This film opens with a truly awful, ear-grinding, song; probably called 'Every Boy Needs a Teacher', but thankfully it doesn't completely give an early warning sign of what's to come. While both the film and the song are very low rent and lacking in quality; there is actually a solid story lurking somewhere behind the crappy script and ridiculous acting; and that makes The Teacher a very enjoyable slice of drive-in cheese. The story is rather tame by today's standards; and given some of the films I've seen from the early seventies; it's pretty tame for 1974 too. The plot focuses on an eighteen year old lad named Sean. Sean and his friend Lou go to the top of an old warehouse to borrow Lou's crazy brother's binoculars in order to spy on Diane; their teacher, sunbathing topless. However, tragedy strikes when the brother catches the pair; and Lou ends up tumbling to his death. The summer improves, however, when Diane; who happens to be a friend of Sean's mother, begins to take an interest in the lad. Meanwhile, Lou's crazy brother is still on Sean's tail.
First thing's first, the acting in this movie is some of the worst I've ever seen (and I'm no stranger to movies with ridiculously bad acting!). The two leads, Angel Tompkins and Jay North, are at least good looking pair, but they absolutely can't act (nor can anyone else in this film). The script is not much better and leads the bad actors into delivering silly and mistimed dialogue, which brings the film down further. However, the base plot is a rather good one - it's simply an older woman seducing a young man, but it's very sexy; and if anything the sexiness is increased by the lack of talented scriptwriting since we waste no time in getting straight into the main point. The sub-plot involving the crazy brother stalking the pair doesn't get in the way as much as it might have done; I preferred the parts dealing with the central relationship between the lead characters, but the two go together well. It all boils down to a real downer of an ending, however. I don't mind a sad ending; but when a film is as bright and happy as this one (to illustrate the point, the death towards the start of the film is barely given a moment's notice by any character in the film), I wasn't expecting it to end like that!
First thing's first, the acting in this movie is some of the worst I've ever seen (and I'm no stranger to movies with ridiculously bad acting!). The two leads, Angel Tompkins and Jay North, are at least good looking pair, but they absolutely can't act (nor can anyone else in this film). The script is not much better and leads the bad actors into delivering silly and mistimed dialogue, which brings the film down further. However, the base plot is a rather good one - it's simply an older woman seducing a young man, but it's very sexy; and if anything the sexiness is increased by the lack of talented scriptwriting since we waste no time in getting straight into the main point. The sub-plot involving the crazy brother stalking the pair doesn't get in the way as much as it might have done; I preferred the parts dealing with the central relationship between the lead characters, but the two go together well. It all boils down to a real downer of an ending, however. I don't mind a sad ending; but when a film is as bright and happy as this one (to illustrate the point, the death towards the start of the film is barely given a moment's notice by any character in the film), I wasn't expecting it to end like that!