Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941) User Reviews

Some teachers just teach. Others inspire.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 27 August 2015]

Did you ever have a spinster school-teacher whose unique look at life made you open your eyes to a world you never would have imagined without them? That's the magic of Martha Scott's Ella Bishop, and in this story, her career is explored from her college graduation to her retirement and how her lengthy tenure is honored. Of course, a lovely lady like Ella Bishop has many suitors, none more memorable to her than handsome William Gargan, but as time goes by, her dedication to her students take precedence over her love life.

Changes in administration and teaching methods also have an effect on her, and with brief conflicts over her methods after initial college president Edmund Gwenn retires, she becomes known for being a cantankerous old lady. So what does a cantankerous old lady do to show she is changing with the times? Go out and buy that new fangled contraption called an automobile, that's what. She also takes in a new born orphaned baby girl, and as time goes by, her role as surrogate mother to this infant becomes a major priority as well. But every beautiful career must have an end, and Scott intends to go out with dignity.

This slice-of-life drama isn't a full plot for sure, but other than a montage of history passing by (which cuts out several decades of her life), that doesn't matter in the structure of this touching drama. Scott, fresh from her success as the young bride in "Our Town", is equally as good here, and this certainly could be called "Our School" had it not been based upon a book (by Bess Streeter Aldrich). Great character performances aid in the passage of time with Sterling Holloway going down El Brendel territory as a gardener who keeps going "Yumpin' Yimminy!" every time somebody treads through his flower beds. But what the story's true theme is follows her interest in various students: a country bumpkin who makes it big, as well as a female European immigrant who becomes a famous historian. While there are a few minor disappointments in the film's flow, it culminates in a beautiful conclusion where all her efforts of the past come back to pay homage to her.

Movies about teachers have been a mixed bag with some good ones ("Remember the Day", made the following year; "Good Morning, Miss Dove", "To Sir With Love", "Up the Down Staircase") and a few others of mixed messages ("The Class of Miss MacMichael", "Teachers") and of course, some modern classics ("Lean on Me", "Stand and Deliver", "Dead Poets Society"). Teachers either touch our lives, annoy us or bring out a desire to find the truth about things we feel passionately about. "Miss Bishop" might not be a great film, but it certainly inspires a respect and memory of those who did, like Martha Scott's lovely lady, and reminds us of the innocence of those lost years that no matter how much you change over the years can never forget.

Cheers for Miss Scott, but Not for Miss Bishop

[dglink · 6/10 · 13 September 2007]

Sentimental, melodramatic, and ultimately unconvincing, "Cheers for Miss Bishop" bears more than a passing resemblance to "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," which was released a couple years earlier. Although the dialog implies that Miss Bishop has deeply influenced her students over the decades of her teaching at a Midwestern college, the film focuses more on the parade of suitors that pass through the family home courting Miss Bishop, her sister, her niece, and her grandniece in turn, than on the student-teacher relationships. Miss Bishop's teaching career is only glimpsed between romantic interludes that assert that even spinster schoolteachers have love lives. Unfortunately, the men in Miss Bishop's life are singularly unattractive and ineligible, except of course for the faithful love-smitten friend that she consistently refuses.

However, despite the flaws in the script, which strives in vain to encompass the personal and global events of a half century into 95 minutes of screen time, the film does have some saving graces. Martha Scott as Miss Ella Bishop is convincing throughout, even in the face of embarrassingly corny lines and cardboard situations. The character ages from her late teens to her early 70's, and, aided only with the white hair and light age makeup of the period, Scott remains convincing throughout. However, unlike the endearing Mr. Chips, Miss Bishop is somewhat brittle and rigid, especially in her mature years, and she does not engender affection from the audience or even from her students, as evidenced by the forced tributes they render during the predictable retirement dinner. Besides Scott, Edmund Gwenn as the college head and Bishop's mentor also rises above the script, although the rest of the cast tends to blur together. However, the distinctive and familiar voice of Rand Brooks, who played Scarlett O'Hara's first husband in "Gone with the Wind," will revive dozing viewers near the end when he appears as yet another suitor.

Tay Garnett's direction can only be described as workmanlike, and, despite the short running time and episodic structure, viewers may glance at their watches from time to time. Although the sets have the cozy fake feeling that distinguished studio films of the era, the black-and-white cinematography is only adequate. While a retelling of "Mr. Chips" from the distaff side may have seemed like a sure-fire project, the film's intended audience of young females today would probably fidget as much as their male counterparts over the syrupy sentiment and quaint conventions portrayed. With a hopelessly dated script, "Cheers for Miss Bishop" is worthy viewing primarily for the performances of Scott and Gwen. However, those who gag on Hallmark greeting cards may want to pass on this one.

A decent film (in more ways than one)

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 26 September 2011]

I disagree, a bit, with several of the other reviews here. Yes, this is a very sentimental movie. But this was about life in the 1800s -- a simpler time. Not that Miss Bishop didn't have her challenges -- the love of her life stolen by her sister...who then dies while bearing a child...a child whom Miss Bishop raises while she herself becomes a spinster...a second love who cannot get a divorce to marry her. No, Miss Bishop did not lead a lovely life, even if she maintained her dignity throughout. No, Miss Bishop didn't have the fiery character that some character played by Bette Davis might have. But a Bette Davis character was not what author Bess Streeter Aldrich had in mind. This was a story of the heartland of America...a sort of adult "Little House On The Prairie". For those who want something more spicy, go elsewhere. This is not the film for you.

This was Martha Scott's film. No question. And whenever I see her, it amazes me that this is the lady who later played memorable roles in "The Ten Commandments" and "Ben-Hur". Miss Bishop is a very different type of character here, of course, but what a fine actress. Too bad she didn't make more films.

Supporting players of note include William Gargan (who later in life developed throat cancer, had his larynx removed, and then spoke through an artificial voice box), Edmund Gwenn (who doesn't seem much like Santa Claus here, but does very nicely), Rosemary DeCamp (making her film debut here), Sterling Holloway, and Sidney Blackmer.

This film is not for everyone. But, I enjoyed the simple tale, nicely told. Not for the DVD shelf, perhaps, but worth a watch for film buffs.

Great Classic 1941 Film

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 13 April 2007]

Enjoyed this picture which deals with a young woman, Martha Scott,(Ella Bishop) who is bound and determined to go to college and become a teacher. Ella accomplishes her goal and is given the position of a freshman English teacher in her home town college. Edmund Quenn,(James Cocoran) "Miracle on 34th Street" who played the role as the college president and gave Ella this job at the college and grew very fond of her. Ella meets a young man and falls in love with him, however, he runs off with her sister and destroys her marriage plans and her thinking about ever getting married again. Sidney Blackmer,"Rosemary's Baby", gave a great supporting role along with Marsha Hunt. There is another romance that Ella experiences except it is with a married man and his wife will not give him a divorce, so poor Ellas has to make a big decision about which way she is going to take. William Gargan, (Sam Peters) is deeply in love with Ella and wants to marry her and stands by her when life's troubles came her way.

The sad part about this film is that Martha Scott never received an Academy Award for her great acting performance role in this picture.

Missing (and/or) To Much Ingredient(s)?

[asktms · 6/10 · 27 January 2022]

On rare occasions, our daughter (and/or) her mother, will make, either her famous 'No Bake Cookies' (mom) or 'specialty brownies' (daughter), and the very moment that, any of our 2k-5k taste buds, actually reach either of these referenced treat's 'flavor nucleus', the wiring from our mouth's, complex-nervous-system, accesses the brain's 911 dispatch & instantaneously, confirms that, something in Denmark, isn't 'as ripe as it should be':

Not enough or to much - butter, salt, vanilla extract or egg(s), etc., but irrespective, what the exact problematic ingredient might be, it is often, in a mere instant that, we collectively realize that, something, has been Inadvertently changed (from either chef's original recipe).

Subsequently, 'Cheers for Miss Bishop', seemed to have all the right ingredients necessary, to not only make a genuinely exceptional film, but it also {seemingly} contained, the rarest of ingredients that, often can take an exceptional movie, and morph it, into a potential contender, as a true historical-classic.

And, considering the great film-classics, from the same era, such as: 'Stagecoach' (John Wayne), 'War of Wildcats' (also staring Martha Scott, opposite John Wayne) or, 'Grapes of Wrath' (w Henry Fonda) - Cheers for Miss Bishop's half-century plus (old) release date ('41), just cant be, the scapegoated-ingredient (either).

In the meantime, take heart that, this is a much-better-than-average movie, for the time period; however, its overall trajectory, seems quiet predictable, and merely borderline inspiring.

[Conversely, for those that can appreciate this type movie's genre & theme, especially the intrinsic value of students, after having been exposed, to any truly, exceptional teacher, viewers may want to consider the (classic) film: 'Good Morning Miss Dove' ('55)! ]

An enchanting voyage through one woman's life

[mountainkath · 8/10 · 10 March 2009]

I'm usually not a fan of overly sentimental movies, but I absolutely loved Cheers For Miss Bishop.

After viewing this movie I am shocked that Martha Scott is not remembered today. Her performance in this movie was just superb. She effortlessly moved from portraying Ella as a naive young teacher to a seasoned old timer.

Yes, this movie had its problems (most notably was Amy conveniently dying in childbirth and no one seemed to care), but I'm willing to overlook those faults.

I was totally caught up in this movie and in Ella's life. Her relationship with Sam was so tender and sweet. And even though I saw the ending coming a mile away, I was in tears when Ella arrived at the banquet and realized that it was for her.

I do have to quibble with a fellow reviewer's comments that this film was trying to evoke Casablanca. This movie was released in 1941. Casablanca was released in 1942. Please, if one is going to make such criticisms of movies, it's much more effective to have one's facts straight.

Unfocused Attempt at Sentimental Portrayal of Woman Educator

[krdement · 3/10 · 14 September 2007]

I think Martha Scott was a beautiful, talented woman, and the paucity of her cinematic oeuvre can only be explained by her desire to work on the New York stage. It is a pity that we do not have more films by this compelling actress - especially films that are better than Cheers.

It seems obvious that this movie was patterned after Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Just replace an endearing male main character with a female one and - voilá, another sentimental hit movie! Except the makers of this movie didn't understand or follow the "formula," so Cheers falls far short of its goal. It never achieves the necessary balance in depicting her personal and professional lives. After her first day in class, the film never again shows Miss Bishop teaching. Instead, it focuses on her personal life, where she is not overly sympathetic. Chips spent a brief, happy time with the love of his life. Miss Bishop gets involved with the wrong kind of men, spurning the man who really loves her.

The focus on her personal life starts off well enough with the depiction of her tragic first engagement. When her cad fiancé dumps Scott to elope with her coquettish, self-absorbed cousin, Scott evokes the empathetic sorrow of the audience. The cousin returns, and Scott accepts her with a sense of stoic responsibility. The cousin promptly (and perfunctorily!) dies in child birth, leaving Scott with a baby she raises on her own.

Then she takes up with a new professor. Their farewell scene is intended to inspire the same kind of emotion evoked by Humphrey Bogart's "We'll always have Paris" observation in Casablanca. But this film really hasn't developed their relationship. Besides, the professor is already married (and, unlike Ingrid Bergman, he KNOWS his wife is alive)! He's a cad! Scott knowingly has gotten herself into a no-win situation, and, indeed, she doesn't win. NOBODY will ever remember, "We'll always have Ovieto," as the filmmaker wants.

Somewhere along the line, the niece marries and moves away, and HER daughter comes back to live with Scott, her great-aunt. Calendar pages roll past the screen, different modes of transportation crush flower beds, Scott has brushes with students on the steps of "Old Main," and time generally passes. But nothing of any real character development or plot development happens. She isn't shown in the classroom. She just seems to keep her perpetual suitor, William Gargan, on a leash like a puppy (which is less endearing than pathetic).

She is called on the carpet by the new college president because she won't modernize her teaching techniques. But we have never seen her in the classroom, so we have no idea whether she has been effective. We have no way of knowing whether the president is unreasonable, or SHE is. It is simply a scene. (in the next scene her pal, Gwenn, provides insight that apparently inspires her to change - but we never see how!)

As one commentator noted, two of the testimonials at the end are perfunctory accounts of the earlier, inconsequential brushes Miss Bishop had with those students. A third is offered by a former student on whom Scott actually did have a profound, positive impact in earlier scenes. It also brings to mind one of the few humorous moments in the film. The fourth is offered by a shy woman played by Rosemary De camp. Scott's earlier defense of De camp against charges of cheating is one of only two scenes that show her having a strong, positive impact on the young people at the college. However, except for De camp's expression of continued adoration, none of the former students' remarks is actually a testimonial to Scott as a great role model, mentor or teacher. They are simply remembrances of those casual, brief encounters on the steps of the admin building!

Edmund Gwenn gives his usual professional performance, here as a very sympathetic college president. His relationship with Scott is the best developed relationship in the movie. The coquettish cousin is played well by Mary Anderson. William Gargan is the most sympathetic character in the movie, however his unrequited devotion to Scott is not developed with any depth or insight. It is, thus, rather inexplicable and lacks the emotional impact the filmmakers apparently intend. There is never any extended, profound dialog between Scott and Gargan. She just seems to take him for granted as a dear friend, dissuading any further emotional involvement, but never really telling him to go find another woman. He, on the other hand, seems convinced for most of the movie that "one of these days" Scott will come around. It is a superficial treatment of the central relationship in the movie!

Martha Scott's acting is terrific, convincing us that she does, indeed, age over 50 years despite the use of little makeup to age her. She, however, like every other member of the cast, is just too burdened by a script that doesn't develop the characters or the aspects of her life to bring this movie into clear enough focus for us ultimately to care what happens. She is supposed to be a dedicated teacher, because we are TOLD she is, but we never SEE it - except in a couple of early scenes. Otherwise, her career seems completely secondary to her personal life.

I love so-called "sentimental" films, and I would not fault this one for being sentimental. The problem lies not with its BEING sentimental, but in its FAILURE to be sentimental. Instead it is just an unfocused, flat film. Characters and relationships are just too underdeveloped to appeal to our sentiments. Cheers spends way too little time on character development and way too much time on devices to show that time is passing. But that time is essentially empty for both the film and the audience.

Life And Job Become Bound As One

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 12 June 2007]

Most of Cheers for Miss Bishop is told in flashback as Martha Scott reminisces with old friend William Gargan about her fifty years as a professor of English at Midwestern University. In fact the whole film is held together by Martha Scott's powerful performance in the title role.

Scott tells of her life beginning with her accepting a position at a small college after graduating from same as an English teacher. She's one of those rare people who's life and job become bound as one and finds she has no use for the other aspects of life like home and family. Even Robert Donat's Mr. Chips married Greer Garson albeit ever so briefly.

Not that she didn't have chances to marry, but her career and her students came first.

Martha Scott gets good support from a nice ensemble of players that also include Edmund Gwenn and John Hamilton as her college presidents, Dorothy Peterson as her mother, and Mary Anderson as her great niece.

Particularly impressive to me was Rosemary DeCamp as a young Scandinavian immigrant student who Scott recognizes intuitively as being an incipient genius with a photographic memory. When she's accused of cheating Scott saves her from expulsion by having her recite the Declaration of Independence from memory. It's a very powerful screen debut for Rosemary DeCamp.

Still the film is Martha Scott's show and a good show it is too.

This all seems a bit recycled

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 3 March 2007]

I am a teacher, so it might seem a bit surprising that I felt rather indifferent to this film about an English professor. While Martha Scott is competent in the lead role, the film offers nothing particularly new or compelling--especially since the film seems an awful lot like a mediocre re-working of GOODBYE MR. CHIPS. However, unlike CHIPS, this film offers no particularly interesting insights into Miss Bishop and other than teaching for a very long time, I can't think of how this character merits a film. Sure, she sacrifices her love life for teaching, there really is no reason for this to have happened--other than it was a plot device and fit the formula of the film. Please understand, I am not saying the film is bad or not worth seeing--its just that CHIPS and THE CORN IS GREEN and many other films cover the same type material in a much better and more interesting way.

Three Cheers for Miss Bishop

[Harpo-10 · 8/10 · 16 July 1999]

I just saw this movie for the first time today. Martha Scott did a superb job playing a mid-western teacher who put her career and love for people above her own personal happiness. I really enjoyed this sentimental piece. The supporting cast was excellent too.

On the Sticky Side

[dougdoepke · 8 October 2014]

The movie follows the course of an unmarried teacher's life and loves over the period of her lengthy career.

The narrative has to cover a fifty-year span in 90-minutes, which is a challenge even for the best screenplays. This one, however, cobbles together both people and events in a loose way that unfortunately gets little beyond surfaces. Other reviewers are correct—there is very little character development. Instead, people more or less drift in and out of the teacher's life without time to develop. As a result, it's hard to engage with characters, and even with Scott's Miss Bishop since the teacher's role is underplayed. (An exception, as others note, is Minna whose difficulty is very vividly done.) Still, Miss Bishop's recessive manner perhaps conveys repressed emotion, not improbable behavior for a spinster of that time. If some such were intended, it would be an interesting angle, but I don't see much thematic evidence of that. All in all, Miss Bishop comes across more like an on-looker to her own life rather than a participant.

Nonetheless, the film deals, at least tangentially, with a difficult topic for the period. That is, can an unmarried professional woman have a rewarding life without being a wife and a mother. To the film's credit, it appears to say yes, as the final tribute scene affirms. Still, the film does fudge by making the spinster (Scott) attractive and with a life-long suitor (Gargan) whom she inexplicably keeps on a tether. So, remaining unmarried stands as her choice rather than an outside imposition. The film would have been more memorable, I think, had production made Miss Bishop more plain, and dealt with the problems of a plain, unmarried woman given the mores of passing generations. But dealing honestly with plain women was never a Hollywood or box-office favorite.

Anyway, the movie's mainly a sanitized concoction for viewers who like dipping into old style Hollywood soaps. The production's not without its moments, but the overall effect is pretty loose and sticky.

Bad idea

[kcfl-1 · 3/10 · 14 March 2019]

This film reminded of the the days when local TV stations fit films into a time slot. If it didn't fit, they cut it down to size. Except that I saw the entire film. It was just so choppy. The writers tried to boil 50 years down into less than 100 minutes. They seemed afraid of leaving out any of the book's high points. So it veered from one big moment (boy-meets-girl, boy instantly loves girl) to another. It had already lost me when a professor assigned reading the Constitution and Declaration of Independence in one night. I doubt the writers ever read the Constitution. Ms B. finally accepts a dream job in NY. College president asks her not to. Never mind. As for spoilers: The title contains its own spoiler! From it we know that the heroine will be a success in her field...and that she will never get married.

Miss Bishop Meets Mr. Chips and Miss Dove ***1/2

[edwagreen · 9/10 · 15 September 2007]

Martha Scott gives a memorable performance as Miss Bishop, who teaches freshman English for over 50 years and obviously has an effect on her students. The effects should have been more closely depicted. We briefly see a student with interest in astronomy. We can hardly think that a student will be nurtured through an understanding of a transitive verb. The one student who is affected by Bishop is a terrific Rosemary De Camp in a supporting performance. De Camp plays a foreigner who memorizes the Declaration of Independence and years later becomes a history expert.

The film depicts the life of Miss Bishop. Unfortunately, for her, what we see here is a revisit to the radio soap opera of the 1930s, Helen Trent. Remember Helen? She never went beyond 35 but had miserable luck when it came to men. The same is true for Bishop here except for the fact that she ages the 50 years.

Edmund Gwenn is marvelous as her first college professor. He certainly would serve as an inspiration to us all.

Bishop's love life was something else. She had every opportunity to marry milkman William Gargan but refused to do so. Anything to do with social class here? Methinks so. Two other romantic liaisons end miserably and tragically as well.

Still, Scott's acting is terrific here. It was interesting to see that after 25 years of teaching, her methodology is criticized by the new college president. She is essentially told to get with it and she takes the plunge into the new century with new clothes and driving a car!

This film is a total memorable experience!

Too much syrup in the script...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 17 February 2007]

The best that can be said for CHEERS FOR MISS BISHOP is MARTHA SCOTT gives a quietly understated performance as the lovelorn school marm in the title role. She's clearly the film's best asset.

The script is a mawkish thing, unabashedly sentimental in the tradition of "women's films" of the '40s, never missing an opportunity for a close-up of tearful, self-effacing, noble Miss Bishop as she is forced to discard all of the men who genuinely love her.

With barely a hint of comedy to lighten the dramatics, it wallows in artificial soap suds for the greater part of its length. WILLIAM GARGAN is pleasant as her life-long friend and companion who loves her from afar, and MARSHA HUNT, SIDNEY BLACKMER and STERLING HOLLOWAY do nicely in supporting roles.

MARY ANDERSON plays the vampish "other woman" with batting eyes and coquettish ways in what must be her most overbaked style. Her winning Scott's beau with her wily ways in the moonlight makes for a plot device hard to swallow. EDMUND GWENN lends his solid, dignified presence to the role of a school president who encourages Scott on her decision to remain a teacher at the hometown college.

Through all of the tears, Miss Scott remains as noble as Greer Garson ever was in any of her MGM long-suffering parts thanks to the advice she's always getting from others in the way of modern methods.

Summing up: A poor man's "Chips", overly sentimental story of an old maid schoolteacher with too much syrup in the script--too heavy on unending sentiment.

Trivia note: For a saga that covers some 60 years in the life of a schoolmarm, the make-up artists opted for unconvincing white wigs with unlined faces.

As Miss Bishop, Martha Scott remains just as trim in old age as she was as a young woman instead of undergoing a more realistic aging, as did Olivia de Havilland for her character in TO EACH HIS OWN.

A Woman's 'Mr. Chips'

[ccthemovieman-1 · 27 April 2006]

This was a kind of a female "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" with Martha Scott in the lead. Unlike "Chips," however, this one centered more around the lead's relationships with the opposite sex than it did her teaching career.

The film starts off well with some wonderful old-fashioned goodness that one can only find in the movies during the 1930s or 1940s. Edmund Gwenn, who plays the president of the college featured in the film, begins a meeting with a prayer! Can you see that in today's films?

Unfortunately, Scott's morals deteriorate as she has a relationship with a married man. Later, her granddaughter thinks of doing the same. Nowhere in the film does it hint that perhaps that is the wrong thing to do! The only comment was that if you have kids, it would cause a scandal inferring that otherwise, hey, go for it! No wonder the Liberal critics love this movie.

If you like women's films, you probably will like this as romance is the main theme. To me, the beginning and the sentimental ending were nice but the bulk of the story.....well, better for someone who prefers "soaps."

Perfectly Charming

[marysandheger · 10/10 · 17 May 2020]

I love this movie, it's different for the era and shows that who we perceive as perfect , i.e. teachers have lives that can be tragic though beautiful. William Gargan is so adorable and handsome as Ella's not so secret admirer and lifelong platonic friend. The movie spans over 50 years of their lives , the happiness and tragedies that are inevitable in a long life such as hers. It showcases how ones life can affect so many others, there are many unique aspects on how Ella perseveres through ups and downs with grace and dignity. I disagree with the other review how her morals decline, it's just the opposite, really. She doesn't tell her great niece to go have an affair , she actually subtly guides her away. This movie reveals how human we all are with our own strengths and flaws and with Ella, her dedication throughout her life to being a teacher. Sweet and darling movie, I'd like it to be on the top 100 movies to before you die. So many life lessons.

This female version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips is much less satisfying

[jacobs-greenwood · 5/10 · 14 October 2016]

Tay Garnett directed this drama which comes off as a female version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), though this one was based on a Bess Streeter Aldrich novel that was adapted by Stephen Vincent Benet; Sheridan Gibney and Adelaide Heilbron wrote the screenplay. Edward Ward's Score received an Academy Award nomination.

Sentimental and not particularly affecting, the story chronicles fifty years of the title character's life, Ella Bishop, somewhat overplayed by Martha Scott. It begins with Ella as a student then valedictorian. Unable to find a job elsewhere, she becomes a freshman English teacher at her alma mater, Midwestern University, thanks to the college's president James Corcoran (Edmund Gwenn) in the 1880's.

Uninterested in the local boy she's known all of her life as a friend, Sam Peters (William Gargan), Ella practically throws herself at two outsiders who come to work at the university or in its small town. The first is an attorney and new junior partner Delbert Thompson (Donald Douglas), but he finds Ella's niece Amy (Mary Anderson, perhaps the only one to overact more than Ms. Scott) more attractive, or at least more willing (e.g. to go with him to "sit" in the moonlight by the river one night).

Delbert jilts his fiancée Ella to wed Amy, whereupon the two newlyweds quickly leave town. But Amy soon returns home, pregnant and abandoned by her husband, and later giving birth to a daughter that takes her life. Selfless Ella raises Hope, particularly since she's just spurned visiting professor John Stephens (Sidney Blackmer) after finding out he's married.

Hope (Marsha Hunt) grows up to be a beautiful brunette, attends Midwestern herself, and later marries Richard (Ralph Bowman aka John Archer) before they move away. Meanwhile, Corcoran retires and appoints Watts (John Hamilton) president. Old (and fairly bitter) maid Ella resists President Watts's new ideas until a conversation with Corcoran inspires her to catch up with the new and modern times.

Hope's daughter Gretchen (Lois Ranson) grows old enough to attend Midwestern about the time that Watts's replacement, President Crowder (Pierre Watkin), institutes a policy to retire older teachers and raze the college's original building to make room for new facilities. This leads to the film's predictable conclusion whereby Ella is herded to the old building by her family to attend a dinner in her honor and accept accolades from former students who've grown up to be well known persons: an astronomer (Knox Manning), a senator (John Arledge), and an historian (Rosemary DeCamp).

Sterling Holloway appears as the university groundskeeper and janitor Chris Jensen, whose flowers are always being trampled; Dorothy Peterson plays Ella's mother Ma Bishop.

Reflections on a Life Well-Lived

[bogardbraxton · 8/10 · 15 September 2020]

Check out my review on Letterboxd (3.5/5 stars): https://boxd.it/1ll5rZ

I'm still not quite sure how I stumbled upon this film, but I'm glad I did. The film isn't perfect, but I enjoyed the time I spent with it all the same.

Cheers for Miss Bishop is about a woman looking back at her life as an educator and all the tender moments, and sometimes sad ones, she had throughout her career.

There's a recurring theme of patriotism and discourses on freedom in the United States fill several scenes. At first, I didn't quite understand why such talk of patriotism was relevant to the story at hand. Such was obviously rooted in my ignorance of the time period in which the film was produced-1941, right in the middle of World War II when America was literally at war over values and freedom-and it was only obvious after realizing this fact that I was able to understand one of the core themes of the film: wisdom, gained through only the best education one may receive, is the most important principle we have in preserving true freedom. Miss Bishop of course acknowledges that America isn't and hasn't been perfect in all of its ideals, but it has done its best and ultimately is a true bastion of freedom. Perhaps she, in reflecting on her life, saw these ideals in herself. We saw her mistakes and her lowest moments. Just like America had imperfections but still shined bright with liberty, so too did Miss Bishop live a life riddled with mistakes but one that was worth living and one that shone bright to all of her students.

----------------------

One of the things that frustrated me most was perhaps what worked best in the romance between the titular Miss Bishop and Sam. It was so obvious how much Sam loved her, and seeing her not accept his love saddened my heart. He was the best man she could have had, and she did not fully accept that until near the end of her life at the close of the film. As frustrating as it is, this is a film about a human, and humans are complicated. Emotions are complex. We're messy. We don't always want what others think we should, and that makes life beautiful.

I enjoy films that reflect on lives lived, on possibilities and realities, and this film did not disappoint me when it came to that.

If you're like me, you'll find something to love here, too.

Boring

[arfdawg-1 · 2/10 · 29 January 2017]

The Plot.

In old age, Miss Bishop reminisces about her life. As if anyone cares.

A dedicated teacher, she spent her whole life teaching at Midwestern College.

She never married when her first love married her cousin and another could not get a divorce from his wife. Man, she's a mess.

When her cousin dies giving birth, she raises the girl as if she were her own daughter and names her Hope. Because her cousin had none.

Throughout her life, she proved to be an inspiration to many students, many of whom move on to great things. While she sat at home and stewed.

On her retirement, many of her students return to say farewell. They are all happy she is gonna die.

This is a movie where making the star look old mean putting a white wig on them.

Doesn't that say it all?