Up the Down Staircase 57 years old
Simple words that start a war: "Good morning. My name is Miss Barrett. I am your Home Room teacher..."
Sylvia Barrett is a rookie teacher at New York's inner-city Calvin Coolidge High: her lit classes are overcrowded, a window is broken, there's no chalk, books arrive late. The administration is concerned mainly with forms and rules (there's an up and a down staircase); bells ring at the wrong time. Nevertheless, she tries. How she handles the chaos and her despair in her first semester makes up the film: a promising student drops out, another sleeps through class, a girl with a crush on a male teacher gets suicidal, and a bright but troublesome student misunderstands Sylvia's reaching out. A discussion of Dickens, parents' night, and a mock trial highlight the term. Can she make it?
Credits
Up the Down Staircase Cast
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Bud Cort He was 18, now 76 years old | as Student |
| Florence Stanley She was 42, 79 years old when she died | as Ellen Friedenberg |
| Frances Sternhagen She was 37, now 94 years old | as Charlotte Wolf, school librarian |
| Sorrell Booke He was 37, 64 years old when he died | as Dr. Bester |
| Ruth White She was 52, 55 years old when she died | as Beatrice Schacter |
| Sandy Dennis She was 29, 54 years old when she died | as Sylvia Barrett |
| Vinnette Carroll | as The Mother |
| Elena Karam She was 57, 92 years old when she died | as School nurse |
| Linda Gillen She was 17, now 75 years old | as Student |
| Eileen Heckart She was 47, 82 years old when she died | as Henrietta Pastorfield |
| Jean Stapleton She was 44, 90 years old when she died | as Sadie Finch |
| Patrick Bedford He was 35, 67 years old when he died | as Paul Barringer |
| Esther Rolle She was 46, 78 years old when she died | as Teacher |
Up the Down Staircase Crew
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Alixe Gordin as Casting. | Production |
| Folmar Blangsted as Editor. He was 62 (77) years old when He died | Editing |
| George Jenkins as Art Direction. He was 62 (102) years old when He died | Art |
| Fred Karlin as Original Music Composer. He was 30 (67) years old when He died | Sound |
| Joseph F. Coffey as Director of Photography. | Camera |
| Ann Roth as Costume Design. She was 35 (now 93) years old | Costume & Make-Up |
| Tad Mosel as Screenplay. He was 44 (86) years old when He died | Writing |
Up the Down Staircase (57 years)
Simple words that start a war: "Good morning. My name is Miss Barrett. I am your Home Room teacher..."
- Release day: Wednesday, June 28, 1967
- Runtime: 124 minutes