Sentimental, melodramatic, and ultimately unconvincing, "Cheers for Miss Bishop" bears more than a passing resemblance to "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," which was released a couple years earlier. Although the dialog implies that Miss Bishop has deeply influenced her students over the decades of her teaching at a Midwestern college, the film focuses more on the parade of suitors that pass through the family home courting Miss Bishop, her sister, her niece, and her grandniece in turn, than on the student-teacher relationships. Miss Bishop's teaching career is only glimpsed between romantic interludes that assert that even spinster schoolteachers have love lives. Unfortunately, the men in Miss Bishop's life are singularly unattractive and ineligible, except of course for the faithful love-smitten friend that she consistently refuses.
However, despite the flaws in the script, which strives in vain to encompass the personal and global events of a half century into 95 minutes of screen time, the film does have some saving graces. Martha Scott as Miss Ella Bishop is convincing throughout, even in the face of embarrassingly corny lines and cardboard situations. The character ages from her late teens to her early 70's, and, aided only with the white hair and light age makeup of the period, Scott remains convincing throughout. However, unlike the endearing Mr. Chips, Miss Bishop is somewhat brittle and rigid, especially in her mature years, and she does not engender affection from the audience or even from her students, as evidenced by the forced tributes they render during the predictable retirement dinner. Besides Scott, Edmund Gwenn as the college head and Bishop's mentor also rises above the script, although the rest of the cast tends to blur together. However, the distinctive and familiar voice of Rand Brooks, who played Scarlett O'Hara's first husband in "Gone with the Wind," will revive dozing viewers near the end when he appears as yet another suitor.
Tay Garnett's direction can only be described as workmanlike, and, despite the short running time and episodic structure, viewers may glance at their watches from time to time. Although the sets have the cozy fake feeling that distinguished studio films of the era, the black-and-white cinematography is only adequate. While a retelling of "Mr. Chips" from the distaff side may have seemed like a sure-fire project, the film's intended audience of young females today would probably fidget as much as their male counterparts over the syrupy sentiment and quaint conventions portrayed. With a hopelessly dated script, "Cheers for Miss Bishop" is worthy viewing primarily for the performances of Scott and Gwen. However, those who gag on Hallmark greeting cards may want to pass on this one.
