Cheers for Miss Bishop (1941)

Dedicated Midwestern teacher Ella Bishop is distressed when her fiancé runs off with her vixenish cousin Amy. After Amy dies in childbirth, Ella is left to care for Amy's daughter Hope.

Director:

Tay Garnett

Writers:

Bess Streeter Aldrich (novel), Stephen Vincent Benet (screen adaptation)

Stars:

Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edmund Gwenn

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Martha Scott	...	Ella Bishop
William Gargan	...	Sam Peters
Edmund Gwenn	...	President Corcoran
Sterling Holloway	...	Chris Jensen
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Bishop
Sidney Blackmer	...	John Stevens
Mary Anderson	...	Amy Saunders
Donald Douglas	...	Delbert Thompson
Marsha Hunt	...	Hope Thompson
John Archer	...	Richard Clark (as Ralph Bowman)
Lois Ranson	...	Gretchen Clark
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Minna Fields
Knox Manning	...	Anton Radcheck
John Arledge	...	'Snapper' MacRae
Jack Mulhall	...	Professor Carter

Storyline

Spinster septuagenarian Ella Bishop, on the brink of retirement from her fifty-two year career as the freshman English teacher at small town Midwestern University, her alma mater, wants to look toward the future, but can't help reflect upon her past, what brought her to this point. Although she always wanted to be a teacher and was both surprised and ecstatic when her mentor, Midwestern's then President James Corcoran, offered her the English teacher opening upon graduation, she only saw it as one short phase of her life until she got married and had a family, unlike her younger cousin, Amy Saunders, who solely needed romance and love to feel fulfilled. She thinks about the two men with who she was mutually in love and would have married if she could have if it not for one circumstance or another, and the one man whose love for her was and is unrequited, at least in the romantic sense, but who was and has always been there for her. Although never haven given birth to a child of her ...

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Plot Keywords:

schoolteacher | false accusation | unrequited love | social change | infidelity | 

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Taglines:

One of the year's most inspired pictures...a warm, glowing story of real American people...their gayety and laughter, the dreams and desires, their problems, their loves...all the poignant romance and exciting drama of living...manifold elements that make up the very fabric of American life...brilliantly combined in a great film.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 February 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dueña de su destino

Filming Locations:

University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Richard A. Rowland Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Rosemary DeCamp.

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Quotes

James Corcoran, Midwestern U. President: You see, I heard Abe Lincoln talk at Gettysburg - and he talked sense. You know Ella, we've got something here in this country - the idea of people being free. But it's got to be taught and retaught, Ella, to each new crop of youngsters: the value of freedom.

User Reviews

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

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!