Up the Down Staircase Overview:

Up the Down Staircase (1967) was a Drama - Film Adaptation Film directed by Robert Mulligan and produced by Alan J. Pakula.

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Up the Down Staircase (1967)

By Beatrice on Aug 12, 2019 From Flickers in Time

Up the Down Staircase Directed by Robert Mulligan Tad Mosel from the novel by Bel Kaufman 1967/US Park Place Production First viewing?/Amazon Instant Loved the book. ?Not so keen on the movie. It is Sylvia Barrett’s (Sandy Dennis) first year as a high-school English teacher. ?She happens to ... Read full article


Sandy Dennis Goes Up the Down Staircase

By Rick29 on Sep 11, 2017 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

I confess that I have never been a Sandy Dennis fan. Perhaps, it was her choice of roles, but her characters always came across as a contrived combination of exaggerated emotions. But after recently watching Up the Down Staircase (1967), maybe Ms. Dennis deserves a reassessment. Her incredibly natur... Read full article


Sandy Dennis Goes Up the Down Staircase

By Rick29 on Sep 11, 2017 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

I confess that I have never been a Sandy Dennis fan. Perhaps, it was her choice of roles, but her characters always came across as a contrived combination of exaggerated emotions. But after recently watching Up the Down Staircase (1967), maybe Ms. Dennis deserves a reassessment. Her incredibly natur... Read full article


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Quotes from

Sylvia Barrett: When I finally get the chance, the first few precious minutes to talk to them about something I want them to understand, and I find that I am some kind of enemy... the butt of some enormous joke.


Sylvia Barrett: If you deny what you know, or what you are, or where you are, you deny the simplest part of being alive, and then you die.


[urging Mr. Barringer to dance with a student]
Sylvia Barrett: Why do you always say "maybe later"? Maybe sometime, maybe Thursday, and there never is a Thursday.


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Facts about

Like Dangerous Minds 28 years later, this movie was filmed in a real-life urban high school building, using real high school kids from the neighborhood as extras, many of whom were believed to be armed on the set.
Bel Kaufman, the author of the book on which this movie was based, appeared as an extra in the movie, and served as a technical advisor.
Puerto Rican author Esmeralda Santiago has a small role as a student, this was her film debut and her only film role. Her experiences from working on the film are highlighted in her book "Almost a Woman" (see also: Almost a Woman).
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Also directed by Robert Mulligan




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Also produced by Alan J. Pakula




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Also released in 1967




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More "Coming of Age" films



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