The British School Film

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. The School Film: A British Genre?

      • Stephen Glynn

      Pages 3-18

3. The Early Years Programme (1900–45)

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19

      PDF

   2. The Early Public School Film (1900–1945)

      • Stephen Glynn

      Pages 21-55

4. The Middle Years Programme (1945–70)

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 57-57

      PDF

   2. The Post-War Public School Film (1945–70)

      • Stephen Glynn

      Pages 59-121

   3. The Post-War State School Film (1945–70)

      • Stephen Glynn

      Pages 123-167

5. The Final Years Programme (1970–)

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 169-169

      PDF

   2. The Contemporary School Film (1970–)

      • Stephen Glynn

      Pages 171-238

6. Conclusion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 239-239

      PDF

   2. The School Film: A British Genre

      • Stephen Glynn

      Pages 241-246

7. Back Matter

   Pages 247-269

   PDF

Through close textual and contextual analysis of British films spanning a century, this book explores how pupils, teachers and secondary education in general have been represented on the British screen. The author addresses a number of topics including the nature of public (fee-paying) and state schooling; the values of special, single-sex and co-education; the role of male and female teachers; and the nature of childhood and adolescence itself. From the silents of Hitchcock to the sorcery of Harry Potter, British cinema’s continued explorations of school life highlights its importance in the nation’s everyday experience and imaginary landscape. Beyond this, the school film, varying in scope from low-budget exploitation to Hollywood-financed blockbusters, serves both as a prism through which one can trace major shifts in the British film industry and as a barometer of the social and cultural concerns of the cinema-going public. This applies especially for gender, race and, in all senses, class.

• British cinema
• Secondary education
• public school
• grammar
• secondary modern
• borstal
• Hitchcock
• If….
• Kes
• Harry Potter
• JK Rowling
• gender
• bullying
• social class
• teaching
• education
• race

• Oakham, United Kingdom

  Stephen Glynn

Stephen Glynn has taught in British secondary schools for over thirty years and is currently an Associate Research Fellow at De Montfort University. He has published widely on British cinema, including Palgrave’s The British Pop Music Film: The Beatles and Beyond (2013)

Policies and ethics