Customer Reviews

Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969) [VHS]

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark shine in this vastly underrated 1969 musical adaptation of James Hilton's classic novel. Beautifully directed by Herbert Ross, this film deserves to be restored to its 70MM / 6 track stereophonic glory and released in theaters and on widescreen DVD.

This is a heart-warming film for the entire family. Some would argue the acting isn't great, O'Toole can't sing and Robert Donat was better in the 1939 original. They miss the point. This film has a soul. It has grace, charm, warmth, music and is in a class of its own. I didn't expect to like this film and its songs -- but I do. Leslie Bricusse and John Williams won the Oscar for Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) and picked up the Golden Globe as well. O'Toole was nominated for, but did not win, the Oscar that year. However he did win the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy and the NBR Best Actor Award for this film. And Petula Clark sings beautifully!

Please, whoever holds the film rights (MGM or Warner), give us O'Toole and Clark in this wonderful, heart-warming film, both on DVD and CD. Delightful film. Highly recommended!

January 27, 2009 UPDATE:
See: ASIN: B00005JO3W. The restored film was released on DVD in its original widescreen format and 5.1 surround sound. Yes!

"Goodbye, Mr. Chips" was a huge surprise to me when I first saw it in 1969. I had read the reviews (but most critics panned musicals no matter how much they really enjoyed them). I hadn't read anything that credited the tremendous quality lavished on every component of the film. Peter O'Toole, whose performance was singled out by most critics, is startlingly wonderful as the shy, yet intensely interesting Mr. Chippings. Petula Clark is totally luminous as Katherine. It was a wonderful follow-up role to her stunning debut in "Finian's Rainbow". We are most unfortunate that we never got more of her musical talents on film.

The music is stunning. You just don't hear music arranged/orchestrated like this any more. Most of the lyrics are simplistic, and often quite funny, but I think they all are endearing and enduring. I have friends who love this film as much as I. Whenever one of us is ready for another look (via the widescreen MGM laserdisc...not YET available on DVD, drat it!) we usually let the others know by quoting the lyrics to "London is London" (can there be any doubt about it?).

This film stands up much better than most film musicals of the era. For sheer entertainment value and an emotional wallop, it's nearly in a class by itself. O'Toole's then-wife, Sian Phillips, has one of the most delicious turns in film musical history as a man-mad (and man-eating) vamp.

Anyone who loves musicals will find this among the best they've ever seen.

John Williams adapted and conducted the score. Songs were written by Leslie Bricusse. Williams' adaptation efforts were to take Bricusse's songs and create an underscore that seamlessly blended with the songs and action on the film. He accomplished this with a brilliance we have since become accustomed to. For his magnificent efforts, Williams was nominated for the 1969 Best Scoring (adaptation) Oscar but did NOT win (Lennie Hayton and Lionel Newman won for "Hello, Dolly!"

With all the films going on DVD, there is no reason why this musical version of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" should be released immediately. There has never been a more sensitive, completely vulnerable performance than that of Peter O'Toole--with a devastating long close-up shot as he says goodbye to his school as he retires. And, I'm sorry, but Petula Clark has just the right theatricality for her role as a West End musical comedy star. Her performance rings much truer than Julie Andrews pale rendering of Gertrude Lawrence in "Star." Finally there's the score which is the epitome of a movie musical score, with "Walk Through the World With Me", "You and I", "What a Bunch of Flowers" and "London" as great examples of cinematic musical numbers. There's even an added treat in the comic turn of Siann Phillips as Tallulah Bankhead wanna be Ursula. How many five star reviews does it take to get MGM to put this "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" on DVD?

It has always been a mystery to me as to the reasons behind the fashionable distaste for the musical version of "Goodbye, Mr. Chips." I've never been able to solve the mystery, but it is merely fashionability. The score is one of the most beautiful ever written -- I've listened to it across the span of my entire life from the time it was released in 1969 and have yet to find it anything but extraordinary. The film is a moving depiction of what love is really about and never fails to move me. The performances by both Peter O'Toole (why has Hollywood thought it useful to cheat this great actor of his due with a "real" Oscar -- sheer jealousy?) and Petula Clark are extraordinary. Yet, a strange, and, to me, bizarre cult of disparagement has risen about this film. Don't be fooled by fools who wish to belittle real talent. This is one of the all-time great musicals. Don't miss it.

So - the CD soundtrack to this wonderful movie has finally been released. Don't delay, FSM are only producing a few copies of it (and I have one of them!). FSM are to be congratulated on a beautifully produced set of three CDs. Pure magic!

But what about the movie? How many Amazonians have got to write 5-star reviews before the people at MGM, Warner, Turner...or whoever it is...get the message? This film has been the subject of a vitriolic and totally undeserved onslaught from the critics from when it opened. It is, in fact, a beautifully crafted story with performances you only dream about; a tremendous score, breathtakingly arranged and conducted by John Williams and a visually compelling movie.

For goodness sake, get on with it.

We need a decent DVD taken from a restored print. No cuts (we fans know how you have hacked it about in the past) - and please include the overture, entr'acte and exit music. And, while you're about it, a properly restored 70mm theatrical release print...lots of them, please (I live in the UK and am fed up of getting cast offs from the USA).

When this musical was released, critics unfairly blasted this film and blamed it for being one of the big budget film musicals that put an end to the production of film musicals. This shows you how wrong critics can be. Most people who watch this film today ADORE this movie! I certainly do. It is one of my favorite musicals. It is blessed with wonderful performances by Peter O'Toole and the fabulous Petula Clark, who is soulful and winning . It has a beautiful score of lovely songs (O'Toole does his own singing and Petula Clark's voice is sheer perfection). The photography for this movie is beautiful. Best of all, this is a movie about love, about its ability to transform individuals and provide happiness. This is a great movie, many times better than the non-musical version made by MGM in 1939. Beware: some prints of this film shown on television are shortened by about 30 minutes (they edited out many of the songs). Try to catch the full length version because the songs and music are an important facet of this film's appeal and greatness.

I just purchased the tape of this film and watched it after not having seen it for several years. I love it as much today as I did when I saw it in the theater many years ago. Peter O'Toole is a revelation as Mr. Chipping. Petula Clark, IMHO, never got enough recognition for her absolutely luminous performance as Katherine. The cinematography makes the film exquisite to look at. I love the music -- especially the song "You and I." I never fail to cry at the end.
This movie will leave you feeling especially loving towards your significant other!!!

The Herb Ross GOODBYE,MR.CHIPS is one of my all time favorite films. I saw it first as the Christmas show at the Empire Theater, London in 1969, and have seen it over and over again, first in a barely watchable pan and scan VHS version, and then on a somewhat better widescreen laserdisc. But where is the long promised DVD release? With all the garbage that does make it to DVD, I am at a loss to know why a film as well made and touching as this has not yet been released. Maybe Peter O'Toole's Academy Award nomination for VENUS will make someone at Warner Home Video, (who I believe release older MGM films), sit up and take notice and get the CHIPS DVD into the works.With terrific performances by O'Toole, Petula Clark, Michael Redgrave and the amazing Sian Phillips along with fine songs by Leslie Bricusse and seamless direction by Herb Ross, one can only hope.

One of the finest films ever produced with outstanding music. I have other editions of this story, but none reach the standards of this masterpiece. I look forward to a release of this DVD.

Definitely one of the under rated films of all time. This film is heart warming, the musical numbers are truly wonderful, the acting is wonderul. I, like many of the other reviewers here truly would love to see this film in its entirety (including the number "When I was Younger" that Chips sings on stage after finding out that he has been passed up as headmaster). Only once have I seen this film in its entirety. There is one other clip that is missing from the VHS tape. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have on the DVD not only the full film, but: (1) a commentary done by Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark. (2) Clips of scenes that were cut. (3) From the complete CD that was released (THANK YOU!) we know there are clips of interviews with Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark while on the set. One example is back on Oct 19,1968 Ed Sullivan interviewed Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark while on the set of GMC. (4) Stories about what happened on the set. (4) Interviews with some of the boys that stayed at the school during their break. (5) A photo montage. (6) Interviews with the cast that is still alive. Anyone that loves the music from this film should buy Petula Clark's DVD of Petula Clark: At the Turn of the Century (you can buy it here on Amazon). It is a concert she did five years after making "Goodbye Mr. Chips" and includes "Fill the World with Love" and "You and I". The arrangement is just as it was in the film. I highly recommend it. Lastly, my mom and I saw Petula Clark perform at Epcot in Florida on May 4, 2007 and she sang "Tomorrow with Me" which was pulled from the film and replaced with "You and I". I did not know it was from the film until after my trip and I finally finished the CD of "Goodbye Mr. Chips". Please whoever owns the rights to this film please, please, please put it on DVD.