Good Luck, Miss Wyckof

There is no "Good Morning Miss Dove", no cheers for Miss Bishop, and no warning that a newcomer is going up the down staircase. There is lust, there is violence, there is racial hatred and there's the resentment in a society against one supposedly betraying an entire race. This is indeed not an easy film to like with a leading character (Anne Heywood) so troubled and a supporting character (John Lafayette) so vile in his obsession is that getting through it is a miracle in itself. Heywood plays a 40+ year old virgin, subject to embarrassing questions by therapist Donald Pleasance, nosy inquiries by fellow teachers (which include Carolyn Jones, Doris Roberts and Dorothy Malone) and passive/aggressive understanding by principal Dana Elcar. The only ones seemingly understanding of her are truck driver Earl holliman (only briefly seen) and psychiatrist Robert Vaughn. This covers a few years of Heywood's life as a teacher, having struggled to help integrate the school, and paying for it with the obsessive love of Lafayette who exposes himself to her one day and rapes her brutally the next. She can't get over the feeling of the physical neediness and before long, they are having an affair that reveals her innermost thoughts, his hatred towards all humanity (even questioning her in her sincerity for her assistance in obtaining equal rights), and the bigotry of the mid-1950's, particularly in the midwest where this is set. This is very racy for a film of the late 1970s, showing Lafayette fondling himself blatantly and later on exposing his naked body completely as he orders her to crawl to him. His character is violently hateful one moment and tenderly loving in the next, having taking her kindness a bit too far when it developed feelings for her. The scene where they are caught is truly horrifying, and the aftermath shows humanity at its lowest form, especially as her so-called friends turn against her. However, in spite of its harshness, it shows the world in a way we wish we would never have to face, and the bravery in that is impressive. I can see the writing of William Inge (an apparent unpublished story) and the desire to film it. But it is obvious that this would never have a mainstream release, and obviously, it was too racy for television in the pre-cabpe era. Heywood and Lafayette are amazingly realistic in their performances which makes this film all the more disturbing.

Strong screenplay that did not require graphic sexual content to convey its message. A white woman has an affair with a black man and she initially tries to fight it....but its no use. One of the best films I have ever seen for honesty in portraying human sexuality but not too blatantly. Remember the little girl in Schindler's List that had the colored coat? Be on the lookout for the chalk scribbles on the sidewalk that conjure up a message that is equally as strong.

Anne Heywood plays a schoolteacher who is slowly going insane (literally) because she has never had sex (!). A doctor tells her, "Nature intended us to use our bodies---if we don't, they dry up!" Shortly afterwards, she is brutally raped by a "grinning black thug", a character who seems to have walked right out of a racist Ku Klux Klan brochure. Instead of calling the cops, she starts a lurid sexual affair with her attacker, and in the end, she is run out of town by the local rednecks. The film is "politically incorrect", borderline racist, and morally reprehensible, BUT having said that, the film actually is somewhat engrossing and compelling on that level, just as long as you know what you are getting into before you watch it. Okay? "Name" actors appear in cameos, and they probably didn't know the details of the film. Supposedly based on a story by William Inge---I wonder how faithful it is?

A 40ish, repressed school teacher is raped by a young, black janitor in the 1950s. It truly disturbs her, but she realizes she enjoyed it and begins a secret sexual relationship with him. But how long will this remain a secret? Very well acted by everybody...but why was this done? The story has been done many times before and this adds nothing new. As I said, the acting keeps you watching but it adds up to very little. Try to avoid the cable TV version--all the male nudity (there isn't much) is cut out and a crucial sex scene is badly edited. Try to see it on video.

Strong screenplay that did not require graphic sexual content to convey its message. A white woman has an affair with a black man and she initially tries to fight it....but its no use. One of the best films I have ever seen for honesty in portraying human sexuality but not too blatantly. Remember the little girl in Schindler's List that had the colored coat? Be on the lookout for the chalk scribbles on the sidewalk that conjure up a message that is equally as strong.

A 40ish, repressed school teacher is raped by a young, black janitor in the 1950s. It truly disturbs her, but she realizes she enjoyed it and begins a secret sexual relationship with him. But how long will this remain a secret? Very well acted by everybody...but why was this done? The story has been done many times before and this adds nothing new. As I said, the acting keeps you watching but it adds up to very little. Try to avoid the cable TV version--all the male nudity (there isn't much) is cut out and a crucial sex scene is badly edited. Try to see it on video.

Anne Heywood plays a schoolteacher who is slowly going insane (literally) because she has never had sex (!). A doctor tells her, "Nature intended us to use our bodies---if we don't, they dry up!" Shortly afterwards, she is brutally raped by a "grinning black thug", a character who seems to have walked right out of a racist Ku Klux Klan brochure. Instead of calling the cops, she starts a lurid sexual affair with her attacker, and in the end, she is run out of town by the local rednecks. The film is "politically incorrect", borderline racist, and morally reprehensible, BUT having said that, the film actually is somewhat engrossing and compelling on that level, just as long as you know what you are getting into before you watch it. Okay? "Name" actors appear in cameos, and they probably didn't know the details of the film. Supposedly based on a story by William Inge---I wonder how faithful it is?