CHEERS FOR MISS BISHOP (1941) Martha Scott, William Gargan & Edmund Gwenn | Romance, Drama | B&W

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Cheers for Miss Bishop is a 1941 American drama film based on the novel Miss Bishop by Bess Streeter Aldrich. It was directed by Tay Garnett, produced by Richard A. Rowland.

Synopsis

Ella Bishop, a retired teacher, recalls the events of her life. In the 1880s, she is a freshman at Midwestern University living with her mother and her vixenish cousin Amy. Ella is an inhibited girl whose frustration grows as she approaches womanhood. She dreams of becoming a teacher. When she graduates from Midwestern, she is thrilled when its president, Professor Corcoran, offers her a faculty position.

Ella becomes engaged to lawyer Delbert Thompson, but he is led astray by Amy and eventually must marry her, despite loving Ella. After Amy becomes pregnant, Delbert abandons her. Amy dies in childbirth, leaving Ella to care for Amy's daughter Hope. When Hope is an adult, she marries Richard and they move away and have a daughter named Gretchen. Ella also has a romance with another teacher, the unhappily married John Stevens, whose wife refuses to grant him a divorce for religious reasons, forcing Ella to end the relationship. Later, she is distressed to learn that John has been killed.

Through all the years, Ella is supported by her friend Sam Peters, a local grocer who loves her. Another source of support is Professor Corcoran, who persuades her to stay when she considers leaving. His death is a blow to Ella.

As Ella reaches old age, she reflects back and realizes that she allowed the years to pass without achieving what she believes to be true fulfillment. When the new college president pressures her to finally retire, she agrees. However, her moment of triumph arrives when her many successful students from the past return to attend a testimonial dinner in her honor.

Cast
Martha Scott as Ella Bishop
William Gargan as Sam Peters
Edmund Gwenn as Professor Corcoran
Sterling Holloway as Chris Jensen
Dorothy Peterson as Mrs. Bishop
Sidney Blackmer as John Stevens
Mary Anderson as Amy Saunders
Donald Douglas as Delbert Thompson
Marsha Hunt as Hope Thompson
John Archer as Richard Clark (as Ralph Bowman)
Lois Ranson as Gretchen Clark
Rosemary De Camp as Minna Fields
Knox Manning as Anton Radcheck
John Arledge as 'Snapper' MacRae
Jack Mulhall as Professor Carter
Howard C. Hickman as Professor Lancaster (as Howard Hickman)
Helen MacKellar as Miss Patton
William Farnum as Judge Peters
Anna Mills as Mrs. Peters
John Hamilton as President Watts
Pierre Watkin as President Crowder
Charles Judels as Cecco
Sue Moore as Stena
Rand Brooks as 'Buzz' Wheelwright
Mary Field as Mary, the Dressmaker

Director: Tay Garnett
Screenplay by:
Sheridan Gibney
Adelaide Heilbron
Stephen Vincent Benét (screen adaptation)
Based on: Miss Bishop (1933 novel by Bess Streeter Aldrich)
Produced by: Richard A. Rowland
Production Company: Richard A. Rowland Productions
Distributor: United Artists
Cinematography: Hal Mohr
Editing: William F. Claxton
Music: Edward Ward
Color Process: Black and white
Release Date: February 21, 1941
Running Time: 95 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
Budget: $650,000