Movie

Why Shoot the Teacher?

1977 · 100 min

A gentle, bittersweet comedy-drama about enduring a harsh prairie winter, with warmth and quiet humour emerging from hardship and human connection.

Directed by: Silvio Narizzano
Genres: Drama, Comedy
Starring: Bud Cort, Samantha Eggar, Chris Wiggins

Tagline: "Everything is funny, as long as it's happening to someone else!"
Overview: It's the winter of 1935 and Max Brown is newly arrived in Willowgreen, Saskatchewan - a rural Canadian prairie town - on his first teaching job in a one room schoolhouse. He quickly realizes that this is not a dream situation: the winter is harsher than he's ever experienced, he's living in the basement of the school, the older of his students treat him poorly and his wages are paltry if and when he ever does get paid.

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Directed by: Silvio Narizzano
Genres: Drama, Comedy
Starring: Bud Cort, Samantha Eggar, Chris Wiggins

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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone: melancholicstrength 2 of 3
warmstrength 2 of 3
satiricalstrength 1 of 3
earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing: measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention: engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes: isolation
coming-of-age
class
survival
parenthood
Places: small town
countryside
school
Era: period
Audience: teen
Form: true story
Content intensity: Gore none
Language mild
Violence mild
Sex mild

All scales, 0 to 10

Scales, 0 to 10
Scale	Value	0 to 10
Action	2
Horror	1
Humour	5
Realism	8
Romance	4
Tension	3
Darkness	5
Complexity	4
Emotional weight	6

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Cast

Bud CortMax Brown
Samantha EggarAlice Field
Chris WigginsLyle Bishop
Gary ReinekeHarris Montgomery
John FriesenDave McDougall
Michael J. ReynoldsBurt Fields
Kenneth GriffithInspector Woods
Scott SwanDan Trowbridge
Merrilyn GannSheila Barnes
Norma WestMrs. Bishop
Margery HillMrs. Montgomery
Joanne McNealMrs. McDougall
George GwinDance Caller
Doug BlakePercy Garfield
Alan StebbingsLester Sinclair

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Details

Genres: drama, comedy
Directed by: Silvio Narizzano
Written by: James Defelice
Starring: Bud Cort, Samantha Eggar, Chris Wiggins, Gary Reineke, John Friesen, Michael J. Reynolds, Kenneth Griffith, Scott Swan
Cinematography: Marc Champion
Runtime: 100 min
Country: Canada
Languages: English

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Why Shoot the Teacher?

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