Hitchcoc This is the original Chips movie (It stars Robert Donat; Peter O'Toole would later reprise the role). It is about a teacher who comes to an exclusive boy's school for his first experience. That experience proves disheartening as the boys make fun of him and manipulate him. He loses his idealism and turns 180 degrees. He becomes an authoritarian taskmaster who becomes anathema to his students and his colleagues. He gets production from his charges but they don't have the fun of learning. He even holds forth when a very athletic student can't play in a game because of his lack of effort and success in the classroom. He is amazingly consistent and bullheaded. Then along comes Greer Garson, who is the love of his life. For the first time he realizes that there is more to life than discipline. He is devoted to her, but tragedy shows its face and he must rethink his world. The last part of the film is absolutely gut wrenching and emotional. It will take a hard person not to react.

Jackson Booth-Millard This looked like a nice, simple and charming black-and-white film, it is critical acclaimed, and Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind lost out the Academy Award for Best Actor to this film's leading star, I had to see it, from Oscar nominated director Sam Wood (A Night at the Opera, The Pride of the Yankees, For Whom the Bell Tolls). Basically Charles Edward Chipping, fondly referred to as Mr. Chips (Oscar winning Robert Donat), in 1933 is a retired schoolteacher and former headmaster at the traditional Brookfield Boarding School, one of the oldest and most respected boys schools in England, the film goes into flashback as he recalls his life and teaching career. Chipping first arrived at Brookfield aged 25 as a Latin teacher in 1870, he becomes the target for many practical jokes, he reacts by imposing strict discipline, he is respected but disliked, as time passes however his relationship with his pupil improves, and he becomes senior master. Chipping is disappointed not to receive an appointment as the house master, but his despair is lifted when the German teacher Max Staefel (Paul Henreid) invites him for a walking holiday to his native Austria, while mountain climbing he encounters feisty English suffragette Kathy Ellis (Oscar nominated Greer Garson). Charles and Kathy meet again in Vienna and dance a waltz, he uses the music to declare his love for her, Kathy is considerably younger and livelier than Charles, but she shares affection for him and they get married, they return to England, Kathy finds a home in the school and charms everyone with her warmth. The marriage is tragically short however as Kathy dies during childbirth, along with the baby, but she brings Mr. Chips out of his shell and shows him how to be a better teacher, as the years pass Chips has become a much-loved institution to the school, developing a rapport with generations of pupils, teaching the sons and grandsons of many of his earlier pupils. In 1909 Chips is pressured to retire for a more "modern" headmaster, the boys and the board of governors take his side and want him to stay until he is 100, he does finally retire in 1914 at age 69, only to be summoned back as an interim headmaster during the time of the First World War, due to a shortage of teachers, he insists the boys continue translating Latin, even during a bombing attack occurring. Many names of former boys and teachers that have died are read aloud in the school's Roll of Honour every Sunday as the war continues, Chips finds out Max Staefel has died fighting on the German side, he also reads out his name in the chapel. Mr. Chips permanently retires in 1918, he is on his deathbed in 1933 and overhears his friends remarking that he never had children, Chips responds "But you're wrong. I have! Thousands of them, thousands of them – and all boys". Also starring Terry Kilburn as John Colley / Peter Colley I / Peter Colley II / Peter Colley III, John Mills as Peter Colley as a young man, Judith Furse as Flora, Lyn Harding as Dr. Wetherby, Milton Rosmer as Chatteris, Frederick Leister as Marsham and Louise Hampton as Mrs. Wickett. Donat, who I mainly knew for The 39 Steps, gives a superb performance as the kind-hearted Latin teacher and headmaster with a subtle and worldly-wise manner, and a large moustache, and Garson makes a great introductory performance as his beautiful love interest, there is a well-cast musical remake with Peter O'Toole, but this is indeed the definitive version, it is so simple, but so wonderfully moving, it proves that any nice man can be a great hero, a brilliant period drama. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Writing, Screenplay, Best Sound and Best Film Editing. Arthur Chipping was number 40 on 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains, and the film was number 46 on 100 Greatest Tearjerkers. Very good!

ElMaruecan82 1939 was truly a phenomenal year for movie lovers with such distinguished masterpieces as "Gone With the Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" to start with the most emblematic ones, and followed by the no less revered "Stagecoach", "Ninotchka" or "Young Mr. Lincoln" …Yet, despite its lower recognition, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips", also Best Picture nominee, is still likely to grab the attention of a movie fan because it features the performance that won the Oscar for Best Actor, which is saying a lot in 1939. No, it was not James Stewart who won for his outstanding emotional role as Jefferson Smith, neither did Clark Gable as the iconic Rhett Butler or Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff, no … fate decided that the prestigious award would go to a Robert Donat who played a shy and humble schoolmaster named Arthur Chipping aka 'Mr. Chips'. I admit that I was less eager to see the film than the performance that beat those stellar performances but the result was the same anyway. First, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" is significant as a milestone for school movies. "Dead Poets Society", "To Sir, With Love", "Blackboard Jungle", they all owe something to "Goodbye, Mr. Chips", the inspirational story of a teacher who dedicated his whole life, 63 years, to his profession, to his boys. But don't expect the life-changing teacher, who'd open his pupils' eyes. Sam Wood's film is beyond the stereotypes it will later inspire. All we have is just a man who'll learn the most difficult job in the world and the noblest, something that demands courage, patience, understanding and a sincere enthusiasm. His authority is challenged in the beginning, making him question if he's fit to the job, but progressively, he'll try to learn to find the right balance. But it's only by meeting his future wife that his status in Brookfield will go from a good teacher to the living legend.Greer Garson, as Susan, was nominated for an Oscar in a leading role, and I can understand why it leaves some viewers perplexed. But I think she exemplifies the importance of a woman in man's life, and no man is shy enough to never find the true love, and certainly not a good man like Chips. Susan will lead the lead character, teaching him how to smile, how to overcome his own weaknesses, how to make a friend out of his kids, much more, she's the one who'll earn him his nickname. The film's second act entirely focuses on the relationship between Chips and Susan, their romantic waltz in Vienna, the Blue Danube music. And although it tragically ends with her precocious death by giving birth, we understand that she paved the way to Chips' popularity and helped him to become a living legend. I was also interested to see the film because Chips was listed in AFI's Top 50 Greatest heroes, and I wanted to know what was so inspiring about him. I think he's like Rocky Balboa, a sort of ideological hero who conveys positive values about life, about remaining true to a sort of a positive discipline. He's a man who faced war, the death of his wife, of colleagues, friend and of course pupils, and still he took the distance. Full of contradictions, he was capable of teaching during German bombings and yet delivers a eulogy to one of his German friends who taught at Brookfield. Chips valued life too much to get stuck in patriotic exaltations. He was a good man, eccentric, charismatic, funny, but a positive model.And if by no means, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" is equal to "Gone With the Wind", in its own humbleness and simplicity, the film is capable to reach a superior emotionality that doesn't rely on epic moment or powerful dialog. It's just the sight of this humble man, going older and older, yet never letting his love toward his profession and pupils being altered by the passing of time. Robert Donat is magnificent as Mr. Chips, and I couldn't believe a 34-year old could play an old man in such a convincing way, in this cute way to stick his mouth to his mustache or to emphasizes the 'o'. Going from this mild-mannered playboy to a shy middle-aged man and then an old Einstein-looking elderly is indeed a performance that deserved an accolade. But Donat's performance and the impressive ways were not the only way to suggest the passing of time. When he comes in Brookfield to start as a teacher, kids talk about Prussians defeating the French, well the film demands a little knowledge, but we understand it's in 1870. Later, the year 1901 is indicated when a student comments about Queen Victoria's death and can't believe Britain will have a king. This summarizes what Chips incarnates: longevity. He's a 83 year old schoolmaster, a living legend, loved and admired, who's so old in his school that he taught three generations of boys, an element of his life cleverly highlighted by the three Colley's kids, all played by the same kid. Still, one of the most representative moments of the film is the many montages of pupils and students filing past and recalling their names. The flow of kids, of new faces, of children and young men, is like a metaphoric view of life as a river where it's never the same water that runs. And combined by with the ringing bells and the film's outstanding music in high volume, and Chips' deathbed words, it's impossible not to be touched by this film, and its lead character, a sympathetic character full of this same innocence that would be lost after 1939 and Hollywood would see the rise of more cynical and fatalistic genres, like the film-noir. Chips dies with his innocence, but his remembrance is eternal.

TheLittleSongbird There is the Peter O'Toole musical remake which I need to re-watch again despite not thinking much of it, and the Martin Clunes TV adaptation which was excellent, but I consider this 1939 Goodbye Mr Chips the definitive version. The film gives you a warm and cosy feeling just looking at it, and there is a sparkling score. The script has moments where it is droll, but mostly it is touching and very warm-hearted and human. The story still moves and charms me to this day, with the ending especially making me cry, the underrated Sam Wood's(director also of the brilliant A Night at the Opera) direction is immaculate and the characters are all compelling particularly the titular character. The acting helps to bring everything to life, as lovely as Greer Garson is, and a pleasure it was to spot Casablanca's Paul Henreid, Great Expectations' Martita Hunt(in an uncredited cameo) and a young John Mills, it is Robert Donat's film as he is a revelation in a very subtle and sincere performance. All in all, a beautiful film and the best Goodbye Mr Chips. 10/10 Bethany Cox