Why Shoot the Teacher?

Why Shoot the Teacher?

VHS box art
Directed by Silvio Narizzano
Produced by Lawrence T Hertzog
Written by James DeFelice
Starring Bud Cort
Samantha Eggar
Kenneth Griffith
Chris Wiggins
Music by Ricky Hyslop
Cinematography Marc Champion
Edited by Max Benedict
Stan Cole
Distributed by Fraser Films & Lancer Productions Limited
Quartet Films (United States)
Release dates
  • 1977 (1977) (Canada)
  • 1980 (1980) (U.S.)
Running time
 99 minutes
Country Canada
Language English
Budget CAD 810000 (estimated)

Why Shoot the Teacher? is a 1977 Canadian comedy-drama film based on a book of the same name by Max Braithwaite.

Cast

The plot is set in 1935, during the Depression. Max Brown (Bud Cort) is an urban east-province Canadian fresh from college who travels to Western Canada to accept a teaching position at a one-room rural schoolhouse in the fictional settlement of Willowgreen, Saskatchewan, because there are no other jobs available.

He decides to live in the school's basement, having to adapt to teaching in the Depression-era rural setting, especially given the bleakness of the settlement. His students at first are rebellious, but it eventually changes to a connection between student and teacher as Max gets into a love for Alice Field (played by Samantha Eggar), going to him for emotional support.

Max barely gets paid and he suffers through the paltry winter of Willowgreen, especially suffering given his physical and emotional isolation in the town, only finding solace in Harris Montgomery (played by Gary Reineke) and Alice Field, who both try to use him to solve their problems of political socialism and her being a war bride of Britain.

Max eventually begins to understand Willowgreen and the rural struggles, as the inspector (Kenneth Griffith) comes in to look at his work, which does not end too well. The school year ends as Max is getting on a train back east, but before the credits roll, he tells us he returned the following September to teach another year at Willowgreen.

Production notes

The movie was filmed on location at Hanna, Alberta.

The film was produced with the assistance of the Canadian Film Development Corporation.

Cast

Awards and recognition

James DeFelice won a 1978 Canadian Film Award for the film's adapted screenplay. The film itself won the Golden Reel Award for attaining higher box-office gross revenues of that year than any other Canadian film.

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