College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Films, TV shows, and books of the 'modern' era
RedRiver
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by RedRiver »

I'd stay after class!
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CineMaven
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by CineMaven »

Red, you just wanna be the teacher's pet! Who could blame ya.

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Had a good time watching "THE DEVIL COMMANDS" this morning. When you're more scared of Anne Revere than Karloff...you know something's good:

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movieman1957
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by movieman1957 »

If Doris Day in "Teacher's Pet" qualifies then there is hope that all are not so stuffy.
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ChiO
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by ChiO »

Caught an Argentine film noir last night: THE BLACK VAMPIRE (Roman Vinoly Barreto 1953). Based on Fritz Lang's M. The child killer even whistled "Peer Gynt."

The child killer's occupation? A professor (that's what he was called even though he taught in his apartment) of English as a Second Language to adults.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
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JackFavell
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by JackFavell »

A few professors who might make you think twice about inviting them in for a drink (one's credentials as a professor are singularly lacking)....No, definitely NOT marriage material.

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If I had to pick any of the ones mentioned in this thread, after the perfect Prof. Potts, I think I'd go with Professor Topaze.
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JackFavell
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by JackFavell »

Oops! Another prof we forgot:

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Where he falls on the list I don't know... some may think he's the cat's pyjamas, others may find him insufferable. Awww, heck. He's pretty cute. And cute goes a long way in forgiving a professor's faults. :D
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JackFavell
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by JackFavell »

Masha - I can't believe I didn't think of professor Tommy Turner before either! His reciting of the Sacco and Vanzetti letter is very moving. Although my favorite part of The Male Animal is the reciting of football player's names on the roster by Eugene Pallette! A veritable melting pot of 'all- American' names.

Ray Milland is a perfect choice! He definitely falls on the cute side of professor-dom. I like him in his glasses and suit better than in his baseball uniform. :D
RedRiver
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by RedRiver »

JackFavell wrote:His reciting of the Sacco and Vanzetti letter is very moving.
He risks everything to read it; not because it's crucial to the situation, but because he has the right. It's a beautiful story. Maybe a little dated in today's less masculine, and slightly less paranoid atmosphere. But most of the themes are still relevant. Academics and politics must clash. People have to be able to live with the choices they make. The male animal will defend his territory against enemies both real and perceived.

The lovely play by James Thurber and Elliot Nugent explores these issues a little more thoughtfully than the movie, focusing less on romantic shenanigans, more on ideals and dilemna. I consider it one the great American comedies.
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JackFavell
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by JackFavell »

That was beautifully put, red! Yes, I think today the message is VERY relevant... when there are those who would castigate or even threaten a person for espousing a different opinion than theirs. Upholding the ideals on which this country was founded on has always been tough, especially when everyone has a different opinion of what those ideals are. I think Nugent and Thurber very movingly and also comedically explore what it means to be an American, what freedom of speech really means... a right that we sometimes take for granted. If only they'd have let Cleota in on the discussion... :wink:
RedRiver
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by RedRiver »

Imagine considering these issues in 1942. Our parents could tell us how precarious these rights really were. If I ever take up directing in community theatre, this play will be high on my list.
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JackFavell
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by JackFavell »

Red, I always thought I'd like to direct it too...but the role of Cleota was problematic. Her dialogue is written in dialect, so playing it in any other way would mean seriously tampering with the original text. And there wasn't
a single other person on our play reading committee who voted for it to be performed.

The play I REALLY wanted to direct was Saroyan's The Time Of Your Life. Unfortunately, it has 42 speaking parts....and there weren't enough of us in my group to play it, even if every part was doubled. I'm trying to remember if any of the 42 was a college prof. I think not....
RedRiver
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by RedRiver »

My group insists on the latest smash hit on Broadway. Or something reminiscent of cable TV. Gangsters, hillbillies, zombies. Classic? What's that?
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JackFavell
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Re: College Profs on Film: Good, Bad or Just Ewwww?

Post by JackFavell »

Gangsters, hillbillies and zombies are nothing new! but you'd think they were just invented by TV and movie studios lately.

I thought of another sub-genre of film college professor - any role played by Michael Caine in the last 30 years! I was thinking specifically of his alcoholic prof in Educating Rita, and his sympathetic but sleazy character in Hannah and her Sisters, who isn't a college professor, but should be. :D I think he's also a prof in Inception, though I haven't seen the movie.

How about the jingoist professor in All Quiet On the Western Front? who symbolically represents the antiquated, ignorant status quo? All those generals, kings, kaisers and talking heads who blithely sent the cream of Europe's youth off to be cannon fodder during the first world war, for no more reason than that they couldn't recognize change...and then kept up a steady stream of conscripts because they couldn't figure out how to get out of the war once they were in it? Paul's prof is a definite ewwwww! in my book.
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