Our Miss Brooks

Connie Brooks arrives in a small Midwestern town to teach English at the local high school. She quickly meets the athletic biology teacher Phillip Boynton and they begin dating, though Boynton is unwilling to commit. Over the years, their relationship remains largely platonic as Connie navigates her career and social life.

Gary Nolan struggles in Connie's class, prompting his father, Lawrence Nolan, to accuse Connie of incompetence. Connie convinces Mr. Nolan that he's neglecting his son, and he hires her to tutor Gary in English. As Gary improves and becomes better adjusted, Mr. Nolan begins to romance Connie.

Principal Osgood Conklin is criticized by Superintendent Stone for being a martinet. Conklin decides to run for Stone's job and asks Connie to manage his campaign. Her involvement triggers a townwide political maneuvering that intersects with Connie's personal life.

Connie persuades Mr. Nolan to support Conklin in his newspaper, giving Nolan more time to romance Connie. As Nolan increases his support in the campaign, Boynton grows jealous. This jealousy contributes to Connie reassessing her feelings and priorities.

Boynton's jealousy convinces Connie that he does love her after all, and she breaks off her budding romance with Mr. Nolan. The romantic triangle shifts as Connie re-evaluates who she wants to be with. The decision reshapes the dynamics among all involved.

Conklin seems poised to defeat Stone in the election, but withdraws after learning how little the job pays. The political race ends without a winner, changing the town's power dynamics. Connie's campaign work has yielded an unexpected outcome.

Miss Brooks overhears half of a telephone conversation in which Boynton buys a home and tells the broker that he will be sharing it with 'Mrs. Boynton.' She assumes this means he intends to marry her and that the home is being bought for them. The miscommunication plants hopeful plans in her mind.

Believing an engagement is imminent, Miss Brooks envisions a life with Boynton and the home purchase as a symbol of that future. She begins to plan around a shared life and marriage. Her expectations stand in contrast to Boynton's actual intentions.

It turns out Boynton is buying the home for himself and his mother, whose loneliness is causing psychosomatic illnesses. He intends to care for his mother rather than enter a new romance at that moment. The humor and pathos of the misunderstanding become clear to all.

Mrs. Boynton realizes how the arrangement would affect her son's relationship with Miss Brooks and decides to move in with Miss Brooks' eccentric landlady, Mrs. Margaret Davis, instead. The change frees Boynton and Miss Brooks to pursue a relationship without maternal interference. The town adjusts to the new living arrangements.

With the misunderstandings resolved and the living situation clarified, Boynton and Miss Brooks move forward in their relationship. The couple prepares for a more committed future, free from the previous complications. The tone shifts toward romantic anticipation.

As the film ends, Boynton finally proposes to Miss Brooks and presents an engagement ring. The moment is playfully undercut when the ring is promptly stolen by a chimpanzee at the zoo, adding a comic finale to their engagement. The movie closes on a light, hopeful note despite the earlier misunderstandings.