THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE
1969,
20th Century Fox,
116 min,
UK,
Dir: Ronald Neame
Miss Jean Brodie is a teacher at a Scottish girls’ school in the 1930s who rankles fellow faculty members with her free-thinking lessons and inordinate sway over her young charges. One of those is prize pupil Sandy (an exceptional Pamela Franklin), who comes to learn that her teacher has a manipulative side. Directed by Ronald Neame and adapted by Jay Presson Allen from her play, the film is a tour de force for Maggie Smith, who earned a Best Actress Oscar in the title role. (Rod McKuen’s bittersweet “Jean” also earned Academy recognition, garnering a Best Song nomination).