Stand and Deliver (1988)

The story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout prone students to learn calculus.

Director:

Ramón Menéndez (as Ramon Menendez)

Writers:

Ramón Menéndez, Tom Musca

Stars:

Edward James Olmos, Estelle Harris, Mark Phelan

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 11 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward James Olmos	...	Jaime Escalante
Estelle Harris	...	Secretary
Mark Phelan	...	Cop
Virginia Paris	...	Raquel Ortega
Eliot	...	Tito (as Mark Eliot)
Adelaida Alvarez	...	Sexy Girl
Will Gotay	...	Pancho
Patrick Baca	...	Javier
Ingrid Oliu	...	Lupe
Carmen Argenziano	...	Molina
Richard Martinez	...	Heavy Metal Boy
Mark Everett	...	Heavy Metal Boy
Tyde Kierney	...	Joe Goodell
Rosanna DeSoto	...	Fabiola Escalante (as Rosana De Soto)
Bodie Olmos	...	Fernando Escalante

Storyline

Jaime Escalante is a mathematics teacher in a school in a Hispanic neighbourhood. Convinced that his students have potential, he adopts unconventional teaching methods help gang members and no-hopers pass the rigorous Advanced Placement exam in calculus.

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Plot Keywords:

calculus | inner city youth | institutional discrimination | national film registry | teacher as protagonist | 

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Taglines:

At a tough school, someone had to take a stand...and someone did. Together, one teacher and one class proved to America they could...Stand and Deliver.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

11 March 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Walking on Water

Filming Locations:

Garfield High School - 5101 E. 6th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$411,884, 13 March 1988, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$13,994,920

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Playhouse, Olmos Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Andy Garcia was originally cast as one of the students in Jaime Escalante's class, but later convinced the director to give him the role of Dr. Ramirez. This was revealed by Garcia himself in a 1988 interview when the movie was released.

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Goofs

When Lupe is studying and her mother comes home from work, her mom asks her to turn off the lamp that is across the room. She is sleeping directly under a different lamp that doesn't seem to bother her.

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Quotes

Jaime Escalante: [to his students] ... There will be no free rides, no excuses. You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion. Because of those two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do. *Math* is the great equalizer... When you go for a job, the person giving you that job will not want to hear your problems; ergo, neither do I. You're going to work harder here than you've ever worked anywhere else. And the only thing I ask from you ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in LA to Vegas: The Fellowship of the Bear (2018)

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Soundtracks

El Lay
Lyrics by Willie Herron (as W. Herrón) & Gronk
Performed by Los Illegals
Courtesy of A&M Records

User Reviews

Wonderful yet depressing movie

Why is this movie depressing? It's a true story about a high school teacher who managed to motivate a group of struggling students to attempt one of the greatest academic challenges a high school student can undertake. It's the true story of the underdogs sticking it to the system. It's the true story of a teacher fighting the system and winning...

Or did he? Despite the success portrayed in the movie, 1987 was the high water mark for the Garfield High School AP Calculus program. In 1987, the principal who had supported Escalante with his AP program went on sabbatical and was replaced by an administrator with a different academic focus. The teachers' union complained about Escalante's class sizes and teaching assignments, and petty rivalries and jealousies abounded, eventually forcing Escalante and his partner teacher out of the school. Unable to find support for his unorthodox methods, in 2001, Escalante moved back to his native Bolivia, where he teaches calculus at a local university.

As much as I love this movie, every time I watch it, I become depressed all over again. It's been over 25 years since Escalante began the AP Calculus program at Garfield High, and one would think that the educational system would learn from him--not only from his example as a teacher, but also the factors that forced him to leave the school, but ultimately the country.

It's not just Garfield High School, and it's not just advanced mathematics. I hear the same words that the naysayer teachers and administrators spoke in the movie spoken on a daily and weekly basis on the public high school campus where I teach. I see the same objections and doubts and obstacles thrown up by the administration and teachers' union in the movie thrown up by administrations and unions today. I work every day with the same underprivileged yet eager to be educated students as Escalante had, students who just need someone to challenge them and believe in them. And I see my students battle against the same low expectations and prejudices as the students in the movie faced.

Which leaves me with the question--what has really changed in 25 years? If this is such an outstanding, motivational movie, why has it not produced a systemic change? Why are underprivileged yet bright students routinely passed over and allowed to fail? Why are creative, energetic, passionate teachers forced out of their schools and even their professions by school systems unwilling to embrace unorthodox methods, even if those methods are proved to promote student success? Escalante poured everything he had into his job. Teaching was his life, his passion--not only a vocation, but an avocation. He was willing to sacrifice his personal relationships and his own health for the sake of the students in which he believed... For what? Nothing has changed. 25+ years later, nothing has changed.

Yes, he made a difference in the lives of those students, and of students for more years than just those portrayed in the movie, but once he left, the program essentially left with him. Despite all of his passion and sacrifice, he effected no systemic change.

And it's that knowledge that, to me, makes this such a depressing film.