Goodbye Mr Chips
The 1939 version (far and away the best) of Goodbye Mr Chips was released little more than three months before the start of WWII . Filmed at Repton School and Denham Studios in Buckinghamshire Mr Chips records an England nearly lost, about to be further damaged by conflict.
It is a quiet paen to decency and duty, one of the most moving moments in a genuine tear-jerker being Mr Chipping honouring his old friend and colleague Max who has died fighting for the enemy in WWI , just as he honours old boys and former teachers. Stay dry-eyed at the end of the piece or when Greer Garson dies and you’re tougher than this writer.
Robert Donat rightly won the best actor Oscar for his tour-de-force performance of Chips from 25 to 85, his normal charm turned down and vulnerability set to maximum. Donat must have thanked the muses for the original story by James Hilton , superbly scripted by R.C. Sherriff among others, and the perfect framing of his role given by Charles Frend’s crisp editing (Oscar nominated it lost out to the flabby Gone with the Wind).
You can enjoy John Mills in an early role, but it’s also fun to play spot the future star: Nigel Stock, Martita Hunt, and David Croft (co-writer of Dad’s Army ) all appear in uncredited bit-parts.
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