Customer Reviews

Tom Brown's Schooldays

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was excited to see this title being released on DVD, as I have fond memories of watching it as an 11-year-old with my father when it first aired on "Masterpiece Theatre" in 1973. I was also concerned about how well it would hold up, having been frequently disappointed upon revisiting some of my favorite childhood films as an adult. Well, this one held up just fine, not only for me but for my own 11- and 9-year-old children.

The story is your average Victorian potboiler: young Tom foils the nefarious doings of a wealthy landowner, who tasks his son Gerald Flashman (a schoolmate of Tom's) with obtaining revenge by any means necessary. A parallel and related plot thread deals with the reform efforts of new school headmaster Dr. Arnold, who earns Tom's trust. My kids enjoyed, as I did on that long-ago first viewing, finding out whether Tom would triumph over the bully Flashman, and insisted on watching all five episodes in one day. (As avid "Harry Potter" fans, they found parallels between the characters and relationships of Tom/Flashman/Dr. Arnold and Harry/Draco/Professor Dumbledore. I have to agree that J.K. Rowling might have read Tom Brown once or twice.) I focused more this time on the production values, the performances (young Anthony Murphy won a deserved Emmy as Tom), and of course the memories that were brought back to me.

On the downside, some of the other child performances are pretty awful, and the back-and-forth jumps between film (for exterior scenes) and videotape (for interiors), which was common to "Masterpiece Theatre," are irritating. Still, this miniseries is highly recommended, particularly if you're a sucker for British period pieces (as I am).

I loved this series when it was shown in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theater in 1973 and have looked for it on home video ever since. I was thrilled to see it released on DVD and ordered it immediately. Having seen it again I have to admit I can see why it was not released earlier to home video: it's not really as good as the best Masterpiece Theater series.

This may have been the first British mini-series I was ever hooked on. As I watched it again on DVD I recalled all the great series I watched subsequent to this production of "Tom Brown's School Days" including the 1969 version of the Forsyte Saga (which is older than this series but I did not see until 1975), "Upstairs/Downstairs", or "I, Claudius". All of those series, particularly the Eric Porter/Nyree Dawn Porter version of the Forsyte Saga (which I consider to be the best television series of all time) have aged better than this series.

Much of the acting seems appropriate to a High School play. As far as I know, none of the teenaged actors in this production went on to have adult careers as actors.

I was somewhat surprised to see that it is only 5 episodes. The experience of watching it over five weeks every Sunday night must have made quite an impression on me.

The DVD has nearly no additional material. Those of us who originally saw this series on Masterpiece Theater will miss the introductions and postscripts by Alistair Cooke.

I don't regret spending $30 for the nostalgic value of these DVDs, for me personally. If you loved it in 1973, you'll probably enjoy seeing it again at least once.

I remember this series from over 30 ago and have been looking for it. It is a wonderful coming-of-age story for those who love the genre. The acting is not as well as I remember and neither is the photography. But Richard Morant as the villain Flashman does a superb acting job and it is he who I remembered the most. Perhaps it should have been he who won the Emmy, although Anthony Murphy was outstanding also. It is amazing the young actors did not continue with distinguished acting careers, but young actors are all too often quickly washed up.

Our grandsons just loved the account - as did we - of this valient, principled boy. He survives and overcomes the hardships of a boarding school riddled with bullies and rather careless supervision. I suspect the good lessons here will benefit them for a long time. Content wise - great. All around, far superior to the other movie versions.

This screenplay contains some brilliant character acting, but the characters have been subtly - and sometimes crudely - changed from those in the original novel. Much new content has been added (and much left out), and the whole second half of the book entirely omitted.

Flashman is very well played, but his violent father is introduced as a trendy "explanation" for Flashman's nastiness. Dr Arnold (the headmaster) is a beautiful characterisation, but in the original novel he never had to deal with the problem of five boys per bed (perhaps that idea was lifted from Dickens?). As for Tom Brown himself, he is simply marvelous (and what a lovely accent) - but not at all the complex character of the original novel, who was nearly expelled until the responsibility of supervising a younger boy brought out the best in him. Here Tom is lovable and angelic throughout - and when he does call the gamekeeper "velveteens", is hardly believable.

A moving and entertaining screenplay - but not a film to watch if you are going to be tested on the book!

This was a part of the Masterpiece Theater series. Anthony Murphy was delightful in the title role. I was amazed to learn that he'd no prior acting experience. His Tom Brown was noble, egalitarian and polite, though combined with the normal cheekiness of a teenaged boy. The supporting cast was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed this adaptation of Thomas Hughes' novel....highly recommended.

First, a brief correction: In point of fact, this story of Tom Brown at Rugby School does not take place in the Victorian Era, as the back of the DVD box and a number of the reviewers - professional and otherwise - have stated. Rather, it does so place during the late Georgian Era, specifically during the reign of King George IV (1830-37).

As to the 1971 BBC production of Tom Brown's Schooldays, I must say that contrary to the first reviewer, I have enjoyed it just as much as I did when I first saw it on Masterpiece Theater 37 years ago. In fact, I've just re-watched it for the first time in a few years, and still find it extraordinarily well written and, generally, very well acted indeed.

I have watched the 2004 TV film once and attempted to read but failed to complete the original novel. As I understand it, the 2004 version hewed more closely to the novel than this one. Frankly, I think this production greatly improved the story by expanding the roles of both Headmaster Thomas Arnold and Sir Richard Flashman, superbly played by Iain Cuthbertson and Gerald Flood, respectively. One can imagine very easily from Mr. Cuthbertson's bravura performance why Thomas Arnold inspired educational reform throughout Britain's "public" school system. In addition, as an earlier reviewer noted, the source of Gerald Flashman's animosity towards Tom Brown is explained in this version where it is not in the later one, and I think very convincingly so. It is not just the general depravity of the father that explains that of the son, but the specific conflict between this production's Sir Richard and young Master Tom that motivates the animus and cruelty of younger Flashman. This conflict also helps highlight the English class system, which another reviewer noted was missing from the 2004 production.

Contrary to what one reviewer speculated, many of the teenaged boys and young men in the cast went on to have long acting careers, as one could see by following their links from the IMDB page for this series. I will however agree that Richard Morant's Gerald Flashman and Anthony Murphy's Tom Brown deserve all the praise and awards that they have received. I have always avoided George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman novels because Morant's vicious young blackguard made such a lasting and disagreeable impression on me. The nobility, good cheer and open heartedness of Murphy's Tom Brown, on the other hand, motivated me to seek out both this series, other versions on tape or DVD and the novel and its sequel.

It is in the portrayal of Tom Brown that one can acknowledge a strength of the 2004 production. It is not that Alex Pettyfer gives a better performance than Anthony Murphy, but that his Tom Brown is written to be almost as much the sinner as the saint. I think because the 2004 film is based more closely on Thomas Hughes' novel, its hero could not start out so noble as 1971's, but the Tom Brown of the 1971 series fits with the changes that its creators made in Hughes' story. By all means, view the 2004 production if you can, but I think this one remains the standard for a smart adaptation of this classic story.

4.5 stars

This 1971 BBC film adaptation based upon the novel of the same name by Thomas Hughes was most enjoyable. Because I have not yet read the novel "Tom Brown's Schooldays," I cannot say how accurately this mini-series follows the novel. However, I am left with the impression that it does cover the novel quite more accurately than the much shorter 2004 adaptation.

The major positives of the 1971 BBC adaptation are:

1. The series develops the characters very well. (Dr. Arnold receives much more screen time in this BBC adaptation than in the 2004 adaptation).

2. The series conveys well why Flashman hates Tom Brown so much. (This is left unclear in the 2004 adaptation).

3. The series leaves one with a good impression about what school was like in the early 1830s in England in schools like Rugby. (This is not conveyed nearly as well in the 2004 adaptation because of modernization--ex: class warfare and other aspects of Marxist criticism are almost completely absent in the 2004 adaptation.)


The major negatives of the 1971 BBC adaptation are:

1. The series refuses to show anything too immodest, sexual, or violent. The fight scenes are so evidently fake that one has a difficult time making one's mind imagine they are real. (Ex: There are numerous fight scenes with very little blood. The scene when Tom Brown is roasted by the fire is poorly executed as are the whipping scenes.) [Note: The fighting, whipping, and bullying scenes are all much more meaningfully portrayed, even overplayed, in the 2004 adaptation.]

2. The lack of attention to detail in other matters (ex: heavy breathing and other sound effects that are QUITE poor).


Overall recommendation:

This adaptation certainly is appropriate for anyone who traditionally enjoys BBC miniseries based on classic works of British literature and for individuals who enjoy understanding British culture and class-attitudes in previous eras. However, for individuals who really care a lot about a fast-paced storyline and accuracy to little details (see negatives #1,2), you might first wish to watch the 2004 adaptation.