Up the Down Staircase
Up the Down Staircase

Watch Up the Down Staircase Online Free

- 73/100 based on 2,378 votes

Sylvia Barrett is a rookie teacher at New York's inner-city Calvin Coolidge High: her lit classes are overcrowded, a window is broken, there's no chalk, books arrive late. The administration is concerned mainly with forms and rules (there's an up and a down staircase); bells ring at the wrong time. Nevertheless, she tries. How she handles the chaos and her despair in her first semester makes up the film: a promising student drops out, another sleeps through class, a girl with... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Up the Down Staircase:

Sandy Dennis
Patrick Bedford
Eileen Heckart
Ruth White
Jean Stapleton
Sorrell Booke

Full Plot Details

Sylvia Barrett is a rookie teacher at New York's inner-city Calvin Coolidge High: her lit classes are overcrowded, a window is broken, there's no chalk, books arrive late. The administration is concerned mainly with forms and rules (there's an up and a down staircase); bells ring at the wrong time. Nevertheless, she tries. How she handles the chaos and her despair in her first semester makes up the film: a promising student drops out, another sleeps through class, a girl with a crush on a male teacher gets suicidal, and a bright but troublesome student misunderstands Sylvia's reaching out. A discussion of Dickens, parents' night, and a mock trial highlight the term. Can she make it?

Review & Comments

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Movie Reviews

Chicago Sun-Times - 10/10 by Roger EbertWe need more American films like Up the Down Staircase. We need more films that might be concerned, even remotely, with real experiences that might once have happened to real people.
EmanuelLevy.Com - 9/10 by Emanuel LevyOne of Hollywood's earnest efforts about highschool education, sort of a female version of Blackboard Jungle and To Sir With Love, with Sandy Dennis in the lead.
Classic Film and Television - 7/10 by Michael E. GrostHumorless version of Kaufman's novel doesn't show Mulligan's personal touch.
User Review - 10/10 by Noah RA film that presents present day challenges that were also hot-button in the late 1960's. Sandy Dennis presents her role with an understated, passive grace that benefits her strongly in the role, and the hidden enthusiasm of the other students is a mark to society that children really do care about their education.A wonderful film with many gems of wisdom that will make you think. I give this film 5 out of 5 stars.
User Review - 8/10 by Sheryl ZThis is a fantastic movie. Supposedly a lot of people who saw it were disappointed that it deviated from the book, but luckily I hadn't read the book. It might seem cliche amongst all the teacher in inner city school movies that have followed it, but bear in mind that this one probably preceded the ones you've watched. Also, it was cool to see the guy who eventually ended up playing Boss Hogg in the Dukes of Hazards in a serious role. He actually can act.
User Review - 8/10 by Jeffrey SWell made, well acted drama of a young teacher's struggle to adapt to a tough inner city school. Some of the sheen has worn off the topicality of the issue since there have been many versions of it but this is a fine rendering of the tale. Sandy Dennis is perfectly cast in the lead.
User Review - 8/10 by deep dThis is a fantastic movie. Supposedly a lot of people who saw it were disappointed that it deviated from the book, but luckily I hadn't read the book. It might seem cliche amongst all the teacher in inner city school movies that have followed it, but bear in mind that this one probably preceded the ones you've watched. Also, it was cool to see the guy who eventually ended up playing Boss Hogg in the Dukes of Hazards in a serious role. He actually can act.
User Review - 8/10 by Kevin SThe first mistake this pretty young teacher made was to get off the bus. The second was to walk into Calvin Coolidge High School for the first time. The third was to fall in love with it. Rookie English teacher, Sylvia Barret tries to make a difference in an inner-city school whose administrators are more concerned with rules and regulations than with supplying books to the students. (There is actually an "Up" staircase and a "Down" staircase...one of the rules). If you liked "To Sir With Love", I think you will like this one, too!
User Review - 8/10 by Michael GI actually thought the movie was good. It shows a good perspective of what a new teacher can face in an inner city school, or anywhere that is. If you liked this movie, may I also suggest To Sir With Love.
User Review - 8/10 by Scott RWell made, well acted drama of a young teacher's struggle to adapt to a tough inner city school. Some of the sheen has worn off the topicality of the issue since there have been many versions of it but this is a fine rendering of the tale. Sandy Dennis is perfectly cast in the lead.

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