Blackboard Jungle is a 1955 social drama directed by Richard Brooks and based on a novel by Evan Hunter. The film follows Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford), an ex-war veteran who comes to North Manual High School, a troubled inner city school, as a new teacher. When Dadier arrives, despite the assurances of Principal Warnecke (John Hoyt), he finds demoralized students who lack discipline and frequently challenge authority. Dadier believes the students are led by Gregory Miller (Sidney Poitier), a black student who he believes is challenging him because he is white. Meanwhile, Artie West (Vic Morrow), a duplicitious white student, takes advantage of Dadier's preconceived notions to wreak havoc on the class. With a nervous and insecure pregnant wife Ann (Anne Francis) pushing him to find a new job in a "real" school, Dadier must overcome his own prejudice and regain his idealism before his classroom is torn apart by feuding students.moreless