first rate performances in an underrated film which is now available on video.

Educational

[malcp · 8/10 · 7 April 2020]

I enjoyed Blackboard Jungle and To Sir, with Love, but hadn't got around to seeing this counterpart until recently. I remember Max Bygraves mentioning it years ago on TV which always intrigued me. Bygraves is actually quite suited to his role, any shortcomings in his performance largely compensated for by the nature of the role he is playing. Donald Pleasence is marvellous as always and I'm sure Geoffrey Keen enjoyed every moment as the preening Mr Gregory. The book it is based upon did stir up the debate on the use of corporal punishment in schools when it came out, and although the cane is never likely to reappear, recent creative developments in school discipline suggest that another film along these lines may soon be needed to temper the fine balance between rectification and reprisal.

Tough, No-Nonsense Thriller

[l_rawjalaurence · 14 February 2018]

Max Bygraves did not enter movies that often. In CHARLIE MOON (1956) he had a role as a young lover with a hit song. SPARE THE ROD was very different. Directed by Leslie Norman, who was a grid workmanlike director, Bygraves plays an orphan boy made good as he takes up the role of a supply teacher at one of London's toughest schools. The temptation might have been to sentimentalise the material, but to his credit Norman suggests that friendships are few and far between in this discipline-dominated institution, presided over by a head teacher (Donald Pleasance) with a fondness fir a big stick and tyrannical rule. His sidekick (Geoffrey Keen) is a teacher of the old school, where the cane does most of the talking. Bygraves enters a knife-edge atmosphere, where learner rebellion is perpetually imminent, and semi-succeeds at his job by listening to the learners and taking their ambitions in mind. Needless to say, he doesn't succeed where others have failed, his over-zealous temper getting the better of him in the end when he attempts to defend a learner against an unwarranted beating from a teacher. At the end it is left undecided whether he will stay or not, but he remains popular by combining strictness with understanding. The film Has its share of educational cinematic cliches, but remains refreshingly

Not as bad as I imagined.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 7/10 · 9 September 2019]

"Spare the Rod" may not qualify as a masterpiece but it's still worth seeing all the same. The story about an inexperienced school teacher who has the task of teaching a difficult class, usually makes for fairly engaging drama. I believe the above film achieves this, thanks to a good script and a solid performance from Max Bygraves. I've no idea why he didn't appear in more movies like "Spare the Rod," he would have been good. Even though Donald Pleasence is billed second in the cast, he hasn't much to do and his character isn't part of the storyline. Geoffrey Keen does quite well as a rather brutal teacher colleague who relishes the chance to use his cane. After a while, he manages to partly redeem himself. The classroom scenes are the best in my opinion, as the dramatic tension between teacher and rebellious pupils is at its best. You won't see much location photography around London, which is good as the narrative can remain focused upon the films main setting - that being of the school. One scene which must have raised an eyebrow or two, is the one where that blonde schoolgirl makes a pathetic attempt to seduce her own teacher. I'm surprised the B.B.F.C didn't demand the scene be removed. Obtaining this film on DVD is next to impossible but if you can watch it on TV, don't miss it.

School drama with a gritty edge

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 8 June 2017]

SPARE THE ROD is an interesting little school drama with a much grittier edge than expected. There's no sugar coating here, just a proper look at the issue of school discipline and one which shows both sides of the approach without preaching. Light entertainer Max Bygraves is an odd choice for the central role and while he's not a great actor he does well with his approach here and comes across as likable. The more seasoned likes of Donald Pleasence and Geoffrey Keen are excellent as the other teachers at the school and the film is one of those that gradually creeps up on you with a slow-burning character approach. Things build to a suitably fraught climax which is well worth the wait.

Morality tale on maintaining semblance of order

[shakercoola · 6/10 · 19 April 2019]

A British drama; A story about an inexperienced teacher determined to win the respect and confidence of his pupils, is advised by experienced colleagues to apply discipline and punishment to maintain control. This social drama set in the East End of London in the late 1950s draws on source material from the 1954 novel by Michael Clark. It is a portrayal of second tier education at a time when UK establishments were largely starved of attention and resources from education authorities. Its story subject aims to give a lesson to educators about the effect of the excesses of corporal punishment. Max Bygraves brings sincerity and attractiveness though he sometimes lacks potency as a lead character in his scenes with Geoffrey Keen's menacing schoolmaster and Donald Pleasance's headmaster of lost ideals. As an aside, Max Bygraves personally funded the making of the film after being inspired by the novel and by his own upbringing in the East End of London.

I'm going to tell you a story

[alan-pratt · 6/10 · 29 May 2016]

Max Bygraves was hugely popular in the UK as a singer and comedian - and subsequently as a game show host - but, it has to be said, his greatest attribute was his affability.

A number of his singles made the UK charts and his "singalong" albums appealed (particularly) to older listeners not, I think, simply because he was a passably good vocalist, but because his persona was so likable and non-threatening.

In Spare the Rod, he is cast as a supply teacher working in a tough secondary modern school in the East End of London, hoping to succeed by winning over the pupils rather than punishing them. Along the way, he shows the bad boys that he can mix it with the best whilst refusing to be seduced by the bad girls.

Donald Pleasance is excellent as the headmaster who has no illusions whatsoever about the youngsters in his charge or the system that he is required to follow and Geoffrey Keen, as the sadistic woodwork teacher, reminds us all of some of the bad, bad times in what used to be described as the best years of our lives! Amongst the kids, look out, especially, for Richard O'Sullivan and Jeremy Bulloch, both of whom excel.

As for Max, well, sadly he wasn't really much of an actor but, surrounded by professionals as he is, he doesn't do too badly.

And it is kind of hard to dislike or say bad things about someone who is just so affable.

British schoolhouse drama...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 28 January 2023]

... with Max Bygraves as a new teacher at a tough secondary school populated with the worst of the worst students. He's determined to make a difference, despite the cynicism of principal Donald Pleasence and veteran teacher Geoffrey Keen. Also with Betty McDowell, Peter Reynolds, Richard O'Sullivan, Claire Marshall, and Jeremy Bulloch.

Singer and comedian Bygraves was a major star at the time, and wanted to try his hand at dramatic acting, so he co-produced this adaptation of a controversial novel. It was meant to shine a light on the deplorable conditions of this sort of school in the UK, one in which the students were virtually given up on, and the faculty just waited for them to quit or age out of the system. It will seem like a lot of oldhat stuff to most modern viewers, as the tough school drama has become a bit of a cliche, but it was rather new material in the UK at the time. The students actually look like kids, with O'Sullivan and Marshall the stand-outs among them.

Very realistic portrayal of what "secondary mods" in very poor areas were really like

[charlesrothwell · 8/10 · 1 January 2018]

I must say I find the "6" rating awarded by all the previous reviewers of this film a bit on the harsh side and have awarded a ranking two levels higher myself. OK, so Max Bygraves was not a professional actor and his cinema 'career' is really not that much to speak about, but I still think he did a very good job in this picture. The support from consummate professionals like Pleasance and Keene also helped, of course, but he obviously established a genuine rapport with the actors playing the school pupils and he conveys the various emotions demanded by the role well, I thought. The main pleasure I experienced from watching the film, however, was in being reminded of just how absolutely appalling and brutalising so-called "secondary mods" in poor areas were, with jaded and often burnt-out teachers often resorting to brutal physical force/punishment in an attempt to maintain some sort of order and discipline. The film shows many insights, both retrospectively (e.g. how many (non-commissioned) ex-service men were herded into teaching after the second world war) and (unknowlingly) in terms of the future as well (e.g. the lad who tells Bygraves he "does not need to learn to read" as he intends to follow his dad in "working on the docks for £28.00 a week" (considerably more than a teacher like Bygraves portrays would have received at the time!) One wonders what became of the lad twenty years later when the London Docks had all gone and the entire surrounding area (as I can personally recall) had become totally derelict (until reclaimed by property developers who have now made the whole area totally beyond the dreams of the grandchildren of most of the kind of kids portrayed in the film.) A fascinating insight into a world long gone - and, one has to say, hopefully for good in some ways! The next time someone starts bleeting on about how "great" grammar schools were, the question to ask is, "And will YOU be sending your kids to a secondary mod like 'Worrell St' if the tests show they are a "sheep and not a goat" as well?

Teachers getting taught is a part of the carriculum.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 29 March 2020]

Navy vet Max Bygraves goes into the teaching field and finds himself given the worst class in his school, a junior high age group of troublemakers (some who look older than 18) and finds out a little something about them. This helps him understand them a little better, particularly one ruffian (Richard O'Sullivan) who has a ton of emotional troubles. The rod is actually present in this British film, no different than the dozens of others made between *The Blackboard Jungle" and "To Sir With Love", and the outcome is exactly the same.

That's future horror icon Donald Pleasance as the head of the school who has obvious health issues and Geoffrey Keen as a rather brutal teacher who uses the rod more than some teachers use a red pen. Claire Marshall is the class sexpot who is a good five years too old to be a part of the class described as being 14-15. Fairly decent characterizations and sleek pacing makes this move along which keeps it from becoming dull and predictable. Yet, it's more like a time passers that is dated in some ways and timeless in some. Nothing new in the fight in removing another brick from the wall as Pink Floyd would later sing about.

YES! SECONDARY MODERN SCHOOLS WERE REALLY LIKE THIS

[andyrobert · 10/10 · 2 June 2020]

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.

Movie

[tomcatrs · 8/10 · 5 November 2019]

Spare the rod is brilliant movie superb acting and atmospheric, so many programs have copied this, max bygraves suprised me with he's acting it was very good

A "school desk drama".

[plan99 · 8/10 · 16 June 2020]

Gritty 1950s/1960s film are often described as "kitchen sink dramas" but here we have a "school desk drama" every bit as depressing as a kitchen sink one. It was difficult who to feel the most sorry for, the teachers or the pupils, but it's probably the pupils as they had more miserable years ahead of them than the much older teachers. Two years after this film Richard O'Sullivan appeared the Burton and Taylor extravaganza "Cleopatra" playing Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, could there be a bigger contrast in lifestyle between these two characters played by O'Sullivan?