Stand and Deliver
Stand and Deliver is a 1988 American drama film directed by Ramón Menéndez, written by Menéndez and Tom Musca, based on the true story of a high school mathematics teacher, Jaime Escalante. For portraying Escalante, Edward James Olmos was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 61st Academy Awards. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature in 1988. The film's title refers to the 1987 Mr. Mister song of the same name, which is also featured in the film's ending credits.
Plot
In the early 1980s, Jaime Escalante becomes a mathematics teacher at James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. The school is full of Latino students from working-class families whose academic achievement is far below their grade level. Two students, Angel and another gangster, arrive late and question Escalante's authority. Escalante demonstrates how to multiply numbers using one's fingers and appeals to the students' sense of humor. After class, some gangsters threaten Escalante. After school, he stops the gangsters from fighting. He then introduces himself as a "one-man gang" with the classroom as his domain. Escalante tells the students that he has decided to teach them algebra.
More details
author | Ramón Menéndez Tom Musca |
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contentLocation | Los Angeles |
director | Ramón Menéndez |
editor | Nancy Richardson |
genre | drama |
keywords | advanced advanced placement calculus algebra anonymous letter ap calculus calculus east los angeles educational testing service even fight garfield high school how to james a. garfield high school latino meet morning music teacher new student no air conditioning nothing original score parking lot substitute teacher teach test |
musicBy | Craig Safan |
nomination | Academy Award for Best Actor |
producer | Tom Musca |
productionCompany | American Playhouse |
publisher | Warner Bros. |
theme | biographical biographical drama high school independent race and ethnicity |