InigoDeMontoya After Peter O'Toole's death, I read his obituary wherein it was noted that he received an Oscar nomination for his performance in this film. As he's one of my favorite actors, I felt compelled to acquire the DVD, expecting a treat.O'Toole's performance is good, though in my book not in the same league as "Lawrence of Arabia," "A Lion in Winter," "The Stuntman," or even "My Favorite Year." But there is absolutely no chemistry between Petula Clark and him and many scenes are played as if they are merely blocking them. Furthermore, what in God's name possessed anyone to make a musical of this? (Fair Disclosure: I've never seen the 1939 original with Greer Garson but it's *got* to be better.) The music is insipid but the lyrics are excruciating...whoever wrote them should spend time in the Lyubianka.I was stunned to read some of the other reviews on this site. Did we all watch the same film?

marcslope Terrence Rattigan, who authored this screenplay at a time when he was out of fashion (and he still is), did a wonderful job renovating and updating James Hilton's sentimental novel, and his screenplay, and the playing of Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark, save the movie. Rattigan emphasizes the love story and carefully shows how Chipping, seemingly stiff and unemotional, has great reservoirs of tenderness and gallantry. It's a love story of two very different people who not only complement one another but bring out unforeseen qualities in each other: She teaches him to care, and he teaches her to function outside her shallow theatrical surroundings. O'Toole is as touching as Robert Donat in the original, and Clark, with less to play, is lovely and sympathetic and in superb voice. Of course, most of Leslie Bricusse's songs are dreadful, and O'Toole's no singer, and the internal-dialog nature of most of them (they don't advance plot, they don't define character, they just tell you what the protagonists are thinking) slows the action down. But with Rattigan's excellent touches, a splendidly showy supporting performance by Sian Phillips (then Mrs. O'Toole), and some eye-filling Oswald Morris photography, it's a love story you can weep copiously through--I know I did--and have a wonderful time doing so.

mr_white692 okay, this is no masterpiece of any kind, but it's just about perfectly done for what it is (with one exception). literary sensibility is always wonderful when brought to the screen, and this is no exception - even when the work in question is as utterly insignificant as Hilton's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips". I haven't actually read Hilton's novel, but this movie feels pretty unadulterated to me. An insubstantial, pleasingly sentimental little wisp of a story, a bit like "Driving Miss Daisy" in its smallness and tastefulness, but better directed and more emotionally satisfying and fuller. Peter O'Toole gives what is, in my opinion, the best performance of his extraordinary career (along with his - utterly different - turn in "The Stunt Man"). He manages to project Chips' timidity and smallness of spirit beautifully (especially in the scene in the restaurant where he first meets Petula Clark's character, his future wife), while lending him great dignity and carrying the film emotionally. There's no question in my mind that he should have won the Academy Award. Petula Clark is, in the beginning of the film, a bit too old and plump to be convincing as the hot young showgirl she's supposed to be, but she still looks great and, most importantly, has the charm and joie de vivre that the role demands she have, in spades, in order for her to convince us that she could melt the quiet old prune that is O'Toole's Mr. Chips and bring charm and gaiety into his life. The film is, in general, surprisingly well directed and atmospheric, with a very convincing school atmosphere. The extras all seem very convincing and well-directed, and the film is lavish - enjoyably so. So kudos to Herbert Ross in that department. The other superb performance comes from Sian Phillips as Clark's actress friend Ursula Mossbank, a heavenly role invented for the film. Phillips is pure style, an exquisitely charming, campy creature, towering in skimpy silk dresses with the sinuous neck of a leopard. The only flaw in the film is the music, which Pauline Kael aptly described as "a form of instantly disposable muzak....Your brain flushes it out while you're hearing it". That's pretty much the size of it, in fact, one may have fond memories of the film, having completely forgotten that it was a musical, as the music is so uninspired you barely experience it at all. It's just a faint irritation that unnecessarily stretches the film out to its unwieldy length. Oh well. A lovely film, just the same.

bkoganbing Although MGM spent a lot of money to remake Goodbye Mr. Chips the film is good, but doesn't come close to the spirit of the classic version that got Robert Donat an Oscar amidst the shower of Oscars that Gone With The Wind got in 1939. Yet the best thing this film has going for it is Peter O'Toole cast against type as Mr. Chipping of Brookfield school.Two things were radically different from this and the Donat version. First the book by James Hilton and the Donat version cover a period from before the Boer War until after World War I. This Goodbye Mr. Chips starts in The Roaring Twenties and ends post World War II a totally different period than the one Hilton was writing about. James Hilton was 14 years gone when this film came out, I wonder what he would have thought of the change in time period.Secondly the marriage of Chips is a small part of the original story because the character of the wife dies young and in childbirth. Chips is a saddened widower for most the time the story covers which is a very radical change that Terrence Rattigan made to the original story.Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark have a great deal more time together than Robert Donat and Greer Garson did in the original film. I guess the reason for that is to give Petula Clark a lot of songs. As she's a singer and O'Toole does his songs in the manner originated by Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady, this is one area where she blows him off the screen. The best numbers in the score by Leslie Bricusse are the production numbers London Is London and later on the one that Petula does with the Brookfield boys, School Days.Michael Redgrave has a nice turn as the kind, but somewhat traditional schoolmaster. And although she only has a few scenes, Sian Phillips is brilliant as the Bohemian type actress who is a friend of Petula Clark's and a closer friend to Lord George Baker who is trying to get O'Toole sacked from Brookfield. Phillips's character might well have been based on Gertrude Lawrence.When James Hilton wrote his best known stories Hollywood was fortunate to have a pair of actors who were born to play Hilton heroes, Robert Donat and Ronald Colman. They both exemplify the way the British see themselves, purveyors of civilization, sportsmanship, and fair play to the world. Despite the uphill battle to come close to what Donat gave us with his Mr. Chips, O'Toole did get a nomination for Best Actor, but lost to John Wayne for True Grit. Goodbye Mr. Chips also got a nomination for Best Musical Scoring for Leslie Bricusse and John Williams. We may yet see another big screen adaption of Goodbye Mr. Chips and maybe this one will be set in modern times if such a film could be made. Sounds like a perfect part for Anthony Hopkins.