The Prime of
Miss Jean Brodie
Studio Classics

In 1969 we inexperienced teens thought Jean Brodie represented leftist radicalism, when she's really a Fascist. Fascism exalts the idea that there are natural, born leaders among us who have rights higher than the average man. The rules don't apply to them. Of course, Jean places herself at the top of this heap. Self-appointed leaders sometimes have charisma and social skills that gather followers (like movie stars, perhaps?) but more often than not simply have a knack for exploiting positions of power. Mussolini used a newspaper as his pulpit and Jean Brodie uses/abuses her authority in the classroom. She flaunts that authority by dictating every detail of the schoolroom experience, down to how many inches the windows should be left open. All attention must be focused on her and all appreciation filtered through her. If something is good, it's not good for its own sake but because Brodie says it is so.

Headmistress MacKay (played by the great Celia Johnson of Brief Encounter) initially comes off as the enemy, someone to be fooled and derided. Miss Brodie is bright, surprising and easy to find amusing so we naturally side with her. Brodie's girls dote on her, notably the Brodie Four led by the precocious Sandy. Brodie tries to mold them into extensions of her own personality, "assigning" them qualities as if they were born to fulfill roles predetermined by her. In Brodie's egoist world, Mary Macgregor (Jane Carr) is the dim but loyal footsoldier. Sandy is the dependable secret agent, good at covering for Jean's subterfuge. Things become perverse when Jean nominates Jenny (Diane Grayson) as a "lady of affairs," encouraging her to become the lover of the school's art teacher. These kids from sheltered backgrounds naturally accept Brodie's authority. Even as they mature, only Sandy sees things for what they are. Only she questions the status quo.

Petty politics are the order of the day. Mrs. MacKay gathers gossip in hopes of an excuse to dismiss the teacher, but Jean's outraged defense overwhelms her. Meanwhile, Jean's personal life is a mess. Too egotistical to deal with a man on equal terms, Brodie toys with the adulterous art teacher and the foolish music master until they're both eating out of her hand. She's not after security, because the rich Mr. Lowther could provide that. he prefers that poor Mr. Lloyd to suffer from afar, to better enrich her self-styled legend.

The story finally becomes overtly political in an episode involving the Spanish Civil War that shows how dangerous a teacher's influence over her students can be. And Sandy finally comes to a conclusion about Brodie that puts her in the role of "assassin." It's a stagy but impressive finale that held 1969 audiences breathless.

Maggie Smith is a wonder as Jean Brodie, her expansive personality easily leading the average viewer astray. Another actress would let the loud wardrobe and the brogue do the work; Smith puts a spirit behind Brodie that is undeniably sympathetic. Her Brodie is a "character" that can't be reasoned with.

With this film Pamela Franklin graduated from child actor to adult star in one fell swoop. She has a nude scene that upstages Hayley Mills in 1966's The Family Way. It's so discreet and civilized that won the approval of the rube audience I saw the film with (me included). After an initial gasp, that is; the movie was a good example of nudity that was rightly given a PG rating. Franklin covers a range from age twelve to eighteen quite convincingly, and delivers her dialogue with such precision and impact that it's obvious she could play anything.

Of the dramas and screenplays that make a case for informing, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is the most compelling. As Sandy asserts, Brodie shouldn't be around impressionable little girls and someone has to put a stop to her. Children need exposure to spirit and individualism, but not Brodie's narcissistic manipulation. Too much inspiration quickly becomes indoctrination.

Fox's Studio Classics DVD of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie does this genuine modern classic proud. The color is far more accurate than earlier videos and Rod McKuen's haunting melodies (from back when movie music had original melodies) are well recorded - television prints tended to warble on those sustained notes in the main theme.

Ronald Neame is still going strong in his 90s and fills commentary track with precise memories, like holding auditions by having hundreds of girls giggle, twenty at at time. With him on the track is Pamela Franklin, who concentrates on this movie and not her kiddie career in weird films like The Innocents ("I became typecast as the evil child!"). She remembers the relative tyranny of the set, with assistant directors entreating her not to speak to the director unless spoken to, even though she had third billing.

There's also a theatrical trailer and a still gallery. Fox has put an image of Maggie Smith on the cover; she won the best actress Oscar for the role.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie rates:
Movie: Excellent
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Commentary, Stills, Trailer
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: July 1, 2004