Goodbye Mr Chips (1939)

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Film Description

Brookfield School turns frightened boys into young men ready for the Empire. Donat is the stiff, unpopular headmaster converted by love into an inspirational moulder of lives.

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3 Stills

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Review by Alex Davidson on 7th May 2004

Goodbye, Mr. Chips tells the tale of a shy, mildly unpopular schoolteacher (Robert Donat) whose life and attitude change when he falls in love with an enthusiastic, optimistic young woman (Greer Garson). His new outlook on life makes him a favourite with his pupils, and the film follows his life at the school as he teaches many generations of children.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips is undeniably a manipulative film, with a violin-saturated score and a loveable old grandpa-figure as the protagonist, but the sentimentality is beautifully handled thanks to the direction of Sam Wood and, especially, a marvellous central performance from Robert Donat. When he won the Best Actor Oscar for this role in 1939, it was then most unexpected shock win in the history of the awards – everyone assumed Clark Gable would win for Gone With The Wind. The Academy made the right choice, however; Donat (aged 34 at the time) effortlessly plays Mr. Chipping from a nervous young man in his 20s to an eld erly gentleman well into retirement, and his enactment of this transition is ultimately a more challenging role than Gable’s Rhett Butler.

Garson is also perfect as the young lady who completely changes Mr. Chips’ life with her joie de vivre, and who enables him to befriend his pupils through her charm and friendly attitude. This was her film debut, and the film’s success launched her career, during which she played many similar roles as hearty, and very British, young women.

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This film is part of the following Film Collections

Best Melodramas

Including: A Star Is Born, All About My Mother, An Affair To Remember, Bad Education, Black Narcissus, Bonjour Tristesse, Brief Encounter (Lean, 1945), Broken Blossoms, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Dallas (Seasons 1 & 2).

Best of British

Including: A Fish Called Wanda, A Matter of Life and Death , A Room With A View, Blow-up, Brazil, Brief Encounter (Lean, 1945), Brighton Rock, Caravaggio, Dont Look Now, Get Carter.

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BFI Top 100 British Films by MovieMail

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