Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Schmaltzy, but who minds?, July 8, 2004
This is a wonderfully sentimental depiction of public school life in the Victorian and Edwardian eras and beyond. Chipping, like so many other schoolmasters of the time, lives a cloistered life on which the outer world only occasionally impinges -- mostly during wartime.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!) I also enjoyed trying to work out how many of the Tyrol scenes were shot in the studio. (At one stage, Chips and his friend even walk against a film background.) The DVD has no special extras, but the picture and sound quality is reasonable. I haven't tried the film on my teenage children, but I think this is one of the few black and white movies that they would be absorbed by. (Don't be misled by the colour photo on the DVD box cover into believing the movie is in colour!)
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
When the Movie tops the Book, June 7, 2005
There aren't many cases where the movie is better than the book, but "Goodbye Mr. Chips" is one of them. James Hilton tossed together his barely over 100 pages of big type in about a week. The scriptwriters for the film fleshed out a good story line with much more detail. Well-directed and just superbly acted by Robert Donat in the title role, this film is an endearing classic.
The basic story is that of a traditional English schoolmaster, set in a period from mid-Victorian to pre-WWII. It's a gentle tale of the meaning of a man's life and how we can rise to excellence in our modest professions and touch the lives of many. Mr. Chipping ("Chips" as his students affectionately know him) leads a rich life, although also fraught with sorrows.
There is still much relevance to the film--the tragedy of war, the importance of a balanced education, and the evils of caste.
Yes, the film is sentimental and a little manipulative, but you will probably not mind. In fact, you may cry your eyes out.
Compared to R.F. Delderfield's "To Serve Them All My Days," the book of "Chips" is not nearly as good, but this film tops the BBC mini-series of "Days" in virtually every way--especially in managing to leave out a lot of class warfare!
Order it, go buy a box of Puffs, and plonk yourself down for a delightful classic!
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BEST ACTOR AA FOR 1939., July 11, 2002
The excellent film version of James Hilton's sentimental novellette. The tribute to the English public school system and to one Mr. Chipping is done with immaculate care in every respect; it is a serene, tenderly heart-warming story. Like the story, the film is nostalgic: if we never knew a Mr. Chips, we should have - he belongs in every young man's past. Robert Donat gives an incredibly fine charactisation of the much-loved schoolmaster. Donat's performance is noteworthy not merely for his uncanny ability to make a convincing transition from young schoolmaster to octogenarian, but for his subtle underlining (if underlining can be subtle) of the dramatic moments in an essentially undramatic life. Chips was a shy person; like an iceberg, two-thirds of him was always subsurface. Donat wisely understated him playing him softly which doubled his poignance. It is only when he is seen as a crotchety old man scattering across campus in his tattered robe - that Donat went a TRIFLE overdrawn: a fraction of the cute and overacted side. But that is just and impression and not deep enough to discredit an otherwise flawless performance. Greer Garson's portrait of Katherine, the assertive young woman who changed the dour Mr. Chipping into the loveable Mr. Chips is altogether believable and quite entrancing: here is one of the nicest people we could ever wish to encounter! The boys are completely captivated hy Katherine - and so is the viewer. Paul Henreid is splendid as the German instructor and Terry Kilburn is unforgettable. A beautiful picture in every respect.
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