Good Morning Miss Dove
Encyclopedia
Good Morning, Miss Dove is a 1955 film
which tells the sentimental story of a beloved schoolteacher who reflects back on her life and former students when she is hospitalized. It stars Jennifer Jones, Robert Stack
, Kipp Hamilton
, Robert Douglas
, Peggy Knudsen
, Marshall Thompson
, Chuck Connors
, and Mary Wickes
.
The screenplay was adapted by Eleanor Griffin and based on the bestselling novel by Frances Gray Patton
. The film was directed by Henry Koster
.
A 60-minute TV adaptation of the film, with Phyllis Kirk
in the Jennifer Jones role, was seen in 1956 as part of the weekly anthology The 20th Century-Fox Hour.
Miss Dove, commonly referred to as "the terrible Miss Dove," is a prim and proper geography teacher who governs her classroom with strict disciplinary rules, dependable habits and a common-sense approach to life's everyday challenges. To the citizens and former pupils of Liberty Hill, she is regarded as the epitome of gentility and wisdom.
As the film begins, Miss Dove leaves her home on a typical day, her habits never varying. She oils her creaking gate and resumes her walk to the schoolhouse, briefly stopping to address her neighbors along the way. As the school bell rings, she stands at the entrance to her classroom as each of her pupils line up and greet her with "Good morning, Miss Dove." During this morning's session, she reprimands David Burnham for swearing and tells him that he must remain after class and write "Nothing is achieved by swearing" twenty times in his notebook. During David's internment, Miss Dove suddenly feels a sharp pain at the base of her spine and tells David to run and tell his father that she is ill.
After David leaves, Miss Dove puts her head down on her desk and begins to think about the day when her father died and changed her life forever. She had met a promising new beau and was telling her father about him when her father suddenly died. After his death, she learns that her father, who was President of the local bank, "borrowed" a large sum of money and their home was heavily mortgaged. Miss Dove is determined to make the matter right and instructs Mr. Porter, the new bank president, that she will repay the debt by becoming a teacher. Mr. Pendleton visits Miss Dove and proposes marriage but she turns him down after she receives a call from Mr. Porter telling her that he has obtained a position for her at Cedar Grove School.
Miss Dove returns to the present when Dr. Baker and Rev. Burnham arrive and form a seat with their arms to carry her through the streets of Liberty Hill to the hospital. She is admitted to her room by a former student, Billie Jean, who chatters incessantly along the way. Billie Jean, who left Liberty Hill and had a child out of wedlock, has returned to her hometown and is smitten with a police officer named Bill Holloway (Chuck Connors). Miss Dove fondly recalls Bill and tells Billie Jean that he was one of her best pupils. In a flashback, she tells how he arrived to her classroom, a poor, ill-kempt boy with a bad reputation. Over the years, Miss Dove gave Bill odd jobs and even bought him a suit for his high school graduation. As Bill entered the Marines, he wrote to Miss Dove often, and when he returned to Liberty Hill, she was the first person he came to for advice about his future career.
The news of Miss Dove's hospitalization spreads and she is soon visited by her former students. Another flashback shows Maurice Levine when he came to Cedar Grove as a Jewish boy unable to speak English and was teased by his classmates. Miss Dove taught him to speak English and teaches her students the importance of respect toward all people. He becomes a successful playwright and Miss Dove even travels to New York to see his first play. Another visitor is Frederick Makepeace, who is doing time at the local jail for petty theft. Dr. Baker's wife, Virginia ("Jincey") recalls how Miss Dove offered her solace and direction after a failed engagement.
Dr. Baker informs Miss Dove that she must have surgery to remove a growth on her spine. Mr. Porter offers to get Miss Dove a skilled surgeon but she insists that Dr. Baker perform the surgery.
On the day of the surgery, classes are dismissed and the townspeople wait outside the hospital for news of Miss Dove's operation. As she awakes, Dr. Baker tells her that the operation has been a success and that she will be all right. As the bells begin to ring throughout the town, Billie Jean tells Miss Dove that school was dismissed. In typical fashion, Miss Dove tells Dr. Baker that he must inform Mr. Spivey, the principal of the school, that the children must be returned to their classes in order to study for the state proficiency exams the following week.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
which tells the sentimental story of a beloved schoolteacher who reflects back on her life and former students when she is hospitalized. It stars Jennifer Jones, Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
, Kipp Hamilton
Kipp Hamilton
Kipp Hamilton was an American actress. She was the sister of producer Joe Hamilton and the sister-in-law of Carol Burnett.-Career:...
, Robert Douglas
Robert Douglas (actor)
Robert Douglas was born as Robert Douglas Finlayson in Fenny Stratford, Buckinghamshire. He was a successful stage and film actor, a television director and producer....
, Peggy Knudsen
Peggy Knudsen
Peggy Knudsen was an American character actress.-Biography:Born Margaret Ann Knudsen in Duluth, Minnesota, she made her Broadway debut in My Sister Eileen. She began her film career in 1946 in A Stolen Life opposite Bette Davis...
, Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
, Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
, and Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes was an American film and television actress.-Career:Wickes was born as Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, of German Irish Protestant extraction. She graduated at the age of eighteen with a degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, where she...
.
The screenplay was adapted by Eleanor Griffin and based on the bestselling novel by Frances Gray Patton
Frances Gray Patton
Frances Gray Patton was an American short story writer and novelist. She is best known for her 1954 novel Good Morning Miss Dove....
. The film was directed by Henry Koster
Henry Koster
Henry Koster was born Hermann Kosterlitz in Berlin, Germany. He became a film director and later moved to Hollywood. Koster's father, a salesman, left home when Henry was a young man...
.
A 60-minute TV adaptation of the film, with Phyllis Kirk
Phyllis Kirk
-Early life and career:Born Phyllis Kirkegaard in Syracuse, New York , she contracted polio as a child which resulted in health problems for the rest of her life. As a teen, she moved to New York City to study acting and changed her last name to "Kirk"...
in the Jennifer Jones role, was seen in 1956 as part of the weekly anthology The 20th Century-Fox Hour.
Synopsis
As the film begins, Miss Dove leaves her home on a typical day, her habits never varying. She oils her creaking gate and resumes her walk to the schoolhouse, briefly stopping to address her neighbors along the way. As the school bell rings, she stands at the entrance to her classroom as each of her pupils line up and greet her with "Good morning, Miss Dove." During this morning's session, she reprimands David Burnham for swearing and tells him that he must remain after class and write "Nothing is achieved by swearing" twenty times in his notebook. During David's internment, Miss Dove suddenly feels a sharp pain at the base of her spine and tells David to run and tell his father that she is ill.
After David leaves, Miss Dove puts her head down on her desk and begins to think about the day when her father died and changed her life forever. She had met a promising new beau and was telling her father about him when her father suddenly died. After his death, she learns that her father, who was President of the local bank, "borrowed" a large sum of money and their home was heavily mortgaged. Miss Dove is determined to make the matter right and instructs Mr. Porter, the new bank president, that she will repay the debt by becoming a teacher. Mr. Pendleton visits Miss Dove and proposes marriage but she turns him down after she receives a call from Mr. Porter telling her that he has obtained a position for her at Cedar Grove School.
Miss Dove returns to the present when Dr. Baker and Rev. Burnham arrive and form a seat with their arms to carry her through the streets of Liberty Hill to the hospital. She is admitted to her room by a former student, Billie Jean, who chatters incessantly along the way. Billie Jean, who left Liberty Hill and had a child out of wedlock, has returned to her hometown and is smitten with a police officer named Bill Holloway (Chuck Connors). Miss Dove fondly recalls Bill and tells Billie Jean that he was one of her best pupils. In a flashback, she tells how he arrived to her classroom, a poor, ill-kempt boy with a bad reputation. Over the years, Miss Dove gave Bill odd jobs and even bought him a suit for his high school graduation. As Bill entered the Marines, he wrote to Miss Dove often, and when he returned to Liberty Hill, she was the first person he came to for advice about his future career.
The news of Miss Dove's hospitalization spreads and she is soon visited by her former students. Another flashback shows Maurice Levine when he came to Cedar Grove as a Jewish boy unable to speak English and was teased by his classmates. Miss Dove taught him to speak English and teaches her students the importance of respect toward all people. He becomes a successful playwright and Miss Dove even travels to New York to see his first play. Another visitor is Frederick Makepeace, who is doing time at the local jail for petty theft. Dr. Baker's wife, Virginia ("Jincey") recalls how Miss Dove offered her solace and direction after a failed engagement.
Dr. Baker informs Miss Dove that she must have surgery to remove a growth on her spine. Mr. Porter offers to get Miss Dove a skilled surgeon but she insists that Dr. Baker perform the surgery.
On the day of the surgery, classes are dismissed and the townspeople wait outside the hospital for news of Miss Dove's operation. As she awakes, Dr. Baker tells her that the operation has been a success and that she will be all right. As the bells begin to ring throughout the town, Billie Jean tells Miss Dove that school was dismissed. In typical fashion, Miss Dove tells Dr. Baker that he must inform Mr. Spivey, the principal of the school, that the children must be returned to their classes in order to study for the state proficiency exams the following week.