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Though studio-bound and sentimental by current standards, Goodbye Mr Chips contains great warmth and humanity, and is eventually extremely moving. There is an excellent score by Richard Addinsell, and the evocation of the tragedy of 1914-18, together with Chips' friendship with German teacher Staefel (Paul Henreid), must have struck a truly resonant note in 1939. James Hilton had previously been responsible for Lost Horizon (1937), and oddly both that film and Chips would be remade as musicals, in 1973 and 1969 respectively. Chips would again emerge as a BBC serial (1984) and a 2002 TV movie starring Martin Clunes; but for many this original screen version will always remain the best.
On the DVD: Goodbye Mr Chips is presented on a basic disc with the only extras being an alternative French soundtrack and various subtitle options, including English for hard of hearing. The mono sound is fairly good, though there is occasional distortion on the music. The b/w picture is transferred in the original Academy ratio but the print used shows frequent, though minor, damage. --Gary S Dalkin
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His performance is engaging and credible. From a young insecure new teacher, to a stale middle aged man, whose life is turned around by love, to an eccentric but lovable old fellow, Robert Donat takes you on a wonderful journey. He is in nearly every scene.
He deserved the Oscar he won. When you consider that Clark Gable was also Oscar nominated in 1939 for 'Gone With The Wind', you begin to realise what a great performance he gives.
Greer Garson's role is fairly small, but pivotal. She is on screen for surprisingly a short time, but makes a great impact.
The film shows a world long gone, if it ever existed, but Donat's great acting raises it well above sentimental. The end however, will move the tender hearted to tears.
It starts a little slow but the story develops at a much quicker pace throughout. Its' comedy edges are still as funny today as i am sure they were when it was made. Robert Donat is excellent as 'chips' and equals his quality of Hitchcock's The 39 Steps. The chemistry between him and Greer Garson is excellent and the power of the scenes makes you feel really close to 'chips'. The sounds is a little wayward at times, but in the main the DVD is excellent. To be fair this film has 'moved' me and I feel it is one which will stick in my mind for a while to come.
Only one problem is the lack of extras. Actors' profiles would have been nice, but it's only a minor complaint.
An excellent film, one I recommend whole-heartedly.
I do not want to go into a detail as that is the fun in watching eh stories unfold however I think it is significant when Chipping and Katherine are alone on the top of the world and time stops finding them selves in eternity. He also gets an insight or different slant of his carrier.
In the film, he ventures out on only one other memorable occasion -- a holiday with the school German teacher to the Tyrol where he meets the handsome Greer Garson (in her first movie appearance), who somewhat improbably falls for him. This sets off a chain of sentimental events: marriage, introductions to the common room, tea with the boys, her death through childbirth, and a never-ending cycle of Colleys (played by the same actor, but with a slightly different haircut for each generation). The school hymn is also designed to pluck the heart stings.
The movie was actually filmed at Repton. I went to a similarly confined, all-boys, English public school, set in a country town miles from anywhere else, though somewhat more recently than the Chips era. Many of the masters never married because it was so difficult for them to meet any women. We still had corporal punishment -- which Chips continues to inflict even when brought out of retirement to become head during World War One. This film does not reflect the grubby reality of public school life -- the author must have had his rose-tinted spectacles on when he wrote this -- but it's hard not to be moved by it.
I have special memories of first seeing this at the age of 12 in our headmaster's study, together with all the other senior boys at the prep school. Today, its meaning for me is more about staying in the same place for a long time, while all about you moves on. (I've recently completed 25 years with the same employer!
... Read more ›They are hard to get on DVD . Great buy. Would recommend .
Very quick on delivery.
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