The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Great Film overall

Absolutely Fantastic

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This treasure nearly derailed at its finale. The confrontation of Miss Brodie with her former pupil, Sandy, equals the thrill of the sword fight between Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the original "Robin Hood"--up to a point (no pun). Had Robin somehow clocked the sheriff on the head with a frying pan at the end, it would have rivaled the break in continuity that Jean made when she rushed out to yell, "Assassin! Assassin!" to the departing Sandy. It didn't fit Jean's character. Add in the echo chamber effect, and the scene really annoys.That said, the acting and writing more than compensate for that one stumble. Maggie Smith mesmerizes not only the heads on the young shoulders in her classroom but those on all shoulders in the audience. The dialog crackles with wit and poignancy, such that you don't want to miss a word. It rates a 10. This may be some of the best time in front of the TV that you'll spend, as long as your appreciate the creme d' la creme of cinematic drama.

In 1932 Edinburgh, exacting "Marcia Blaine School for Girls" teacher Maggie Smith (as Jean Brodie) arrives for work. Stylishly outfitted and attractively approaching spinster-hood, Miss Brodie enjoys sharing personal love stories with her students. Brodie does not adhere to the school's curriculum. She teaches an admiration of Benito Mussolini, the Fascist dictator. Brodie is available for sexual affairs with fellow teachers. She loves art teachers, like Robert Stephens (as Teddy Lloyd). She loves music teachers, like Gordon Jackson (as Gordon Lowther). Understandably, this irks headmistress Celia Johnson (as Emmaline Mackay)...Brodie selects a group of girls for special attention, taking them to lunch and the opera. She also encourages a sexual relationship between an ex-lover and one of - as she calls them - "My girls." In this film, the four singled out as Brodie favorites are: spectacled Pamela Franklin (as Sandy), stuttering Jane Carr (as Mary McGregor), pretty Diane Grayson (as Jenny) and histrionic Shirley Steedman (as Monica). While Brodie is polite, cultured and engaging, she is a truly wretched teacher...This film received some unfair criticism for its depiction of the lead character. Although the "Jean Brodie" character is toned-down from the original novel by Muriel Spark, her behavior is not celebrated. The admiration for Fascism was not uncommon in the 1930s. That this political system led to monstrous evil was unknown to Brodie; furthermore, it seduced entire nations of people. Within the four walls of a classroom, teachers are dictators. This fits Brodie's character perfectly. Her nature is part of the drama...And we are captivated...The story of "Jean Brodie" is a warning. Most important to the its success is a bewitching lead performance - and Maggie Smith delivers marvelously. She won a much-deserved "Academy Award" as "Best Actress" for her impersonation. Also extraordinary is the supporting role played by Ms. Franklin. That Franklin was not even recognized with an "Oscar" nomination is one of the organization's many glaring errors. While not looking quite 12-years old, Franklin received her well-earned "Supporting Actress" honor from the "National Board of Review". Although Smith is the driving force behind the film's success, all other personnel are excellent.********* The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (2/24/69) Robert Neame ~ Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Celia Johnson

The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie hit an entertainment trifecta so to speak. A successful novel by Mary Spark, a successful Broadway play with a 379 performance run in 1967-69 and finally an Academy Award winning film, you can't do better than that. Not to mention the Tony Award it won on Broadway for Zoe Caldwell. The starring title role is a choice one, it garnered both a Tony and an Oscar for the two different actresses who played it.On screen once you see Maggie Smith play the headstrong teacher Jean Brodie from a girl's school in Scotland in the Thirties you will not forget her. If you've seen the Alfred Hitchcock classic Rope you have some idea what Jean Brodie is all about. In Rope James Stewart plays an iconoclastic teacher who talks about superior beings and later on he sees what kind of influence he's had on impressionable youth at the fancy prep school he teaches at when Farley Granger and John Dall do a thrill killing because they've convinced themselves they're somehow superior.Stewart's students do damage to others, Maggie Smith's charges do damage to themselves. Smith's students drink a little too deeply from her advice about being adventurous women and exploring the world. She's also an admirer of 'superior people' who become leaders and her example is Benito Mussolini in Italy who was legendary for making the trains run on time in his country. She also encourages her students to explore their sexuality, initiate themselves with an affair with an older man, all in the name of becoming worldly and modern females. That does not sit well with principal Celia Johnson who vows to get rid of Smith. In the end Johnson has ample ammunition to do the job. Young Jane Carr as the naive girl who takes Smith all too seriously goes off to Spain to fight in the Civil War there. Carr's brother is already there, but Carr listening to her teacher extol the virtues of that superior leader Franco goes and enlists on his side. She gets herself killed in Spain.But not before Pamela Franklin decides to lose her virginity to art teacher Robert Stephens who Smith was involved with. She also becomes a sadder and wiser girl way too young. But she delivers some really biting lines at both Smith and Stephens, exposing the pretensions both have.One thing that American audiences might not get is a small bit where Smith covers the portrait of Great Britain's Prime Minister at the time, Stanley Baldwin. Baldwin was the Tory Prime Minister in his third ministry at this point and he was first elected with the exciting slogan of Safety First. That could mean many things, but what it was taken by the British public to mean at the time was a calm and quiet leadership, a British version of Calvin Coolidge. Hardly the kind of guy that Jean Brodie would admire like Mussolini or Franco.Jimmy Stewart finds out and realizes just how his philosophy has effected his pupils, but for Miss Jean Brodie she remains absolutely clueless to the end. Nevertheless Maggie Smith's bravura performance of this clueless teacher won her a deserved Oscar.The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie also got an Oscar nomination for Rod McKuen's song Jean in the Best Song category. But the Academy voters gave the award to Burt Bacharach and Hal David for Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head. They were clearly the best songs in 1969's field.Though Maggie Smith got the Oscar a lot of the other performances were also unforgettable. Celia Johnson, Pamela Franklin, Robert Stephens and Gordon Jackson who played another teacher that Smith was involved with are memorable, you will not forget Jane Carr as the touching and naive young girl who dies in Spain trying to impress her idiotic teacher. She should have been nominated herself in the Best Supporting Actress category.Jean, Jean, you will not forget clueless Jean Brodie once you've seen the film.

What a great film! I love Maggie Smith, so I wanted to see The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. And I wasn't disappointed. The cinematography and production values are top notch and the script is great. The story is also very charming, the opinions are politically incorrect in a sense but done with such charm and innocence, while the direction is done with consummate ease. The acting is marvellous across the board- Maggie Smith is superb and thoroughly deserved her Oscar, but I also feel Celia Johnson was overlooked, for she was every bit as good as the disapproving headmistress. Robert Stephens, Gordon Jackson and Pamela Franklin are also very impressive. Overall, it is a truly great film, and certainly one of Smith's best. 10/10 Bethany Cox