''Her Twelve Men'' is a 1954 American

comedy drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

made by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

. It stars Oscar-winning

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...

, and was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, and written by William Roberts and

Laura Z. Hobson Laura Zametkin Hobson (June 19, 1900 – February 28, 1986) was an American writer, best known for her novels ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and ''Consenting Adult'' (1975). Early life and career Laura Kean Zametkin was born on June 19, 1900So ...

. It was based on the best-selling pseudo-autobiographical book written by Louise Maxwell Baker, ''Snips and Snails''. Louise herself taught at an all-boys boarding school, as the only female teacher in the school. Subsequently, Louise recounts many of the funny stories from her time as a teacher in ''Snips and Snails'', which then translates into the film, ''Her Twelve Men''.

Plot

Although she has no teaching experience, widow Jan Stewart is hired by headmaster Dr. Barrett to be the first woman to teach at The Oaks boarding school. Due to the fact that she is the only woman teaching at the school, the other faculty members either are condescending towards her or try to woo her. Jan gets to know her twelve students and fellow faculty member Joe Hargrave, who is dating the rich Barbara Dunning. Her young students hate her at first as she gives a strict punishment to a few boys who are disrupting her class; however, they begin to appreciate her nurturing and kind nature, and she begins to serve as mother for many of the boys who miss their actual parents. She has so much sympathy for one young boy, Bobby Lennox, whose globe-trotting parents neglect him, that she reads letters pretending they are from his mother that Jan wrote herself. A wealthy Texan widower, Richard Oliver, enrolls his son. Richard Jr. instantly alienates the other boys with his attitude and by refusing to confess to causing a fire alarm to go off, for which Dr. Barrett punishes the entire class. The other students in the class then all alienate Richard Jr., as he does not own up to his wrongdoing. This ultimately results in Richard Jr. being pushed out of a second-story window by the other students, causing him to break his leg. The boy's father wants him sent home and Jan is asked to accompany him on the journey. She wins young Richard's trust and gains Richard Sr.'s interest as well. Richard Jr. starts to treat Jan as a mother figure, as he severely misses his late mother. Later, Richard Sr. ends up proposing to Jan because of his feelings for her, as well as his son's, but Jan and Joe Hargrave ultimately realize they were meant for one another. Jan decides to continue to teach at The Oaks for another year after being begged by Joe Hargrave and her students. Richard Jr. also reconciles with the other students, and appears to finally be happy at The Oaks.

Cast

as Jan Stewart *

Robert Ryan Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

as Joe Hargrave *

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer) Barry Sullivan is ...

as Richard Y. Oliver, Sr. *

Richard Haydn Richard Haydn (born George Richard Haydon, 10 March 1905 – 25 April 1985) was a British-American comedy actor. Some of his better known performances include his roles as Professor Oddley in '' Ball of Fire'' (1941), Roger in '' No Time for Lo ...

as Dr. Avord Barrett * Barbara Lawrence as Barbara Dunning * James Arness as Ralph Munsey *Rex Thompson as Homer Curtis * Tim Considine as Richard Y. Oliver, Jr. *

David Stollery David John Stollery, III (born January 18, 1941 in Los Angeles, California) is a former American child actor and, as an adult, an industrial designer. He appeared in numerous Disney movies and television programs in the 1950s. He is best known for ...

as Jeff Carlin * Frances Bergen as Sylvia Carlin *

Ian Wolfe Ian Marcus Wolfe (November 4, 1896 – January 23, 1992) was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as a ...

as Roger Frane *Donald MacDonald as Bobby Lennox *Dale Hartleben as Kevin Ellison Clark III *

Ivan Triesault Ivan Triesault (born Johann Constantin Treisalt; in Reval (now Tallinn) – January 3, 1980 in Los Angeles) was an Estonian-American actor. His parents were from the island of Hiiumaa. Life His first stage appearance was at the German Theat ...

as Erik Haldeman

Reception

According to MGM record the film earned $817,000 in the US and Canada and $601,000 elsewhere, resulting in a loss of $116,000.

References

External links

* * * *
Her Twelve Men
on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

{{Robert Z. Leonard 1954 films 1954 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films Films set in boarding schools Films about educators Films directed by Robert Z. Leonard Films scored by Bronisław Kaper Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films with screenplays by William Roberts (screenwriter) Films based on autobiographies Films about widowhood 1950s English-language films 1950s American films