Cheers for Miss Bishop

1941

1h 35m

IMDb RATING

5.4/10

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Comedy

Drama

Ella Bishop is an inhibited girl whose frustrations grow as she approaches womanhood. As a women, her ambitions to teach cause her to lose her only opportunity for true love. Ella's life becomes one of missed chances and wrong choices. As she reaches old age, she reflects back and realizes she allowed the years to go by without achieving what she believes to be her true fulfillment. However, her years have not been without glory, and her moment of triumph arrives when her numerous now-famous students from over the years, return to honor their beloved Miss Bishop.

Directors

Tay Garnett

Writers

Bess Streeter Aldrich(novel by)

Stephen Vincent Benet(adaptation by)

Adelaide Heilbron(screenplay by)

Stars

Martha Scott

William Gargan

Edmund Gwenn

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Top cast

Ella Bishop

Sam Peters

President Corcoran

Chris Jensen

Mrs. Bishop

John Stevens

Amy Saunders

Delbert Thompson

Hope Thompson

Richard Clark (as Ralph Bowman)

Gretchen Clark

Minna Fields

Anton Radcheck

Stena

Directors

Tay Garnett

Writers

Bess Streeter Aldrich(novel by)

Stephen Vincent Benet(adaptation by)

Adelaide Heilbron(screenplay by)

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6/10

In some ways, this reminded me of “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” (1939) in that it quite touchingly illustrates the dedication of a schoolteacher to a profession that frequently saw their own lives being sacrificed. It also features a character who isn’t always appreciated by her students or even by some of her professional colleagues as time marches on. “Ella Bishop” (Martha Scott) has always been keen on education and takes great pride in being a woman of letters. She shines at school and is picked by its principal (Edmund Gwenn) to teach the younger kids English - a task that turns out to be quite a bit harder than you might have thought. At this stage in her life, romance is still a distinct possibility but rather cruelly her cousin “Amy” and another man’s wife got in the way - and so the remainder of this feature focuses on her strict but affectionate commitment to her charges whilst her own life follows quite a turbulent path of it’s own. When her sister dies moments after her daughter is born, “Ella” adopts her (Marsha Hunt) hoping that she will grow into a woman with ideals and principles of her own whilst giving her a renewed sense of purpose. Her one stalwart throughout her life is her loyal friend “Sam” (William Gargan) but can anything ever come of that? You also have to feel sorry for the poor old gardener (Sterling Holloway), too. It is poignant at times, but as it progresses it can’t stay out of the realms of sentiment and gradually becomes a rather predictable tale that is both sad and valedictory in equal measure, but just a bit hastily arrived at and gloopy. That said, Scott delivers an emotionally charged performance here and it does remind you that there was time, quite recently, when education was a bit of a luxury.

Geronimo196720 Jul, 2025