Stand and Deliver is a 1988 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Ramón Menéndez, written by Menéndez and Tom Musca and produced by Musca. It is based on the true story of Garfield High School mathematics teacher Jaime Escalante, who inspired 18 Latino students to pass Advanced Placement Calculus in 1982. The film's title refers to Mr. Mister's 1987 song "Stand and Deliver", which is also featured in the film's ending credits. 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. In 2011, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot In the early 1980s, Jaime Escalante becomes a mathematics teacher at James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Latino students from working-class families have academic achievement far below their grade level. 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 him. After school, he stops the gangsters from fighting. Escalante decides to teach the students algebra. At a meeting, he learns that the school's accreditation is under threat, as test scores are not high enough. He says that students will rise to the level that is expected of them and gives the students a quiz every morning. He instructs his class under the philosophy of ganas. Escalante tells other faculty that he wants to teach the students calculus, seeking to change the school culture to help the students excel in academics. Other teachers ridicule him, as the students have not taken the prerequisites. Escalante states that the students can take the prerequisites over the summer, setting a goal of having the students take Advanced Placement Calculus by their senior year. The students sign up for the prerequisites over the summer. In the fall, he gives them contracts to be signed by the parents; they must come in on Saturdays, show up an hour early to school, and stay until 5pm in order to prepare for the AP Calculus exam. Two weeks before the exam, Escalante teaches an ESL class when he suddenly clutches at his torso in pain, stumbles into the hallway, and falls. Escalante escapes from the hospital and shows up at school to continue teaching. After taking the AP calculus exam, the students head to the beach and celebrate. All 18 students who took the exam pass it. At a meeting to congratulate them, a plaque of appreciation is presented to Escalante. To the dismay of Escalante and the students, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) questions the students' exam scores. Escalante finds an anonymous letter of resignation in his school mail and walks home that evening, as his car has been stolen. Dismayed, he confides in his wife that he regrets having taught calculus because the students did well but nothing changed. Fabiola reassures him, stating that his students appreciate his efforts. Outside, students surprise him by fixing his car. Escalante meets with the investigators from ETS and offers to have the students retake the test. Despite having only one day to prepare, all the students pass, and Escalante demands that the original scores be reinstated. End captions indicate that in the summer of 1982, Escalante's entire class passed AP Calculus and in subsequent years, his program became even more successful.
Cast
Production
Preproduction In 1984, Ramón Menéndez, a recent UCLA film school graduate, discovered Jaime Escalante's story through a Los Angeles Times article about the controversial re-testing of his calculus students. Menéndez collaborated with fellow UCLA alumnus Tom Musca to co-write the screenplay. Securing the film rights required six months of persuasion, culminating in Escalante agreeing to the project for a nominal fee of one dollar. Initial attempts to secure funding from independent studios were unsuccessful, as the subject matter was deemed commercially unviable. However, the project gained traction through a $12,000 grant from PBS' American Playhouse anthology series. Additional financial support was provided by the National Science Foundation, the Atlantic Richfield Company, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The role of Escalante was originally offered to Raul Julia, who turned it down but later had a change of heart. By that time however, Menéndez and Musca had offered the part to Edward James Olmos, then known for his role in Miami Vice. He joined the project, contributing his production company to the film's development. The film had a modest budget of approximately $800,000, a sum raised by Musca knocking on closed doors and eventually getting a L.A. based oil company to step up to the plate. Olmos attributed the film's eventual realization to a concerted grassroots effort and described the project as a "miracle" given the climate for Latino-themed films in Hollywood at the time. Escalante reportedly recounted his real-life classroom interactions in detail. A number of the film's most quoted lines such as "You burros have math in your blood", were lifted directly from Escalante's classroom.
Casting Olmos was cast as Jaime Escalante, a role for which he conducted extensive research, including shadowing Escalante for 18 hours a day and residing in his home to authentically capture his mannerisms and teaching style, as well as gaining 40 pounds and thinning his hair. Menéndez and Musca's casting process had a focus on Latino and Chicano actors, many of whom were newcomers, to accurately represent the student body of Garfield High School. For the role of Angel, Olmos recommended Lou Diamond Phillips based on their previous work together. Phillips prepared for the role with the help of production assistant Daniel Villareal, who was later cast as Angel's friend, Chuco. Phillips won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Actor James Victor, who played Ana's father, sued the film's producers for $3 million, citing breach of contract and failure to provide front-end credits. His request for an injunction against the film's release was denied by a Superior Court judge.
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