The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie1969
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Photos
Movie Info
Cast
as Jean Brodie
as Teddy Lloyd
as Miss MacKay
as Sandy
as Gordon Lowther
as Jenny
as Mary McGregor
as Monica
as Emily Carstairs
as Helen McPhee
as Miss Campbell
as Miss McKenzie
as Miss Lockhart
as Miss Gaunt
as Miss Alison Kerr
as Miss Kerr
as Mr. Burrage
as Clara
as Prefect
as Schoolgirl
as Schoolgirl
as Schoolgirl
as Schoolgirl
as Schoolgirl
as Schoolgirl
as Schoolgirl
as Schoolgirl
Critic Reviews for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
All Critics (20) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (3) | DVD (2)
Maggie Smith's tour-de-force performance as a school-teacher slipping into spinsterhood is one of several notable achievements in this sentimental and macabre personal tragedy.
Maggie Smith is handed a part in the eccentric, trite, purposeful and finally pathetic Jean Brodie which allows her to play to all her considerable strengths.
Maggie Smith in one of those technically stunning, emotionally distant performances that the British are so damn good at.
Miss [Maggie] Smith's performance is in the best English tradition of such elocutionary actresses as Beatrice Lilly and Edith Evans.
In her role, Maggie Smith doesn't convince. She sounds theatrical and artificial, especially in front of her students. [Full Review in Spanish]
Growing up and leaving our childhoods behind is such a furious tangle of triumph and heartbreak, and this seemingly innocuous story about a capricious teacher and her doting girls captures it all so succinctly, and so beautifully.
Audience Reviews for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
I hope Maggie Smith isn't crestfallen to have me say "wow, I didn't realize she WAS so beautiful," but she was definitely a beauty in this movie. Not that she isn't now, but there are no qualifiers on the younger her. Her acting and sheer presence carried the movie which was rather ruderless--although I guess we were waiting to see when she would get the az and I loved hearing everyone's Scottish brogues....mai leetle gels. Indeed!
Super Reviewer
A tyrannical but occasionally charming teacher indoctrinates her students at a boarding school. This is a profoundly interesting film. The educator initially appears to be of the "nurturing love" variety, but as we get to know Jean Brodie, we realize that her support of Mussolini and Franco isn't just the absent mutterings of a naive teacher but the cornerstone of her pedagogy. As my colleague explained, after we watch films like Dead Poets Society we think, "If only those stuffy administrators would leave geniuses alone to genius-ify their students ..." But after we watch films like The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, we think, "For God's sake, don't leave teachers alone with students." Maggie Smith's almost irresistible charm makes our introduction to Brodie smooth, but her phenomenal characterization make Brodie more interesting, more tragic, and more frightening as we get to know her. If ever there was a performance that deserved an Oscar, this is it. The supporting performance by Pamela Franklin as Brodie's one disloyal charge is also excellent, but the supporting work by the male actors leaves something to be desired as they are often stale cliches. Overall, this is a must-see in the genre of educator films, and Maggie Smith makes it quite an enjoyable time.
Super Reviewer
It's been many years since I've seen this movie starring Dame Maggie Smith, who won an Oscar for Best Actress in the titular role. I'm reminded once again of how powerful an acting force she is, how amazingly all encompassing and robust she is in delivery, in expression, in gesture. A consummate acting professional is every sense.
If you only know Smith from her more recent supporting work in the Harry Potter series, you must seek out some of her earlier work to understand just how stunning a screen presence she is.
Here, as the aging, unwed teacher, shaping her students according to her passionately insular mindset, Smith is staggering in her determined, although blinded, pursuit of "true" education. When her high-minded yet sadly naive and idiosyncratic curricular bent leads to a student's unfortunate death, she must face the truth of her shortcomings in a world far more dangerous than she could ever bring herself to realize. Offbeat and perhaps harmful though her life lessons may be, you cannot help but admire Miss Brodie's iron-willed dedication to teaching them, her absolute conviction of the necessity of peculiarly shaping young, susceptible minds, hearts, and spirits.
Maggie Smith is a living treasure who must be cherished for every appearance she makes on screen.
Super Reviewer
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Quotes
| Teddy Lloyd: | My Church tells me to go forth and multiply. |
| Jean Brodie: | I doubt if your Church has the same definition of going forth as you do. |