Ella Bishop is an inhibited girl whose frustrations grow as she approaches womanhood. As a women, her ambitions to teach cause her to lose her only opportunity for true love. Ella's life becomes one of missed chances and wrong choices. As she reaches old age, she reflects back and realizes she allowed the years to go by without achieving what she believes to be her true fulfillment. However, her years have not been without glory, and her moment of triumph arrives when her numerous now-famous students from over the years, return to honor their beloved Miss Bishop.
Martha Scott
as Ella Bishop
William Gargan
as Sam Peters
Edmund Gwenn
as President 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 DeCamp
as Minna Fields
