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Stand and Deliver

1988 film directed by Ramón Menéndez

Stand and Deliver is a 1988 biographical-drama film directed by written and directed by Ramon Menandez. Stand and Deliver is based on a true story of Jaime Escalante, a dedicated high school teacher, who helped 18 Hispanic students in Los Angeles, California learn calculus well enough to pass the Advanced Placement mathematics exam, even though originally many of them struggle with such elementary principles as multiplication and fractions.

A true story about a modern miracle. (Taglines)
I got more bad news for you, profe. I know this is really gonna trip you out, but... I forgot my pencil.

Jaime Escalante

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  • You only see the turn, you don't see the road ahead.

Dialogue

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Jaime Escalante: If I teach you sex, I'll have to give you sex for homework.
Jaime Escalante: [to his students] There will be no free rides, no excuses. You already have two strikes against you: your name and your complexion. Because of these two strikes, there are some people in this world who will assume that you know less than you do. Math is the great equalizer... When you go for a job, the person giving you that job will not want to hear your problems; ergo, neither do I. You're going to work harder here than you've ever worked anywhere else. And the only thing I ask from you is ganas. Desire.
[Passing one boy, he ruffles up the students hair]
Jaime Escalante: And maybe a haircut. [Everyone laughs] If you don't have the ganas, I will give it to you, because I'm an expert.
Jaime Escalante: Did you know that neither the Greeks nor the Romans were capable of using the concept of zero? It was your ancestors, the Mayans, who first contemplated the zero. The absence of value. True story. You burros have math in your blood...
Thug: Hey Kimo sabe todo ehh? The man knows everything. (Calling him) Hey Kimo Sabe.
Jaime Escalante: (Approving) Órale. Now, a negative times a negative equals a positive. Why? [The whole class looks at him blankly; he sighs deeply and shakes his head] We're gonna need a lot of Kleenexes - There's gonna be a lot of bloodshed.
Tito: Just don't ever let her know that you dig her. That's, like, the worst thing you can do with a woman.
[Escalante wakes a sleeping Tito in class]
Tito: I dreamed I was swimming with dolphins whispering imaginary numbers and searching for the fourth dimension.
Jaime Escalante: Good! Go back to sleep.
Jaime Escalante: Go to woodshop and make yourself a shoeshine box. You're gonna need it.
Angel Guzman: You're the man, you know? Why don't you put them in college, huh? So dumb taco venders like me can pick their vegetables for them, collect their garbage, clip their poodles' toenails. I may be a sinner, but I'm willing to pay for my sins.
Jaime Escalante: Right. See you at three.
Angel Guzman: I got more bad news for you, profe. I know this is really gonna trip you out, but... I forgot my pencil.
[Ana produces a pencil for him]
[Jaime is eating at the Delgado family's restaurant, speaking with them about Ana's decision to drop out of Garfield High]
Jaime Escalante: She'll just be a fat winch, waste her life away in your restaurant. You have to understand - she's top student.
Mr. Delgado: I started washing dishes for a nickel an hour. Now I own this place. Did I waste my life?
Jaime Escalante: I washed dishes, too, when I first came to this country.
Mr. Delgado: Good! Why don't you put on an apron and give us a hand?
Jaime Escalante: Ana could go to college, come back, and teach you how to run this place.
Mr. Delgado: [He tears up the tab for Jaime's dinner] Professor Escalante, I don't want your money. And I don't need your business.
Jaime Escalante: [He reaches into his wallet, dropping the money on the table anyway] Tip, for Ana. By the way, I notice you put hot chillies in your dip to sell extra beer - don't you?
Jaime Escalante: That's right. Tough guys don't do math; tough guys deep fry chicken for a living.
Claudia Camejo: You're worried that we'll screw up royally tomorrow, aren't you?
Jamie Escalante: Tomorrow's another day. I'm worried you're gonna screw up the rest of your lives.
Angel Guzman: We're busted, why don't we just admit it?
Dr. Ramirez: How'd you do it?
Angel Guzman: I got the test ahead of time. I passed it out to all the others.
Dr. Pearson: How did you get the test?
Angel Guzman: The mailman [pause] I strangled him and his body's decomposing in my locker.
[The other students laugh]
[Angel and the little vato enter the classroom, trailed by another]
Jaime Escalante: Are your friends auditing?
Thug: I audited them to come with me.
[Angel doesn't want anyone to see him carrying books around]
Jaime Escalante: Wouldn't want anyone thinking you're intelligent, would you?
[Jaime is using girlfriends as the variables in an algebraic equation]
Raquel Ortega: Can you have negative girlfriends?
Jaime Escalante: No, only negative boyfriends. Forgive them, for they not know what they do.
Angel Guzman: Hey, aren't you proud of me? I'm the first one here! [pause] What's calcoolus?
Angel Guzman: Yeah, I have the same answer as gordita.
Guadalupe "Lupe" Escobar: Don't call me gordita, pendejo.
Jaime Escalante: Do you want me to do it for you?
Pancho: Yes.
Jaime Escalante: You're supposed to say no.
Jaime Escalante: You're like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat there isn't there.
Jaime Escalante: [about Claudia] This girl's gotta do some work from the neck up. We're going to have to stay late again. Of course you know, we have pizza because they deliver. We can get fried chicken, hamburgers with cheese. We'll need donations. No, really, you owe me money anyway. You don't deserve the grades you're getting.
[Claudia gets up and leaves]
Jaime Escalante: Where are you going? Late for another date? She's got more boyfriends than Elizabeth Taylor.
Claudia Camenjo: I don't appreciate you using my personal life to entertain this class.
Jaime Escalante: What you got?
Pancho: I got a core.
Jaime Escalante: You owe me a hundred percent. And I'll see you in the People's Court.
Guadalupe "Lupe" Escobar: Kemo, we're seniors. This is our year to slack off.
Jaime Escalante: You think you got it, Johnny? Think you have the answer?
Johnny: Juan is X, Carlos is Y, Pedro is X + Y. Is Pedro bisexual or straight.
Jaime Escalante: Sometimes I worry about you.
Jaime Escalante: It's not that they're stupid, it's just that they don't know anything.
Jaime Escalante: [before confronting the ETS investigators] You know what kills me... it's that they lost the confidence in the system they're now finally qualified to be a part of. I don't know why I'm losing sleep over this. I don't need it. I could be making more money, with less hours, and have people treat me with respect.
Fabiola Escalante: Respect? Jaime, those kids love you.
Jaime Escalante: Do you think the students cheated?
Raquel: Mr. Escalante, you put these kids under an awful lot of pressure. They would have gone to any lengths to please you.
Jaime Escalante: You didn't answer my question.
Raquel: Well... every night when I go to bed, I watch the television news. I see a lot of people go on trial. They always deny everything, or their lawyers say they were insane at the time. A lot of them get off. But I believe that most people who get caught today are guilty. Don't you?
Jaime Escalante: [angrily] Yup. I know what you mean.
Pancho: I don't need no math. I got a solar calculator with my dozen donuts.
[Angel reaches for a pen in Jaime's shirt pocket; Jaime grabs his wrist]
Jaime Escalante: I wouldn't do that if I was you. Might lose a finger and won't be able to count to ten.
Jaime Escalante: [to Chuco and Company] I am El Cyclone,... from Bolivia. One-man gang. This classroom is my domain. Don't give me no gas, or I'll jump on your face and tattoo you chromosomes... If the only thing you know how to do is add or subtract, you will only be prepared to do one thing: Pump gas.
Jaime Escalante: Now you got a ticket to watch the show.
Jaime Escalante: Students will rise to the level of expectation, Senor Molina.
Jaime Escalante: I'm Jaime Escalante. I'm the A.P. Calculus teacher from Garfield High.
Dr. Pearson: I'm Dr. Pearson and this is Dr. Ramirez.
Jaime Escalante: I feel, uh, I have a right to know why you think my students cheated.
[Dr. Pearson looks to Dr. Ramirez for a beat]
Dr. Pearson: Mr. Escalante, I'm sorry you drove all the way out here...but we're not at liberty to discuss the controversy with you.
Jaime Escalante: I would just like to see the test, that's all.
Dr. Ramirez: Mr. Escalante, I understand what you're going through here...but I repeat, the problem is between the E.T.S. and the students.
Jaime Escalante: I would just like to see what kind of mistakes were made. Once again, I'm their teacher. I know my kids.
Dr. Pearson: Mr. Escalante, have a seat.
Jaime Escalante: No no, thank you.
Dr. Pearson: There were some...unorthodox, even illogical, computations for students of this caliber. Mistakes in simple math.
Jaime Escalante: Maybe they all made the same mistakes because they all have the same teacher teaching them the same program. I taught them step by step, all the same way.
Dr. Pearson: Look, your students averaged fewer than four wrong on the multiple choice...where other schools average, what, 14 to 18 incorrect answers? And we found out that most of your kids finished the test with time to spare.
Jaime Escalante: They should be rewarded, not punished.
Dr. Ramirez: [looks away] Mr. Escalante, the Educational Testing Service...does not act capriciously. Every major university in the United States subscribes to our service.
Jaime Escalante: I would just like to see the proof of wrongdoing. I would like to see the tests.
Dr. Ramirez: [looks away] Let me reiterate, there has been no proof of wrongdoing here, only a suspicion of cheating.
Jaime Escalante: In this country one is innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around.
Dr. Pearson: If you are so confident of your students' abilities, why not encourage them to retest?
Jaime Escalante: Why should I?
Dr. Pearson: If they don't, everyone will assume they cheated.
Jaime Escalante: Everyone will assume they cheated if they do. I want to see the test, please!
Dr. Ramirez: We're going around in circles here. Mr. Escalante, we are psychometricians, thorough to the point of boring. We're not out to get anybody.
Jaime Escalante: Not so fast. If this was a simple situation of two students cheating, that's one thing. But by making a blanket accusation, you're saying that there was a conspiracy. Every conspiracy has a leader. Who better qualify to be the leader than the teacher?
Dr. Ramirez: Mr. Escalante, nobody is accusing you here of anything.
Jaime Escalante: Not only me...the school, the parents, the entire community.
Dr. Ramirez: Scores this high, I guarantee you, will be questioned regardless of the school.
Jaime Escalante: Yes, but if this was Beverly Hills High School they wouldn't have sent you two to investigate.
Dr. Ramirez: [beat, looks away] Mr. Escalante, I hope you're not insinuating that we haven't earned our position here. 'Cause no one has given me a damn thing. I suggest...[points to Escalante] you're letting your emotions get the best of you.
Jaime Escalante: If no one has given you a damn thing, you should not be taking it away from my kids!
Dr. Ramirez: [raising his voice] The identity— [composes himself] of the students were concealed until it was determined that irregularities existed.
Jaime Escalante: Those scores would have never been questioned if my kids did not have Spanish surnames and come from barrio schools! You know that!
Dr. Ramirez: [beat, looks away] All right. We've been patiently explaining our position and listening to your complaints, but now...our conversation is over.
Jaime Escalante: There's something going on here that nobody is talking about! And you know what that is!
Dr. Ramirez: [beat, looks at Escalante] No one has the right to accuse me of racism. [shouting] NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO ACCUSE ME OF RACISM!
Jaime Escalante: I KNOW WELL HOW TO SPELL DISCRIMINATION! I thought this was over a long time ago. Are you doing it this to my kids?
Dr. Pearson: [looks away, composed] There are two kinds of racism, Mr. Escalante: Singling out a group because they're members of a minority, [looks at Escalante] and not singling out a group because they're members of a minority.
Jaime Escalante: My kids could teach you a thing or two, Johnny!
Dr. Pearson: I'm gonna call security if you can't control yourself, Escalante.
Jaime Escalante: Go for it! You didn't show me the test! You didn't prove anything! My kids didn't do anything! I'm gonna prove you guys wrong.
Dr. Ramirez: I hope you do, because it's not between you and me.
Jaime Escalante: Maybe not. But if I catch you on the street, I'm gonna kick the shit out of you.
(to a thug)
Jaime Escalante: You know the times tables?
Thug: I know the ones, the twos...the threes (shows him The Finger)
Jaime Escalante: (whispering) Ahhh The Fingerman ehh?. I am The Fingerman too; you know what I can do? I can multiply by nine. Three times nine? (starts counting with his fingers) one..two..three, what do you got? (shows fingers) twenty seven; six times nine, one..two..three..four..five..six, what do you got? (shows fingers again) fifty four; how about something more difficult? How about eight times nine? one..two..three..four..five..six..seven..eight, what do you got? (shows fingers a third time) seventy two.
Jaime Escalante: It will be harder. You can count on that. Just go step by step and play defense. Don't bring anything. No pencils, no erasers, nothing. Don't wear clothes with too many pockets. Don't let your eyes wander. No spacing out. Don't give them any opportunity to call you cheaters. You are the true dreamers. And dreams accomplish wonderful things. You're the best. Tomorrow you'll prove that you're the champs. Start with Chapter 1.
Jesse Molina: (on phone) Yes, uh, this is Mr. Molina calling again. I speak to Dr...Yes, I did. Oh you do? Yes! Uh, yes! I-I'd like that very much, uh. Uh, one moment. Yes, um, yes I'm aware of the scoring. Three is uh, uh a passing grade, five is a perfect grade. Yes, I'm ready. Go ahead. Diaz, Maria, four. Sinfuentes, Mark, five. Narvarra, Jose, four.
Jaime Escalante: I want the original scores reinstated.
Jesse Molina: Santos, Daniel, four. Escobar, Guadalupe, five. Camejo, Claudia, four. Ana Delgado, four. Garcia, Francisco, three. Fuentes, Rafaela, four. Javier Perales, five. Guitaro, Armando, four. Angel Guzman...five. Estelle, tell them to hold the meeting. We coming with great news. Um, Pernajas, Juliana, five. Hernandez, Alejandro, four. Castro, Monica, four.
Ending Text:
In 1982 Garfield H.S. had 18 students pass the A.P. Calculus Exam.
In 1983 Garfield H.S. had 31 students pass the A.P. Calculus Exam.
In 1984 Garfield H.S. had 63 students pass the A.P. Calculus Exam.
In 1985 Garfield H.S. had 77 students pass the A.P. Calculus Exam.
In 1986 Garfield H.S. had 78 students pass the A.P. Calculus Exam.
In 1987 Garfield H.S. had 87 students pass the A.P. Calculus Exam.

Cast

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Taglines

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  • In 1982, a new troublemaker hit Garfield High... He was tough. He was wild. He was willing to fight. He was the new math teacher.
  • At a tough school one teacher and one class proved to America they could...Stand and Deliver.
  • A true story about a modern miracle.
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