Zoomers of a certain age may feel even older when they realize that 50-years ago Wednesday, June 14, “To Sir With Love” turns 50.

The movie broke new racial ground when Sidney Poitier was cast as American Mark Thackeray.  When he can’t find work as an engineer, he takes a job as a teacher in a rough London East End school populated mostly with troublemakers who’ve been rejected from other schools because of their behaviour.

The move was based on E.R. Braithwaite’s 1959 novel of the same name.  It was made for $625,000 and earned more than $42-million world wide.