Up the Down Staircase

“Simple words that start a war: "Good morning. My name is Miss Barrett. I am your Home Room teacher..."”

Sylvia Barrett (Sandy Dennis) takes her first teaching job at a crowded city high school, where the faculty has stopped caring and the administration buries everyone in paperwork. Robert Mulligan follows her through the early days as she tries to reach English students who have little reason to trust her. Sylvia came in with ideals, and each failed lesson puts them under more pressure than the last.