The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

From Freepedia

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a novel by Muriel Spark, first published in 1962. By far the best-known of Spark's books, it helped make her name as a leading figure in modern English literature.

This novel has been turned into a play, a well-known film starring Maggie Smith, and a TV series.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

It tells the story of Jean Brodie, a teacher at the fictional Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh in Scotland during the 1930s. Unconventional but talented in some respects, she gathers around her a group of young schoolgirls known as the "Brodie Set". Her manipulative behaviour with the girls and her sympathies towards Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco lead ultimately to her betrayal by Sandy, one of her "set", and the loss of her job.

It was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, although it is fairly popular some have questioned whether it is particularly faithful to the novel. The number of girls in the "Brodie Set" are reduced and some of them are composites of girls in the novel.

Allen adapted this play into a movie in 1969, which was directed by Ronald Neame. It is mainly remembered for Maggie Smith's performance in the title role, which won the Academy Award for Best Actress; there was also a notable performance from Pamela Franklin as Sandy, and Gordon Jackson, Robert Stephens and Celia Johnson played some of the teachers. Rod McKuen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for "Jean", which became a huge hit for the singer Oliver in autumn 1969. The play also underwent modification for the film, it cut out a few scenes showing Sandy in later life as a nun. It is debatable whether these scenes are really necessary, it is sometimes played without them on stage.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was turned into a television series in 1978, also written by Jay Presson Allen, and starring Geraldine McEwan. Unlike the other versions of the story, this is little remembered, and some would question whether it was advisable to turn it into a TV series.