The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)

A headstrong young teacher in a private school in 1930s Edinburgh ignores the curriculum and influences her impressionable 12 year old charges with her over-romanticized world view.

Director:

Ronald Neame

Writers:

Muriel Spark (adapted from the novel by), Jay Presson Allen (based on the play by)

Stars:

Maggie Smith, Gordon Jackson, Robert Stephens

Won 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maggie Smith	...	Jean Brodie
Robert Stephens	...	Teddy Lloyd
Pamela Franklin	...	Sandy
Gordon Jackson	...	Gordon Lowther
Celia Johnson	...	Miss Mackay
Diane Grayson	...	Jenny
Jane Carr	...	Mary McGregor
Shirley Steedman	...	Monica
Lavinia Lang	...	Emily Carstairs
Antoinette Biggerstaff	...	Helen McPhee
Margo Cunningham	...	Miss Campbell
Isla Cameron	...	Miss McKenzie
Rona Anderson	...	Miss Lockhart
Ann Way	...	Miss Gaunt
Molly Weir	...	Miss Allison Kerr

Storyline

A liberated young schoolteacher at an Edinburgh girls' school in the period between the two wars, instructs her girls on the ways of life. Ignoring the more mundane subjects, she teaches them of love, politics and art. Her affairs with two male teachers become known and she finds herself fighting to keep her job. She believes that she can always count on the 100% support of her favourite pupils, but one of them does not feel that Miss Jean Brodie is in her "prime" any more. No longer swayed by her teacher's eloquence, she begins to learn about life and love herself.

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | eccentric | 1930s | girls' school | mussolini | 

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Taglines:

Out of one Jean Brodie would come a whole generation of Jean Brodies... experimenting with sex, society and everything else.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Latin French Italian

Release Date:

25 February 1969 (UK)

Also Known As:

Die besten Jahre der Miss Jean Brodie

Filming Locations:

Barnbougle Castle, Dalmeny, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Julie Andrews turned down the lead role.

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Goofs

The very first shot of the film shows the Edinburgh skyline with a caption stating that it's 1932, but clearly visible in the centre of frame is the white cube of the (now demolished) Goldberg's department store, which was built in the early 1960s.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gordon Lowther: Morning girls. Good Morning.
Sandy: There's Miss Brodie!

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: EDINBURGH 1932

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Connections

Version of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1978)

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Soundtracks

La donna è mobile
(uncredited)
from Rigoletto
written by Giuseppe Verdi
(sung by Miss Brodie, Mr Lowther and the girls in the garden, mostly with la-la-la lyrics)

User Reviews

A Teacher... First, Last, Always...

This is my favourite movie ever. It's made 19 years before I was born, but I don't care. I quite started crying after I'd seen this movie... Maggie Smith may be as old as my grandfather, whatever. She's the most wonderful actress ever... Oh, for heaven's sake, if ever someone deserved an Oscar...

What more can I say? Miss Jean Brodie is a dangerous, hypocrite and narcistic woman, and yet you like her. You have to like her. When you watch the movie, you know she's a facist, and you know that what she preaches is rubbish, but you just do not caze. Miss Brodie stands for "art, beauty and truth" and you just feel she's just deceived and too progressive for her time. But, as Sandy says it in the end of the movie, she is "a dangerous woman". Yet I love her.

And I love Maggie Smith. Dear Dame Maggie, if you ever read this, you are just... so... damn... bloody... great.

Oh for heaven's sake... go and watch this movie.