Up the Down Staircase ( film ) - wikipedia Up the Down Staircase ( film ) Up the Down Staircase Film poster Directed by Robert Mulligan Produced by Robert Mulligan Alan J. Pakula Written by Bel Kaufman ( novel ) Tad Mosel Starring Sandy Dennis Patrick Bedford Eileen Heckart Jean Stapleton Music by Fred Karlin Cinematography Joseph F. Coffey Edited by Folmar Blangsted Distributed by Warner Bros. Release date July 19, 1967 ( 1967 - 07 - 19 ) Running time 124 minutes Country United States Language English Box office $5,000,000 ( US / Canada ) Up the Down Staircase is a 1967 American drama film about the first, trying assignment for a young, idealistic teacher played by Sandy Dennis. Robert Mulligan directed the film and Tad Mosel wrote the screenplay adaptation of the novel of the same name by Bel Kaufman. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Response 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Plot The film 's title is a reference to the staircases inside a public, overcrowded New York City high school of 3,000 students, many of them troubled. Sylvia Barrett, fresh out of graduate school, has just been hired to teach English to the teens in this place, who come from various races and ethnicities. Many are undisciplined ; a few are hanging with gangs. She is disheartened that she came to teach but finds that her time seems burdened with the school 's required regulations, daily reporting and other paperwork. Her students also seem continually disruptive and playful. Student Alice has a crush on a male teacher and narrowly avoids death after jumping out a school window ; Student Linda gets a black eye from her father. Student Joe is on court probation, with a high I.Q. but a mixed academic record, testing her patience ; student Roy works nights and falls asleep in class. Not everyone is agreeable with Sylvia 's quiet approach to the situation, but she intends to get the teens to become good students and get them into real learning. She succeeds finally in getting them into a lively discussion about classic literature ( comparing `` the best of times... the worst of times '' to their own lives ), followed by a lively mock trial, before weighing whether to continue or resign from her position. Cast Sandy Dennis as Sylvia Barrett, English teacher Patrick Bedford as Paul Barringer, English teacher and unpublished writer Eileen Heckart as Henrietta Pastorfield, English teacher Ruth White as Beatrice Schachter, teacher and soon Miss Barrett 's mentor Jean Stapleton as Sadie Finch, school office staff Sorrell Booke as Dr. Bester, school principal Roy Poole as Mr McHabe, school vice-principal Florence Stanley as Ella Friedenberg, guidance counselor Vinnette Carroll as The Mother, student Roy Atkins ' guardian, Mrs. Lewes Salvatore Rasa as Harry A. Kagan, student council president John Fantauzzi as Eddie, a student who drops out Maria Landa as Carole Blanca, Alice 's friend Lewis Wallach as Lou Martin, the class clown Jose Rodriguez as Jose Rodriguez, introverted student who blossoms in mock trial Ellen O'Mara as Alice Blake, student with crush on Mr. Barringer Jeff Howard as Joe Ferone, an intelligent student admitted on school probation Production Julia de Burgos junior high in East Harlem ( now Renaissance Charter H.S. ) provided the exterior of `` Calvin Coolidge High School. '' Sandy Dennis took the role of Sylvia Barrett after winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Who 's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? This was her first and only film with producer Alan J. Pakula and director Robert Mulligan. The film also featured early appearances from Bud Cort and Jean Stapleton. Cort later did other films : he is best known as the suicidal youth who meets a vivacious Holocaust survivor in Harold and Maude. Jean Stapleton would land the pivotal role of Edith Bunker on the TV show All in the Family. The film was entered into the 5th Moscow International Film Festival where Sandy Dennis won the award for Best Actress. Outdoor street scenes were filmed on 1st Avenue and 100th Street in East Harlem. The outdoor school scenes were filmed on the same block, at Junior High School 99 at 410 East 100th Street ( now the Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation ). Some indoor school and classroom scenes were filmed at the former Haaren HS on 59th St and 10th Ave ( today 's John Jay College of Criminal Justice ), and a production studio in Chelsea. Response The film was well received by critics, many of whom praised Sandy Dennis 's performance. Later in the year, it would be eclipsed by another movie about teaching, the megahit To Sir, With Love starring Sidney Poitier. See also List of American films of 1967 References Jump up ^ `` Big Rental Films of 1967 '', Variety, 3 January 1968 p 25. Please note these figures refer to rentals accruing to the distributors. Jump up ^ `` 5th Moscow International Film Festival ( 1967 ) ''. MIFF. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 09. Jump up ^ `` J.H.S. 99 Julia de Burgos Junior High School ( Closed 2006 ) ''. Public School Review. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Renaissance Charter High School for Innovation ''. Innovation High School. 2017. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 05. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : Up the Down Staircase ( film ) Up the Down Staircase at the TCM Movie Database Up the Down Staircase on IMDb Films directed by Robert Mulligan Fear Strikes Out ( 1957 ) The Rat Race ( 1960 ) The Great Impostor ( 1961 ) Come September ( 1961 ) The Spiral Road ( 1962 ) To Kill a Mockingbird ( 1962 ) Love with the Proper Stranger ( 1963 ) Baby the Rain Must Fall ( 1965 ) Inside Daisy Clover ( 1965 ) Up the Down Staircase ( 1967 ) The Stalking Moon ( 1968 ) The Pursuit of Happiness ( 1971 ) Summer of ' 42 ( 1971 ) The Other ( 1972 ) The Nickel Ride ( 1974 ) Bloodbrothers ( 1978 ) Same Time, Next Year ( 1978 ) Kiss Me Goodbye ( 1982 ) Clara 's Heart ( 1988 ) The Man in the Moon ( 1991 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Up_the_Down_Staircase_(film)&oldid=826712342 '' Categories : 1967 films English - language films American films American drama films American coming - of - age films American high school films Films based on American novels 1960s drama films Films directed by Robert Mulligan Films about educators Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City 1960s high school films Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Català Español Français Italiano Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 20 February 2018, at 16 : 48. 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Question: who played joe in up the down staircase
Answer: Jeff Howard