Up the Down Staircase

It is at once warm and chilling, tough and sentimental, greatly moving, notably honest, improvisationally fresh, wryly and ribaldly funny, disturbing yet infused with a quantity of optimism no larger than the human heart.

We 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. And we need more actresses like Sandy Dennis.

In the final examination it is like the student who gets an average grade when he's capable of a 95 -- the underachiever.

With only one major star (Sandy Dennis) and virtually a single setting, this pic is nevertheless thoroughly cinematic and completely engrossing. This is mainly because it is well acted, carefully scripted and directed and finely photographed.

Staircase is improbable because it is basically untruthful, but, paradoxically, it leaves a final impression of almost-honesty.

There are touching but too heavily pointed vignettes, peculiarly affectless readings from some of the young actors, and a coy score.

Up the Down Staircase is one of those rare films in which all the important talents mesh to form a wonderfully coherent, humane and sensitive vision of an aspect of our reality.

As the fledgling teacher, Sandy Dennis is big-sisterish and convincingly pitying in the part of Miss Barrett. She is the epitome of that contemporary yet ancient phenomenon: the dedicated mentor with the maternal instinct.

"Teach's" trials do get a bit laborious -- and the theater seat gets a little hard -- before the 124 minutes are spent.

Up the Down Staircase... has a whole slew of these youthful actors, and they give the film a charm and authenticity that makes it thoroughly enjoyable.