Bringemovies
← Browse Movies
Forty Little Mothers
TITLE DETAILS

Forty Little Mothers

1940-04-26 · 90 min · ★ 6.5

Drama

An out-of-work professor gets a break from an old college buddy to teach at an exclusive girl's school. But events conspire against him: he finds an abandoned child which he takes under his wing, despite the school's rules against teachers having a family; and the girls in the school resent his replacing a handsome and popular teacher, and do everything in their power to get him fired.

Open detail page

Trailers are previews, not full movies.

No authorized playback source configured. Use the legal watch options below.

Production details

Directors
Busby Berkeley
Production companies
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Countries
United States of America
Status
Released

Top Cast

Eddie CantorEddie CantorGilbert Jordan Thompson
Bonita GranvilleBonita GranvilleDoris
Judith AndersonJudith AndersonMadame Granville
Rita JohnsonRita JohnsonMarian Edwards
Ralph MorganRalph MorganJudge Joseph M. Williams
Martha O'DriscollMartha O'DriscollJanette
Veronica LakeVeronica LakeGranville Girl
Nydia WestmanNydia WestmanMadamoiselle Cynthia Cliche
Diana LewisDiana LewisMarcia
Esther DaleEsther DaleMrs. Mason the Landlady
Frances GiffordFrances GiffordGranville Girl
Margaret EarlyMargaret EarlyEleanor
Charlotte MunierLois
Louise SeidelBetty
Baby Quintanilla'Chum'
Margaret BertTeacher
George BookastaCarlos
Ed BradyEd BradyJob Seeker
Stephen ChaseStephen ChaseProfessor Lange
Jack ChefeJack ChefeLawyer

Title information and images are supplied by TMDb. Explore our discovery guide for advice on comparing metadata and legal viewing options.

Where to watch

Availability provided by JustWatch via TMDb. Offers can change. Provider links are listed on TMDb; full playback requires a separately authorized source.

Recommendations

Child's Play
★ 6.1
Child's Play1972Drama

At an exclusive boys' school, a new gym teacher is drawn into a feud between two older instructors, and he discovers that everything at the school is not quite as staid, tranquil and harmless as it seems.

I Never Sang for My Father
★ 6.7
I Never Sang for My Father1970Drama

A man living in the towering shadow of his aging father finds it difficult to start a new chapter in his life by marrying his girlfriend and moving to California.

Submission
★ 5.9
Submission2018Drama

A well-respected professor who is a celebrated novelist and loving husband loses himself when he becomes obsessed with an ambitious and talented student.

Music of the Heart
★ 6.7
Music of the Heart1999Drama

After Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.

The Young One
★ 7.0
The Young One1960Drama

A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.

Home Run
★ 6.2
Home Run2013Drama

A pro ball player with a substance abuse problem is forced into rehab in his hometown, finding new hope when he gets honest about his checkered past, and takes on coaching duties for a misfit Little League team

A Dry White Season
★ 6.7
A Dry White Season1989Drama

During the 1976 Soweto uprising, a white school teacher's life and values are threatened when he asks questions about the death of a young black boy who died in police custody.

The Christmas Shoes
★ 6.8
The Christmas Shoes2002Drama

Two separate stories mesh - in the first, a young music teacher, Maggie Andrews, begins dying of a heart condition and her son Nathan tries to get a pair of Christmas shoes for her before she dies. In the second, lawyer Robert Layton and his wife Kate are slowly drifting apart and the matter comes to a head during Christmas when Kate takes over for Maggie for the school choir.

Come Sunday
★ 5.8
Come Sunday2018Drama

Evangelist Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.

Sound of Christmas
★ 6.3
Sound of Christmas2016Drama

Lizzie is a young piano teacher working at a music school while trying to save enough money for a Steinway piano. The school is gearing up for their major Christmas fundraiser and she has committed much of her time to plan the event. One afternoon, she meets Brad who takes an interest in her playing and asks if she will teach his uninterested teenage daughter. She begins to break through to the young girl, and sparks begin to fly with Brad, but she is shocked to find out that his interest is not solely in her playing, but in the property that houses the music school. She sets out to save the school and the event, but can she work things out with Brad?

The Ron Clark Story
★ 7.6
The Ron Clark Story2006Drama

Passionate and innovative teacher Ron Clark leaves his small hometown to teach in one of Harlem's toughest schools. But to break through to the students, he must use unconventional methods, including his ground-breaking classroom rules, to help them reach their potential. Based on a true story.

TalhotBlond
★ 6.3
TalhotBlond2012Drama

Thomas Montgomery, a married father of two young daughters, gets seduced by the world of online gambling and chat rooms where a virtual romance and sexual obsession ultimately leads to the murder of an innocent man.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
★ 7.0
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie1969Drama

A headstrong young teacher in a private school in 1930s Edinburgh ignores the curriculum and influences her impressionable 12-year-old charges with her over-romanticized worldview.

Hardball
★ 6.5
Hardball2001Drama

An aimless young man who is scalping tickets, gambling and drinking, agrees to coach a Little League team from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago as a condition of getting a loan from a friend.

Won't Back Down
★ 6.2
Won't Back Down2012Drama

Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.

Tigertail
★ 6.7
Tigertail2020Drama

A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.

Hands of Stone
★ 6.6
Hands of Stone2016Drama

The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.

Molly Maxwell
★ 6.5
Molly Maxwell2013Drama

At Phoenix Progressive School, students take notes lying on parlor couches and are encouraged to explore their gifts through electives like break-dancing and graphic-novel writing. In the midst of all this liberal pedagogy and budding talent, Molly Maxwell feels unexceptional, until she falls for her attractive English teacher, Ben.

Holy Lands
★ 6.1
Holy Lands2019Drama

When lapsed Jew and former cardiologist Harry suddenly decides to spend his retirement as a pig farmer in Nazareth, Israel, the move deeply shocks his family and his new neighbours. Back in New York, Harry’s ex-wife Monica is trying to manage the lives of their adult children, Annabelle and David, as well as her own.

Class of 1984
★ 6.4
Class of 19841982Drama

Andy is a new teacher at an inner city high school that is unlike any he has seen before. There are metal detectors at the front door and the place is basically run by a tough kid named Peter Stegman. Soon, Andy and Stegman become enemies and Stegman will stop at nothing to protect his turf and drug dealing business.

Similar titles

Dancer in the Dark
★ 7.8
Dancer in the Dark2000Drama

Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her young son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life becomes increasingly difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.

Shall We Dance?
★ 6.4
Shall We Dance?2004Drama

A bored estate lawyer spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.

Risky Business
★ 7.4
Risky Business1967Drama

A teenage girl accuses her primary schoolteacher, Jean Doucet (Jacques Brel), of trying to rape her. The police and the mayor investigate, but Doucet denies the charges. Two other students come forward to reveal more of Doucet's misconduct – one confessing to be his mistress. Doucet faces trial and hard labor if convicted.

Counterparts
★ 5.8
Counterparts2007Drama

Teacher Anne and policeman Georg are thought of as the perfect couple. However, appearances are deceptive: one of them is covered with scars and bruises. But which one is the abuser?

The Trap
★ 7.3
The Trap2007Drama

Mladen and Marija are an ordinary and happy married couple of the "middle class" of the society in which they live as tenants. Mladen works as a civil engineer in a state company, and Marija is an English teacher in primary school. The couple finds joy in their only son, Nemanja. They discover that Nemanja has a rare heart disease and healing is possible with an operation in a foreign medical center, which costs €26,000.

The Wren
★ 6.2
The Wren1966Drama

Feride is a young girl who lost her family as a child and was educated in a French school. A fearless climber of trees and an endless source of pranks, Feride's mischievousness earns her the nickname "Çalıkuşu" (Wren). The sudden discovery of betrayal causes her to defy all social expectations. She runs away on her own to teach in the Anatolian backcountry. But it is not so easy to escape a broken heart.

Nathalie Granger
★ 6.1
Nathalie Granger1973Drama

With little or no embellishment, filmmaker Marguerite Duras offers a simple, often wordless chronicle of a woman's day. She and her friend are seen doing yard work, talking about their families and receiving the occasional visitor. The brightest spot in the day is when a washing machine salesman comes to call.

It's Winter
★ 7.1
It's Winter2006Drama

Unemotional, restrained cinematographic poem, situated in a wintry and poor suburb of Tehran. A man is dismissed and his lack of prospects for the future make him decide to seek his happiness abroad. He leaves his wife and child behind and for a long time nothing is heard of him. Then a stranger turns up, a car mechanic looking for a job. The attractive single mother can’t resist his attentions. Very subtly, a struggle ensues that reflects that of a whole generation of young doubting Iranians who may want to leave the country, but hardly know how to start.

West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty
★ 6.5
West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty1979Drama

Aboard a giant slave ship in an abandoned Citroën factory, the history of the West Indies is traced through several centuries of French oppression. The ship becomes a stage for the people to tell stories via song and dance—from their enslavement to their displacement in Metropolitan France.

Swimming Instructor
★ 6.0
Swimming Instructor1979Drama

Marie, the charming daughter of Italian immigrants, has a dream : to become rich. In Roubaix, where she lives, she meets and marries small-time crooner Marcel Potier. Together they leave for the South of France where they live happily but poorly. Now, Marie hasn't forgotten her hopes of wealth and with this aim still in mind she pushes Marcel into becoming the swimming instructor of Achille Zopoulos, an oil tycoon.

Across the Universe
★ 7.1
Across the Universe2007Drama

When young dockworker Jude leaves Liverpool to find his estranged father in the United States, he is swept up by the waves of change that are re-shaping the nation. Jude falls in love with Lucy, who joins the growing anti-war movement. As the body count in Vietnam rises, political tensions at home spiral out of control and the star-crossed lovers find themselves in a psychedelic world gone mad.

Good Morning, Miss Dove
★ 7.0
Good Morning, Miss Dove1955Drama

Miss Dove is a prim New England school teacher who is treasured by her students in the small town of Liberty Hill. When she falls ill, a kindly doctor, who is a former student of Miss Dove's, comes to her aid. As many of her pupils, present and past, come to see her in the hospital, they reveal how Miss Dove has greatly impacted their lives over the years. These visitors include a police officer, a playwright, a banker, a convict, and an unmarried mother.

The Man from the Embassy
★ 6.6
The Man from the Embassy2007Drama

The unusual friendship between a German embassy employee and a twelve-year-old refugee girl helps both of them rediscover their joy in life, but also brings with it suspicion, corruption and violence.

Girls in Uniform
★ 6.2
Girls in Uniform1958Drama

A new student, Manuela, enters a strict girls' boarding school after her mother’s death, where she finds comfort in a kind teacher, stirring complex emotions within her.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
★ 7.0
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie1969Drama

A headstrong young teacher in a private school in 1930s Edinburgh ignores the curriculum and influences her impressionable 12-year-old charges with her over-romanticized worldview.

Veer-Zaara
★ 7.5
Veer-Zaara2004Drama

Squadron Leader Veer Pratap Singh, a pilot in the Indian Air Force, rescues the stranded Zaara, a woman from Pakistan, following a bus accident, and their lives are forever bound.

Kal Ho Naa Ho
★ 7.5
Kal Ho Naa Ho2003Drama

An uptight MBA student falls for the charismatic new neighbor who charms her troubled family – but he has a secret that forces him to push her away.

Revue Starlight: The Movie
★ 8.4
Revue Starlight: The Movie2021Drama

The stage emulates life and compresses it, setting free skills learned over lifetimes in brief but dazzling displays for the amusement and judgment of others. For the performers, it is the ultimate risk, and some will rise while others must fall. Nowhere is this truer than at the Seisho Music Academy, where music, dance and real weapons all come into play in the creation of the next great Star. Karen and Hikari’s destinies have been linked since a childhood promise, but their journeys here have taken very different paths. Now, after Hikari leaves, Karen must discover who she is without her opposite, while Hikari must rediscover her own course. Nor are they the only girls who must reassess and change if they want to achieve their dreams, as the dance, magic, and swordplay continue!

Import/Export
★ 6.8
Import/Export2007Drama

A nurse from Ukraine searches for a better life in the West, while an unemployed security guard from Austria heads East for the same reason. Both are looking for work, a new beginning, an existence, struggling to believe in themselves, to find a meaning in life...

Finally Home
Not rated
Finally HomeDrama

Raised in the South African township of Zamelda, Johannes 'JoJo' Radebe faced prejudice as a young boy who was captivated by dance – and Barbies… rather than football and rugby, as was the norm among his peers. With the support of his mother, sister, and a dance coach who spotted his gift, he became a champion ballroom dancer and popular celebrity. Having been one of the professional dancers on the South African Strictly Come Dancing, he has appeared on the British version of the show since 2018.

Your favorites

Recently viewed

Watch

Choose an authorized server.

Full video from an operator-configured authorized source. Official trailers use a separate player. If a server fails, retry or select another authorized server.

Legal watch options

Official trailer

Trailer preview only. Press Play to start.

Privacy choices

Favorites stay in your browser. Movie images load from TMDb. YouTube trailers contact YouTube only after you allow external media and choose a trailer. Advertising consent, if ads are enabled, is managed separately by the operator’s certified CMP.

Privacy policy

After allowing external media, choose the trailer button to load its player.