The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Morning, girls.

Good morning.

There's Miss Brodie.

Miss Brodie!

Oh, girls, how lovely

to see you. Thank you.

- I've been looking for you all over the place.

- Have you had a nice holiday?

Oh, you wait till

I tell you about Italy.

- Good morning, Miss Brodie.

- Morning, Miss Brodie.

Oh, good morning,

Mr. Lowther, Mr. Lloyd.

- Will you put that upstairs?

- Yes, Miss Brodie.

- Put that on the desk.

- Yes, Miss Brodie.

Come on.

Good morning, Miss Mackay.

You take charge of these two new girls.

Please see that they know what they have to do.

- Yes, Miss Mackay.

- Thank you so much.

- Sheila, there's no need to run.

- No, Miss Mackay.

Lord, behold us with Thy blessing

Once again assembled here

Onward be

our footsteps pressing

In Thy love

and faith and fear

Still protect us,

Still protect us

By Thy presence

ever near

For Thy mercy

we adore Thee

For this rest

upon our way

Lord, again we bow

before Thee

Speed our labors

day by day

Mind and spirit

Mind and spirit

With Thy choicest

gifts array

Keep the spell

of home affection

Still alive

in every heart

May its power

with mild direction

Draw our love

from self apart

Till Thy children

Till Thy children

Feel that Thou

their Father art

Break temptation's

fatal power

Shielding all

with guardian care

Safe in every

careless hour

Safe from sloth

and sensual snare

Thou, our savior

Thou, our savior

Still our failing

strength repair

Here comes Miss Brodie.

- Good morning, girls.

- Good morning, Miss Brodie.

You may sit down.

Who opened the window?

Whoever opened the window

has opened it too wide.

Six inches is

perfectly adequate.

More is vulgar.

Forsooth, one should have...

an innate sense of these things,

of what is suitable.

Morag, will you please?

Thank you.

I see we have

two new girls this term.

Will the two new girls

please stand up?

- You are?

- Emily Carstairs, Miss Brodie.

Emily Carstairs.

There.

You are inscribed.

Would you like to tell us

something about yourself, Emily?

I'm a Girl Guide, Miss Brodie.

I have six merit badges.

One for knot tying.

One for flag folding.

- Indeed.

- One...

For those who like that sort of thing,

that is the sort of thing they like.

You may sit down, Emily.

And this is Mary McGregor.

Well, what about you, Mary?

You don't look to me like a girl who ties knots.

N-N-No, Miss Brodie, but my b-b-brother does.

That is as it should be.

But what about you?

What are your interests?

I haven't g-got any.

I d-d-don't think.

That is what I am for,

Mary McGregor...

to provide you

with interests.

You may sit down now, Mary.

Little girls, I am in the business

of putting old heads on young shoulders.

All my pupils are

the crme de la crme.

Give me a girl

at an impressionable age...

and she is mine for life.

You girls are my vocation.

If I were to receive

a proposal of marriage tomorrow...

from the Lord Lyon, king of arms,

I would decline it.

I am dedicated

to you in my prime.

And my summer in Italy

has convinced me...

that I am truly

in my prime.

Emily, Mary McGregor,

you are new to this institution.

It is possible you will hear my teaching

methods decried in certain quarters...

as being unsuitable for a conservative

school like Marcia Blaine.

That is to say, a school dedicated

to the status quo.

Can anyone define

"status quo"?

Sandy?

Does it mean staying the same,

Miss Brodie?

Precisely.

Staying the same to the point

of petrification.

P-E-T-R-I-F...

I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Petrification.

I do not intend to devote

my prime to petrification.

Prop up your books

in case of intruders.

If there are intruders,

we are doing our history.

But we will not

do our history.

Can anyone tell me who is

the greatest Italian painter?

Leonardo da Vinci,

Miss Brodie.

That is incorrect,Jenny.

The answer is Giotto.

He is my favorite.

Observe, little girls,

Stanley Baldwin...

who got in as prime minister

and got out again ere long.

Our headmistress,

Miss Mackay...

retains him on the walls because

she believes in the slogan "safety first".

Safety does not come first.

Goodness, Truth

and Beauty come first.

One's prime brings one's insight

into these things.

One's prime is the moment

one is born for.

You little girls must be

on the alert to recognize your prime...

at whatever time

it may occur...

and live it to the full.

"Season of mist

and mellow fruitfulness".

I want to tell you

of a moment in my life...

when I was very young...

younger even

than the man himself.

His name was Hugh.

I fell deeply in love

with Hugh...

in the last year

of the war...

but he fell

on Flanders field.

Helen McPhee, are you thinking

of doing a day's washing?

- No, Miss Brodie.

- You have your sleeves rolled up.

Roll them down at once.

I won't have to do with girls...

who roll up the sleeves

of their blouses.

We are civilized beings.

He fell on Flanders field.

He fell the week before

armistice was declared.

He fell like an autumn leaf.

Remind me to show you a map of Flanders

and the spot where my lover...

was laid to sleep forever,

before you were born.

"Come autumn so pensive

in yellow and gray...

and soothe me with tidings

of nature's decay".

Robert Burns.

Hugh fell

like an autumn leaf.

After the armistice,

people were dancing and singing forjoy...

in the streets, but...

Hugh was one of the flowers

of the forest...

lying in his grave.

What seems to be

ailing the spirits of...

Monica Maclaren,

isn't it?

Monica cries easily.

Well, Monica, perhaps you can

tell me why you are crying.

She's moved by a story

I have been telling...

of the Battle of Flodden.

Crying over

a history lesson?

It is a moving story.

The night before Flodden,

at Mercat Cross beside St. Giles...

a ghostly herald was heard

reading the names...

of all the noble families of Scotland

beginning with the king.

After the battle,

there was not one family...

who had not suffered

grievous loss...

as you well know,

Miss Mackay.

To be sure.

Well, girls, I know you're all

going to work hard...

at every subject

this year.

A good beginning

makes a good ending.

I hope you all

had splendid holidays...

and I look forward to reading

your splendid essays...

on how you spent them.

You shouldn't be crying

over a history lesson at your age.

My word.

Thank you,Janet.

Good morning,

Miss Mackay.

You may sit down, girls.

You did well, Monica,

not to answer the question put to you.

It is well when in difficulties

to say never a word...

neither black

nor white.

But you did,

Miss Brodie.

You were in difficulty,

and you made up about Flodden.

Sandy, please try to do as I say

and not as I do.

Remember, you are

a child, Sandy...

and far from your prime.

- I hear I must congratulate you on the birth of another child.

- Yes, another daughter.

Have you never heard

of Marie Stopes...

architect for constructive birth control

and racial progress?

Ah, yes. An estimable woman. But my church

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