Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955)

Jennifer Jones is quite good here as the pernickety "Miss Dove". She's a no-nonsense school mistress who finds herself a bit poorly one day. Luckily the pupil she is disciplining happens to be the son of her doctor, so he is sent for and shortly thereafter she is carried, stirrup fashion, from her school to the hospital. Quickly, we all discover that although she gives off the aura of a bit of an austere woman, she is actually highly respected by a community that is appreciative of her style of teaching. To illustrate this, we embark on a series of flashbacks as the great and the good from the town arrive to say hello and we learn just how her education helped to make them the people they are today. As we progress, "Miss Dove" begins to come across as a decent, at times shrewd, lady who knows there are more ways to skin a cat. There's the merest hint of jeopardy as we find out just how ill the lady is, and just how risky the corrective process might be but this isn't the kind of drama that is gonna end up with anyone in a wooden box. The story is simple, charming and extols the often undervalued role of a good, fair and learned school teacher. Not in any pontifical way, but by allowing the citizens gratitude to demonstrate that despite herself, she's actually rather well liked. It's a feel-good film, this, and though I can't say it's especially memorable, it does make you cast an eye back to your own schooldays.