Jennifer Jones’ Taskmaster Teacher: ‘Good Morning, Miss Dove’ 1955

 

Jennifer Jones as the tough but caring teacher, 1955's "Good Morning, Miss Dove."

A tribute to schoolteachers, Good Morning, Miss Dove, is corny but very tasty corn if you like nostalgic films about when things were “better.” What helps is a cast of familiar faces, smooth storytelling, and intriguing flashbacks about the characters as children, shaped by a formidable but caring teacher.

The title character, who isn’t given a first name, is played by Jennifer Jones, in her only character role. The story was based on a best seller that started as serialized stories in Ladies’ Home Journal. The film was originally planned for Olivia de Havilland, who was certainly a more versatile actress than Jones. I was also surprised that Jennifer was only three years younger than Olivia! That said, Jones offers a distinctive performance as the disciplined teacher. Dove started off as a promising, talented young woman, with a fiancee who adores her. She gives it up all out when her father dies suddenly and it turns out that he has embezzled from his bank employer and everything he possesses is in hock. Miss Dove becomes a teacher to pay off the debt and gives up her life in the process. That seemed very extreme to me, but there's not a lot of nuance in this type of tearjerkers. Good Morning, Miss Dove would pair well with The Blue Veil, and Jane Wyman’s noble nanny. 

Jennifer Jones in the title role as the feared but revered teacher, 
from 1955's "Good Morning, Miss Dove."

One day in class, Miss Dove's been feeling a pain that can no longer be ignored. She sends a student for help and two of her former students come to her rescue, one now a doctor. They carry her chair-style to the hospital, a most memorable scene for those who have seen Good Morning, Miss Dove. The exteriors for Chapel Hill look like Peyton Place, no coincidence I’m sure, since they were both made at 20^th Century Fox.

In "Good Morning, Miss Dove," Jennifer Jones as the teacher gets some helping hands
 from two former students. 

The students that Miss Dove has helped the most are ones who were from different social situations: one impoverished, one Jewish who doesn't speak English, and one who later becomes an unwed mother, etc. The scenarios are handled sensitively, especially for the era. The flashbacks are handled smoothly, with Miss Dove's bell ringing attention at the beginning and end of each sequence. 

Jennifer Jones has quite a few flashbacks in 1955's "Good Morning, Miss Dove." 

The cast plays their archetype characters with empathy and warmth. Robert Stack is Miss Dove’s doc, who repaired her father’s watch as a kid. Chuck Connors is a cop who was once a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, mentored by Miss Dove. Jerry Paris was once the Jewish kid in class who couldn’t speak a word of English. And Peggy Knudsen shines as the brassy nurse with a heart of gold, who idolized her teacher’s gentility. Many familiar faces in this feel-good tearjerker.

Chuck Connors is the cop who was once a poor kid, "Good Morning, Miss Dove."

Robert Stack is the doc who was once a student of "Good Morning, Miss Dove."

Good Morning, Miss Dove was a small movie that was a modest hit, but was received positively. Great Twentieth Century Fox production values, who did well with this type of Americana. There’s solid direction and handsome photography by Fox pros Henry Koster and Leon Shamroy, respectively.

Miss Dove reminds me of two elementary school teachers from back in the '70s at Hiawatha School in Upper Michigan’s Manistique, who were in their '60s. They were strong ladies and took no nonsense. And in one case, many kids were more than a bit scared of her. Both teachers cared about their kids and the school, and were well remembered for decades, which is why I have a soft spot for this movie. And my mother has regaled us with stories of school nuns from the era of Miss Dove, which certainly rings a bell to me when watching this film.

Peggy Knudsen is a scene stealer as the nurse of "Good Morning, Miss Dove." 
Her character, Billie Jean, had a child out of wedlock, though not Michael Jackson's!

Good Morning, Miss Dove certainly packs a lot of stories with life lessons in its standard running time, just over the 1 hour and 45 minute mark. One area that doesn't clarify and maybe should is how Miss Dove goes from carefree young woman to old maid school teacher. How did she go from one path in life to another is not explained. Perhaps it’s because the focus of her life is on the relationships with her students. These old time movies love to lay on the selflessness of the woman who sacrifices all!

In "Good Morning. Miss Dove," Jennifer Jones gives up personal happiness to
pay off her late father's embezzlement debt.

More than a few viewers have commented that Miss Dove is sort of a female George Bailey from It’s a Wonderful Life. A father's death and banking crisis figure in her life decisions. And we see where Miss Dove's generosity to her students changes their lives. And she's also the old maid Mary Bailey might have become.

Some have likened Miss Dove's firm but emotionless voice to Siri or a robot. I admit she at times reminded me of Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory. But I then remembered my 3rd grade teacher, who had a booming voice like Greer Garson. And she also had many pet phrases that she pronounced by rote!

Jennifer Jones at the finale of "Good Morning, Miss Dove," when she feels the love
of the townspeople after her successful operation. Jones reminds me of Kim Cattrall.

Jennifer Jones is an actress people seemed to love or loathe. Good Morning, Miss Dove is her one character role and Jones plays with understatement. While some may dislike her dispensed wisdom, underneath she shows flashes of pleasure at her student's progress or fear when she knows that she is in serious pain. It's also noteworthy that she only plays young in the opening scenes, and then ages onward to the teacher's present age of 55. Jones was 36 at the time and the aging makeup is fairly subtle. 

Yes, the movie is very contrived and sentimental. But there are some universal truths that one never forgets from teachers who were instrumental in shaping our lives. Good Morning, Miss Dove gets a gold star for telling that story.

Here’s my look at Jennifer Jones as Madame Bovary, the 1949 Vincente Minnelli version: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2017/11/madame-bovary-1949.html 

Jennifer Jones as the young and carefree title character in the opening scenes of 1955's
 "Good Morning, Miss Dove."

Madame Bovary 1949

MGM's 1949 'Madame Bovary' is wildly erratic and highly watchable.

The Vincente Minnelli-directed 1949 version of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary is fascinating, but wildly erratic, much like the heroine herself.

The huge hurdles for the movie-makers with this take on the once-scandalous novel of a French housewife are never satisfactorily resolved: telling a story that would satisfy audiences, critics—and censors; movie-making with more post-war modern realism, and less from the past era’s style; and bolstering a leading lady who lacked confidence in her acting ability.

I never realized how James Mason sounded like his own best hammy imitation!

Some critics have cited the MGM treatment of Madame Bovary as anti-Emma, claiming that the studio framed the story within the censors’ rule that movie sinners must be punished by the last reel. I disagree. There are plenty of instances in the movie that defends Emma as trapped by her role of a woman, in male-dominated society. I have not read the book, but this adaptation posits that her childish ideas of life arise from her sheltered upbringing as a small town farm girl. When Emma attempts to act on them as an adult woman, the results are tragic. Director Minnelli deserves credit for a reasonably faithful rendition of Madame Bovary, filmed in an era when studios didn’t particularly care about fidelity—to a book, at least. In case you don’t get the message that Madame Bovary is great art and not scandalous trash, there’s a prologue and an epilogue that bookends the trial, which in turn bookends the movie. The idea of portraying author Gustave Flaubert on trial, to defend the decency of MGM’s Madame Bovary, must have seemed like a brilliant idea to offset showbiz censors. However, after James Mason's sonorous speechifying at the trial, we’re treated to his pompous narration that’s so intrusive that it’s comical. You’re relieved when he finally shuts up half way through.

The eternal triangle: Madame Bovary, the suave French playboy, and Mr. Bovary, the dull doctor. Guess what happens next?

This 1949 version of Madame Bovary was one of Metro's 25th silver anniversary movies, but in reality, it was their last hurrah as Hollywood’s greatest studio. Like other MGM takes on the classics about modest folk with only proximity to wealth, the stars of Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and Madame Bovary still wear improbably lavish costumes and live in “cozy” luxury. Jennifer Jones sports gowns by Walter Plunkett, famed for his Scarlett O’Hara designs for David O. Selznick’s Gone with the Wind. Director Minnelli, despite his own love of glamour, at least attempted to give Emma's rustic life some genteel grit, but was thwarted by MGM.

Just a simple French farm girl making an omelette for the visiting doctor.!

In her first scene, when Emma is cooking breakfast, I burst out laughing. After a stormy night with rain seeping into the country kitchen, there is Jones as Emma, looking utterly pristine. Emma’s morning wear is a gigantic gown, with a huge decorative rose, as she delicately makes an omelette for visiting doctor Charles Bovary (Van Heflin.)

So it goes, with each scene, as Jones swans around in a gown or cape even more lavish and absurd than the last. How much more dramatic would it have been if Emma actually dressed like a country doctor’s wife, and finally gets to fulfill her dream at the Marquis’ ball, swathed in her soiree-stopping, snowy white confection.

Emma is encouraged to live large by the sinister shopkeeper!

Madame Bovary is one of those studio system era movies that are a mish mash of accents—American, British, and one actual Frenchman! Van Heflin is sympathetic as Charles Bovary, the benign and bewildered husband, though he is directed to play the drunken hubby at the ball very broadly, where he bursts Emma’s romantic bubble. The supporting cast, though playing archetypes, offer skillful portrayals. Ellen Corby, Grandma Walton herself, plays Emma’s long-suffering maid. I was puzzled that the great Gladys Cooper (Now, Voyager) has just one scene, making me wonder if a subplot had been cut out of the final film. Louis Jourdan plays yet another charming, smarmy French playboy, who helps lead the heroine to ruin.

Ultimately, Madame Bovary is all about Emma and the actress who plays her. There are a bevy of Madame Bovarys, all have their merits, but the Vincente Minnelli version is still the most famous. This is a bit surprising, since MGM’s Madame Bovary was a flop at the box office. Originally, Lana Turner was offered the role of Emma. This could have been an apt choice, as Turner was a romantic whose shallow outlook created as much disaster in her own life, as Emma Bovary did in hers. Lana thought the script dull and turned it down, and found out she was pregnant, as well. Minnelli was relieved, as he felt Turner’s notoriety would attract more attention from censors, and that an actress with a more respectable screen image would be a better choice.

Lana: "No, Jen, YOU play 'Madame Bovary!' You'll win a second Oscar!'

Enter Jennifer Jones as Emma. Never mind that Jones’ marriage and family with Robert Walker was wrecked when Gone with the Wind producer David O. Selznick set his sights on Jennifer. Or four years later, Selznick was still haggling with his current wife over the end of their marriage. In fact, it was during Madame Bovary’s production that Irene Selznick was granted a divorce. Ultimately, image is everything in Hollywood, and Jones was the dream girl of super productions like Song of Bernadette and Since You Went Away. Ethereal Jennifer Jones as Emma Bovary therefore took the onus off playing a scandalous character.

Jennifer Jones is one of Hollywood's most puzzling personalities. Jones grew up in a theatrical family, who owned a chain of movie theaters. She and first hubby Robert Walker were aspiring actors together. Yet, friend and co-star Joan Fontaine said of working with Jones on her last big movie, 1962’s Tender is the Night, even at that late date, acting “was a kind of torture” for Jennifer.  Jones is an anomaly among performers who grew up surrounded by showbiz—Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis—who lived for the limelight. And there are many stars that are shy off-stage, but who have brash personas. Jennifer Jones seemed a bit like Marilyn Monroe, both seeking and repelling stardom. Some critics of Jones have questioned the “shy” Jennifer, claiming it was an act to cover her ambition. To me, her reclusive nature and increasing discomfort on-screen seemed to indicate that Jennifer was not pretending. And yet Jones aspired to stardom, or she wouldn’t have broken up her family for the siren call of superstardom that Selznick promised.

Portrait of Jennifer, as Madame Bovary, dressed to the nines.

Though he technically had nothing to do with this Madame Bovary, David Selznick peppered everyone involved with his famous memos—all about how to bring out the best in Jennifer Jones. Like so many powerful Hollywood men, Selznick was obsessed with his star, and determined to make her into Hollywood’s greatest superstar. Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst attempted the same with Marion Davies. Davies was a showgirl with a natural flair for comedy, but Hearst’s desire was to make her a great dramatic actress. Instead, they made a string of big budget flops that made Marion a punch line. Film contemporaries and historians later said that Davies might have had a more interesting and relaxed career if Hearst had just butted out. And many film folk and critics felt the same in regard to Selznick and Jones.

Jones’ ambivalence is apparent in many of her movies, which is why movie fans and critics are still wildly divided over Jennifer’s abilities as an actress. As Emma Bovary, Jones gives off a jittery intensity throughout, which serves her character well. Jennifer is also wildly uneven as the country girl who longs for romance and riches. Jones can be subtly in tune with Emma in one scene, studio era “dramatic” in the next, and feverishly unnerving after that. Even here, critics and audiences were starting to notice Jones’ nervous tics, especially her tendency to grimace during dramatic scenes.

Every time Emma embraces a new dream—a new home, a baby, a lover, or even a ball gown—Jennifer makes the pronouncement with a fixed, wild stare as if she's playing the beatific Bernadette again, seeing visions. Jennifer seems most comfortable in her love scenes, luxuriating in her romantic fantasy. Yet, as the desperate Emma calling on her former lover for financial help, Jones is theatrically obvious, and therefore, not especially sympathetic. Finally, as Emma on her death bed, after swallowing gobs of arsenic, Jones dies a realistically painful death. 

Jones as Emma, facing her ruin. Jennifer reminds me of Kim Cattrall here.

Perhaps it is Jennifer’s lack of confidence and the inability to create empathy for a basically unsympathetic character that makes Jones' Emma Bovary off putting. Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor often played passionate women who did foolhardy things (off-screen, too!) but they always retained audience sympathy, especially from female fans. Leigh, a few years before, or Taylor, a decade later, could have easily played Emma. I think MGM’s Ava Gardner might have made a fine Emma. Gardner was a small town farm girl who came to Hollywood, where her dreams turned to disillusion, too. However, Ava was about as insecure about her talent as Jones.

'Madame Bovary' comes alive in the famous waltz scene. This is one of director Vincente Minnelli's best scenes on film.

Wildly uneven as Jones is, Jennifer still has her moments. For this Madame Bovary, the famed ballroom scene is where everything comes together. Jennifer Jones, who looks lovely throughout, is especially fetching in her gauzy, snow-white gown, with black feathers across the bosom. Surrounded by admirers, Scarlett O’ Hara-style, Emma takes a breather between dances. Jourdan as Rodolphe makes his move, the suave stud ready to sweep Mrs. Bovary off her feet. Emma goes from Cinderella to belle of the ball, and this scene is the perfect moment: the increasingly giddy waltz, the camera swirling along with Emma, surrounded by aristocrats, in the arms of a handsome man, waiters who smash windows with chairs when she exclaims that she can’t breathe, and Emma Bovary’s romantic daydreams momentarily come true.

Jones’ other big scene in Bovary is when Emma plans to run off with Rodolphe. Waiting for a stagecoach on a dark, windy night, Jennifer’s intensity conveys Emma’s yearning to escape her small town life. As the stagecoach comes closer into the village, the horses’ hoof beats become louder—symbolizing Emma’s heart pounding? The stagecoach looms into view…and then passes by, followed by a huge close-up of Emma screaming, powerfully portrayed by Jones. Emma, defeated, returns to her home and husband. Charles is waiting and so is a basket of fruit, from Rodolphe, along with a farewell note. Jones’ reaction to her lovers’ kiss off is eerily catatonic.

Emma Bovary's romantic dreams go up in flames. Jones with Van Heflin as Charles Bovary.

Looking at Jennifer Jones’ career in terms of hits is bizarrely skewed. Jennifer starred in eight bonafide blockbusters: Song of Bernadette, Since You Went Away, Love Letters, and Duel in the Sun in the 1940s. Then in the '50s, there were The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit, Love is a Many Splendored Thing, and the critically panned but commercial A Farewell to Arms. Finally, Jones literally went out with a blaze of glory in 1974’s The Towering Inferno. Nearly none of these movies hold up today.  After those films, Jones’ box office stand takes a huge dip when looking at her other films like Portrait of Jennie, Carrie, We Were Strangers, Tender is the Night, as well as Madame Bovary. All were box office duds. The films that have won her cult status were financial flops too, but got her good notices, like Cluny Brown, Beat the Devil, and Indiscretion of an American Housewife. I find her appealing both as the saintly Good Morning, Miss Dove and as the trashy bayou babe in Ruby Gentry—again, not big hits. In Jones’ defense, the movies that stars are most remembered for aren’t always their biggest hits, and Jennifer’s work is worth exploring. Happy hunting though, because Jennifer Jones' career is checkered, to say the least.

Bette as a bitchy Madame Bovary!

Here's a fascinating coincidence: the same year as Jennifer Jones played Emma Bovary, Bette Davis ended her Warner Brothers contract playing a modern day version of Bovary in Beyond the Forest. Having just seen Madame Bovary for the first time, I was shocked at how much Forest author Stuart Engstrand ripped off the Flaubert classic. Seriously, Beyond the Forest is pretty much a replay of Madame Bovary in modern dress. And Bette's character Rosa Moline is just a mean girl version of Emma Bovary. Like Emma, Rosa is also married to a doctor, lives for luxury, looks down on her fellow townspeople, takes a rich lover, humiliates her husband, berates her maid, and dies a slow, painful death. The only thing Emma doesn't do is shoot a porcupine and a boozy tattletale!

The best way to watch this Madame Bovary is to ignore or enjoy its contradictions. Or maybe watch Jones’ Emma as a double feature with Bette’s bitchy broad version of Bovary!

Let's leave Emma Bovary on a happy note, the belle of the ball, and surrounded by admiring men!