Why Shoot the Teacher?

1977 ""Everything is funny, as long as it's happening to someone else!""
7| 1h40m| en
Details

It's the winter of 1935 and Max Brown is newly arrived in Willowgreen, Saskatchewan - a rural Canadian prairie town - on his first teaching job in a one room schoolhouse. He quickly realizes that this is not a dream situation: the winter is harsher than he's ever experienced, he's living in the basement of the school, the older of his students treat him poorly and his wages are paltry if and when he ever does get paid.

Director

Producted By

Canadian Film Development Corporation

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Reviews

Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action
Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
Izzy Adkins The movie is surprisingly subdued in its pacing, its characterizations, and its go-for-broke sensibilities.
ClassicFilmEra Such a sweet, sweet movie...and so, so underrated... I'll never understand why some of the worst movies make it to DVD, but the gems sit around and wait for their turn.I adored the story line! Bud Cort plays an innocent, scattered, simple/warm-hearted man who tries to teach students in a small town in Canada. At first the students are disrespectful loud-mouths, but grow to become compassionate individuals when Cort's character (Max Brown) inspires them.I cannot get over how endearing Bud Cort is in this film. All he wants is to be loved, and to love someone else, but he has a failed romance with an already-married woman, who is also lost in her own troubles. All you want to do is sympathize with his character, especially in the beginning, when he was trying to become adjusted to this unfamiliar town with people who couldn't understand him.I would say that this is one of Bud Cort's top 5 best film roles. (Along with Harold and Maude, Bernice Bobs Her Hair, Brave New World, and Ted and Venus).
gfloyd-1 If you want to know what life was like in "the good old days" then watch this movie and see how we lived in rural areas of Canada without unemployment insurance, decent medical care, television, internet, access to higher education and on and on.My 1st school was exactly as shown in the movie complete with a crude living space for the teacher. Strapping, as shown, was common. The inspector was as ignorant as any that I recall. Closed minds and mean spirits abounded.I've seen the movie several times and still feel gratitude that I had a teacher like Max Brown to show me the way out.
anafw I think that overall, this movie was good. It seemed a bit short, and it lacked a few details linking parts of the story, which made it a bit difficult to follow. The graphics were slightly poor, but due to the technology of the time, I had to take into account the fact that it was made nearly three decades ago. I also think that it was a fairly accurate depiction of life in the Prairies during the 1930s, based on what we've learned in class about the era. I could easily link the time period to the movie through the actions, speech, and style of the actors and actresses in the story, as well as the cars featured and the houses' decor.In terms of style, I noticed that the people living in U.S. and the Praires during the 30s differed quite a bit. Some of the clothes and hairstyles that the women wore were similar, but the people of the Prairies were "country folk," and dressed more appropriately for their lifestyles. Alice, for example,(played by Samantha Eggar), wore the sleek, wavy, side-parted bob that many women of the era chose to sport. However, the difference in economic status was apparent in her attire. The aprons and plain skirts she wore had less appeal than the more elegant blouses and dresses that other women preferred.In conclusion, the movie was pretty effective in getting its message out to the audience. Bud Cort proved his acting skills alongside his pupils, and many important issues were discussed with respect to the conditions of the schools at the time, and Mr. Brown's personal experiences with Prairie weather. The movie was humorous, with a bit of drama, and still maintained a fair amount of accuracy in portraying life in the 1930s.-A. W.
Q. L. "Why Shoot the Teacher" was a believable depiction of Canada during the Great Depression period. Max Brown travels to the prairies for a teaching position in a school house. Before this period, he would have had a job in the city as a teacher, however since it was the period of the "roaring twenties", many people lost jobs and were forced to look elsewhere or die penniless. The prairie folk had little to no money and their children helped gain as much money as possible by catching gopher tails for 20 cents apiece, delivered by the government. The crops were poor due to the drought on the prairies, the dust storm, and the grasshopper plague. Many of these elements were depicted in the movie, and thus it is a believable depiction.