Her Twelve Men (1954)

A widow (Greer Garson) with no previous teaching experience becomes the first female teacher at an exclusive all boys school. She must deal with the hostility of her students and prejudice against women teachers by both students and staff. Based on the novel SNIPS AND SNAILS by Louise Maxwell Baker and directed by the veteran Robert Z. Leonard (IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME). I'm not especially fond of movies about teachers in general and films about inspirational teachers who overcome resistance to be loved by their students are my least favorite type of teacher movies. There a few exceptions, of course like GOODBYE MR. CHIPS (both the 1939 and 1969 versions) but I tend to avoid them. This one isn't offensive, it's rather innocuous really but entirely predictable. Greer Garson had been one of MGM's biggest and most popular stars for 15 years so it's rather sad that his bland effort was her last film at the studio. It's family friendly in a Disney live action film kind of way so the kids might like it. With Robert Ryan (out of place in a movie like this), Barry Sullivan, Barbara Lawrence, Richard Haydn, Frances Bergen, Ivan Triesault and Rex Thompson (THE KING AND I).