Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969 film)
Encyclopedia
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1969 American
musical film
directed by Herbert Ross
. The screenplay
by Terence Rattigan
is based on James Hilton
's 1934 novella of the same name
, which originally was adapted for the screen in 1939
.
's screenplay is a major departure from the simple plot of Hilton's novella
. The time frame of the original story was advanced by several decades, starting in the 1920s, continuing through World War II
, and ending in the late 1960s.
While Arthur Chipping remains a stodgy teacher of Latin
, disliked by his students at Brookfield, Katherine Bridges has been transformed into a music hall
soubrette
who first meets Chips in the dining room of the Savoy Hotel
in London
on the eve of his summer vacation. Dissatisfied with her career and depressed by her romantic entanglements, she sets sail on a Mediterranean cruise and is reunited with Chips by chance in Pompeii
. Seeing in him a lonely soul similar to herself, she arranges an evening at the theater after they return to England
, and the two find themselves drawn to each other. When Chips arrives at Brookfield for the autumn term, it is with his new wife on his arm, much to the shock of the faculty and delight of the students, who find Mrs. Chips' charm to be irresistible.
Although her close friend and confidante, Tallulah Bankhead
-like actress Ursula Mossbank, helps Katherine thwart Lord Sutterwick's plan to deprive the school of a generous financial endowment because of the woman's background, her past eventually deprives Chips of being named headmaster, but the couple's devotion to each other overcomes all obstacles threatening their marriage. In the original film, Katherine died in childbirth, but the remake allows the couple to remain together for twenty years, until she is killed by a German V-1 flying bomb
while entertaining the troops at a local army base. Too late for his wife to share in his happiness, Chips finally achieves his dream of becoming headmaster of Brookfield, and lives out his days at the school, beloved by his students and comforted by his happy memories.
flush from the success of Mary Poppins
, trade magazine advertisements announced she would star opposite Rex Harrison
, with Vincente Minnelli
listed as director, but nothing came of the project. A few years later, it was back on track with its share of pre-production problems, including several changes in the casting of the lead roles. First, Richard Burton
and Samantha Eggar
were signed, then Lee Remick
was announced as Eggar's replacement. When she in turn was replaced by Petula Clark
, Remick sued MGM for damages. Burton balked at playing opposite a "pop singer," and he was replaced by Peter O'Toole
.
The film was the first-time directorial effort of choreographer Herbert Ross.
Much of the film was made on location. In Italy
, scenes were shot in Campania
, Capaccio
, Naples, Paestum
, Pompeii
, and Positano
. In London
, 59 Strand-on-the-Green in Chiswick
served as Katherine's home, and the Salisbury, a popular bar in the West End theatre
district, was the setting for a scene in which Chips and Katherine shared a drink after a performance of Medea
. Sherborne School
in Dorset
stood in for Brookfield, and scenes were filmed in the town of Sherborne
.
Petula Clark's two musical production numbers were choreographed by director Ross' wife Nora Kaye
. Ken Adam
served as the film's art director
, and Julie Harris
was responsible for the costume design
.
The song score (which replaced one originally composed by André
and Dory Previn
) is by Leslie Bricusse
, and was critically panned at the time of the film's release. In the National Review
, John Simon
observed, "The music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse conquer new depths of ineptitude, and having these nonsongs done mostly in voice-over as interior monologues adds pretentiousness to their basic awfulness," while Rex Reed
opined that "to insinuate that Leslie Bricusse's plodding score is merely dreadful would be an act of charity."
Following the film's initial roadshow bookings
, and before it headed into neighborhood theaters, most of the film's musical numbers were deleted, a questionable decision considering many of them were instrumental in explaining the characters' inner thoughts and emotions. They also were eliminated from initial television network
broadcasts but have been reinstated for viewings on TCM
. Intervening years have brought a new appreciation for it, as well as John Williams
' underscore
and orchestration
s.
, "Rarely have a pair of players been so marvelously in tune with each other as Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark."
In his review in the New York Times, Vincent Canby
said, "[Peter O'Toole] has never been better. Having been forced to abandon his usual mechanical flamboyance, he gives Chips an air of genuine, if seedy, grandeur that shines through dozens of make-up changes . . . Miss Clark is a fine rock singer with the quality of a somewhat tough Julie Andrews (which I like and is not to be confused with Miss Andrews's steely cool) . . . The film is the first directorial effort of Herbert Ross . . . the sort of director who depends heavily on the use of the zoom, the boom and the helicopter, which gives the movie the contradictory look of a mod-Victorian valentine . . . [he] has handled the musical sequences . . . more or less as soliloquies. O'Toole talks his with such charm that I almost suspected he was lip-syncing Rex Harrison
's voice, and Miss Clark belts hers in good, modified Streisand
style. All of which brings me — unfortunately — to the score by Leslie Bricusse. The 12 songs haven't been so much integrated into the book as folded into it. Like unbeaten egg whites in a soufflé, they do nothing for the cause of levitation."
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
observed, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips uses its budget quietly, with good taste, and succeeds in being a big movie without being a gross one. I think I enjoyed it about as much as any road show since Funny Girl
. And that surprised me, since so much of the critical reaction has been negative. Even at its worst, Chips is inoffensive in its sentimentality. At its best, it's the first film since The Two of Us
that I genuinely feel deserves to be called heartwarming . . . the Hilton story was a best seller but hardly a work of art. By modernizing the action, Rattigan has made it possible for the movie to mirror changes in the English class structure during the two decades when it was most obviously becoming obsolete . . . As the schoolmaster and his wife, Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark are exactly right. O'Toole succeeds in creating a character that is aloof, chillingly correct, terribly reserved - and charming all the same . . . Miss Clark carries most of the musical duties in the film, and carries them well . . . one of the best things about Chips is that Ross has concentrated on telling his story, and hasn't let the songs intrude. That's particularly lucky since Leslie Bricusse's music and lyrics are sublimely forgettable; there's not a really first-rate song in the show."
In Holiday, Rex Reed enthused, "I think I'm in love with Petula Clark. If she had come along twenty years ago, a time the screen knew a mercurial presence when it saw one, she would have been a much bigger star than she ever has a chance of being now. The playing is superb. Peter O'Toole is a prim and angular Chips who wears a look of permanent insecurity; Miss Clark is a soft, sweet-smelling, dimpled doughnut with powdery cheeks and witty anxiety, like a new Jean Arthur
. Together they are perfect counterparts. . . Goodbye, Mr. Chips is, I'm afraid, very square indeed, but thanks to an idyllic cast and a magnificent director, there is so much love and beauty in it that it made my heart stop with joy. I found it all quite irresistible."
Archer Winsten of the New York Post
stated, "[It] has been produced in England in surroundings of inevitable authenticity and taste, with performers of extraordinary talent and range, and the results are here for all of us to share the sentimental warmth . . . that O'Toole performance is a gem, and Petula Clark knows exactly how to enhance its brilliance, and her own, most effectively."
In Life
, Richard Schickel
wrote "Petula Clark . . . is fresh and charming. Together with O’Toole she provides the firm, bright core for a film always in danger of becoming mushy. Nearly unaided, they make the old thing work — and make it worthwhile."
Channel 4
feels "the main problem with turning the film into a musical is that the songs lack the emotion that the story really needs . . . That said, O'Toole is superb as Chips and Clark charming as the woman who dramatically changes his life."
A limited-edition 3-CD set of the complete score, including alternate versions and discarded numbers, was released by the Film Score Monthly Silver Age Classics label in 2006. "You and I" remains a staple of Petula Clark's concert repertoire.
format on Region 1 DVD by Warner Home Video
on January 29, 2009. It has audio tracks in English and Japanese and subtitles in English, French, Japanese, and Thai. The only bonus features are the trailers for the 1939 and 1969 films.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
musical film
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
directed by Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross was an American film director, producer, choreographer and actor.-Early life and career:Born Herbert David Ross in Brooklyn, New York, he made his stage debut as Third Witch with a touring company of Macbeth in 1942...
. The screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
by Terence Rattigan
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...
is based on James Hilton
James Hilton
James Hilton was an English novelist who wrote several best-sellers, including Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.-Biography:...
's 1934 novella of the same name
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a novel by James Hilton, published in the United States in June 1934 by Little, Brown and Company and in the United Kingdom in October of that same year by Hodder & Stoughton...
, which originally was adapted for the screen in 1939
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1939 British film based on the novel of the same name by James Hilton. It was directed by Sam Wood, and starred Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John Mills, and Paul Henreid. The screenplay was adapted from the novel by R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West and Eric...
.
Plot
Terence RattiganTerence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...
's screenplay is a major departure from the simple plot of Hilton's novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
. The time frame of the original story was advanced by several decades, starting in the 1920s, continuing through World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and ending in the late 1960s.
While Arthur Chipping remains a stodgy teacher of Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, disliked by his students at Brookfield, Katherine Bridges has been transformed into a music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
soubrette
Soubrette
A soubrette is a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".-Theater:...
who first meets Chips in the dining room of the Savoy Hotel
Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel is a hotel located on the Strand, in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, the hotel opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on the eve of his summer vacation. Dissatisfied with her career and depressed by her romantic entanglements, she sets sail on a Mediterranean cruise and is reunited with Chips by chance in Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
. Seeing in him a lonely soul similar to herself, she arranges an evening at the theater after they return to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and the two find themselves drawn to each other. When Chips arrives at Brookfield for the autumn term, it is with his new wife on his arm, much to the shock of the faculty and delight of the students, who find Mrs. Chips' charm to be irresistible.
Although her close friend and confidante, Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
-like actress Ursula Mossbank, helps Katherine thwart Lord Sutterwick's plan to deprive the school of a generous financial endowment because of the woman's background, her past eventually deprives Chips of being named headmaster, but the couple's devotion to each other overcomes all obstacles threatening their marriage. In the original film, Katherine died in childbirth, but the remake allows the couple to remain together for twenty years, until she is killed by a German V-1 flying bomb
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb, also known as the Buzz Bomb or Doodlebug, was an early pulse-jet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile....
while entertaining the troops at a local army base. Too late for his wife to share in his happiness, Chips finally achieves his dream of becoming headmaster of Brookfield, and lives out his days at the school, beloved by his students and comforted by his happy memories.
Cast
- Peter O'ToolePeter O'ToolePeter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
as Arthur Chipping - Petula ClarkPetula ClarkPetula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
as Katherine Bridges - Michael RedgraveMichael RedgraveSir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, CBE was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author.-Youth and education:...
as Brookfield Headmaster - Siân PhillipsSiân PhillipsJane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
as Ursula Mossbank - Michael BryantMichael Bryant (actor)Michael Dennis Bryant was a British stage and television actor.-Biography:Bryant attended Battersea Grammar School and after service in the Merchant Navy and Army, he attended drama school and appeared in many productions on the London stage. He made his film debut in 1955...
as Max Staefel - George BakerGeorge Baker (actor)George Baker, MBE was an English actor and writer. He was best-known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.-Personal life:...
as Lord Sutterwick - Alison LeggattAlison LeggattAlison Leggatt was an English character actress.-Career:Born as Alison Joy Leggatt in the Kensington district of London, Leggatt spent the early part of her career primarily on the stage. Her first major film credit was as Aunt Sylvia in This Happy Breed , Noel Coward's homage to the British...
as Headmaster's Wife - Clinton GreynClinton GreynClinton Greyn is a Welsh-born actor noted for his appearances in British television series of the 1960s and 1970s.He made his film debut in the 1961 short Wings of Death, and went onto appear in such popular British TV series as Z-Cars and Compact...
as Bill Calbury - Michael CulverMichael CulverMichael Culver is an English actor.He was born in Hampstead, London, the son of actor Roland Culver and casting director Daphne Rye...
as Johnny Longbridge - Jack HedleyJack HedleyJack Hedley is an English actor, best known for his performances on television....
as William Baxter
Production
As early as 1964, with Julie AndrewsJulie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
flush from the success of Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)
Mary Poppins is a 1964 musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, produced by Walt Disney, and based on the Mary Poppins books series by P. L. Travers with illustrations by Mary Shepard. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi, with songs by...
, trade magazine advertisements announced she would star opposite Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
, with Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli
Vincente Minnelli was an American stage director and film director, famous for directing such classic movie musicals as Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, and An American in Paris. In addition to having directed some of the most famous and well-remembered musicals of his time, Minnelli made...
listed as director, but nothing came of the project. A few years later, it was back on track with its share of pre-production problems, including several changes in the casting of the lead roles. First, Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
and Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar is an English film, television and voice actress.-Early life:She was born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar in Hampstead, London to an Anglo-Irish father and a mother of Dutch and Portuguese descent...
were signed, then Lee Remick
Lee Remick
Lee Ann Remick was an American film and television actress. Among her best-known films are Anatomy of a Murder , Days of Wine and Roses , and The Omen .-Early life:...
was announced as Eggar's replacement. When she in turn was replaced by Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, Remick sued MGM for damages. Burton balked at playing opposite a "pop singer," and he was replaced by Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
.
The film was the first-time directorial effort of choreographer Herbert Ross.
Much of the film was made on location. In Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, scenes were shot in Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, Capaccio
Capaccio
Capaccio is a town and comune in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of south-western Italy. The ruins of the ancient city of Paestum lie within borders of the comune.-Airport:...
, Naples, Paestum
Paestum
Paestum is the classical Roman name of a major Graeco-Roman city in the Campania region of Italy. It is located in the north of Cilento, near the coast about 85 km SE of Naples in the province of Salerno, and belongs to the commune of Capaccio, officially also named...
, Pompeii
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, and Positano
Positano
Positano is a village and comune on the Amalfi Coast , in Campania, Italy. The main part of the city sits in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast.-History:...
. In London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 59 Strand-on-the-Green in Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
served as Katherine's home, and the Salisbury, a popular bar in the West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
district, was the setting for a scene in which Chips and Katherine shared a drink after a performance of Medea
Medea (play)
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...
. Sherborne School
Sherborne School
Sherborne School is a British independent school for boys, located in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England. It is one of the original member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
stood in for Brookfield, and scenes were filmed in the town of Sherborne
Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. The population of the town is 9,350 . 27.1% of the population is aged 65 or...
.
Petula Clark's two musical production numbers were choreographed by director Ross' wife Nora Kaye
Nora Kaye
Nora Kaye was an American ballerina called the Duse of Dance after acclaimed actress Eleonora Duse. She also worked in films as a choreographer and producer....
. Ken Adam
Ken Adam
Sir Kenneth Adam, OBE, born Klaus Hugo Adam , is a motion picture production designer most famous for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Childhood in Germany:...
served as the film's art director
Art director
The art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
, and Julie Harris
Julie Harris (costume designer)
Julie Harris is a British costume designer.Born in London, Harris began her career in 1947 at Gainsborough Pictures with Holiday Camp, the forerunner of the Huggett family film series...
was responsible for the costume design
Costume design
Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
.
The song score (which replaced one originally composed by André
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
and Dory Previn
Dory Previn
Dory Previn, née Dorothy Veronica Langan , is an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet.During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist for motion picture songs, and with her first husband André Previn received several Academy Award nominations...
) is by Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
, and was critically panned at the time of the film's release. In the National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
, John Simon
John Simon (critic)
John Ivan Simon is an American author and literary, theater, and film critic.-Personal life:Simon was born in Subotica, Bačka, County of Bačka, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later, known as Yugoslavia . He is of Hungarian descent...
observed, "The music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse conquer new depths of ineptitude, and having these nonsongs done mostly in voice-over as interior monologues adds pretentiousness to their basic awfulness," while Rex Reed
Rex Reed
Rex Taylor Reed is an American film critic and former co-host of the syndicated television show At the Movies. He currently writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for The New York Observer.-Life and career:...
opined that "to insinuate that Leslie Bricusse's plodding score is merely dreadful would be an act of charity."
Following the film's initial roadshow bookings
Roadshow theatrical release
A roadshow theatrical release was a term in the American motion picture industry for a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco for a specific period of time before the...
, and before it headed into neighborhood theaters, most of the film's musical numbers were deleted, a questionable decision considering many of them were instrumental in explaining the characters' inner thoughts and emotions. They also were eliminated from initial television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
broadcasts but have been reinstated for viewings on TCM
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
. Intervening years have brought a new appreciation for it, as well as John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
' underscore
Underscore
The underscore [ _ ] is a character that originally appeared on the typewriter and was primarily used to underline words...
and orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
s.
Critical reception
For the most part the reviews were lukewarm, although both O'Toole and Clark were universally praised for their performances and the obvious chemistry between them. According to SeventeenSeventeen (magazine)
Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
, "Rarely have a pair of players been so marvelously in tune with each other as Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark."
In his review in the New York Times, Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
said, "[Peter O'Toole] has never been better. Having been forced to abandon his usual mechanical flamboyance, he gives Chips an air of genuine, if seedy, grandeur that shines through dozens of make-up changes . . . Miss Clark is a fine rock singer with the quality of a somewhat tough Julie Andrews (which I like and is not to be confused with Miss Andrews's steely cool) . . . The film is the first directorial effort of Herbert Ross . . . the sort of director who depends heavily on the use of the zoom, the boom and the helicopter, which gives the movie the contradictory look of a mod-Victorian valentine . . . [he] has handled the musical sequences . . . more or less as soliloquies. O'Toole talks his with such charm that I almost suspected he was lip-syncing Rex Harrison
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey “Rex” Harrison was an English actor of stage and screen. Harrison won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.-Youth and stage career:...
's voice, and Miss Clark belts hers in good, modified Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
style. All of which brings me — unfortunately — to the score by Leslie Bricusse. The 12 songs haven't been so much integrated into the book as folded into it. Like unbeaten egg whites in a soufflé, they do nothing for the cause of levitation."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
observed, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips uses its budget quietly, with good taste, and succeeds in being a big movie without being a gross one. I think I enjoyed it about as much as any road show since Funny Girl
Funny Girl (film)
Funny Girl is a 1968 romantic musical film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart was adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title...
. And that surprised me, since so much of the critical reaction has been negative. Even at its worst, Chips is inoffensive in its sentimentality. At its best, it's the first film since The Two of Us
The Two of Us (1967 film)
The Two of Us is a 1967 French film. It starred Michel Simon, Charles Denner and Alain Cohen, and was the first film Claude Berri directed. The film was entered into the 17th Berlin International Film Festival, where Michel Simon won the Silver Bear for Best Actor award.- Plot :Claude is an...
that I genuinely feel deserves to be called heartwarming . . . the Hilton story was a best seller but hardly a work of art. By modernizing the action, Rattigan has made it possible for the movie to mirror changes in the English class structure during the two decades when it was most obviously becoming obsolete . . . As the schoolmaster and his wife, Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark are exactly right. O'Toole succeeds in creating a character that is aloof, chillingly correct, terribly reserved - and charming all the same . . . Miss Clark carries most of the musical duties in the film, and carries them well . . . one of the best things about Chips is that Ross has concentrated on telling his story, and hasn't let the songs intrude. That's particularly lucky since Leslie Bricusse's music and lyrics are sublimely forgettable; there's not a really first-rate song in the show."
In Holiday, Rex Reed enthused, "I think I'm in love with Petula Clark. If she had come along twenty years ago, a time the screen knew a mercurial presence when it saw one, she would have been a much bigger star than she ever has a chance of being now. The playing is superb. Peter O'Toole is a prim and angular Chips who wears a look of permanent insecurity; Miss Clark is a soft, sweet-smelling, dimpled doughnut with powdery cheeks and witty anxiety, like a new Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. As James Harvey wrote in his recounting of the era, "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur...
. Together they are perfect counterparts. . . Goodbye, Mr. Chips is, I'm afraid, very square indeed, but thanks to an idyllic cast and a magnificent director, there is so much love and beauty in it that it made my heart stop with joy. I found it all quite irresistible."
Archer Winsten of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
stated, "[It] has been produced in England in surroundings of inevitable authenticity and taste, with performers of extraordinary talent and range, and the results are here for all of us to share the sentimental warmth . . . that O'Toole performance is a gem, and Petula Clark knows exactly how to enhance its brilliance, and her own, most effectively."
In Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
, Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
Richard Warren Schickel is an American author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He is a film critic for Time magazine, having also written for Life magazine and the Los Angeles Times Book Review....
wrote "Petula Clark . . . is fresh and charming. Together with O’Toole she provides the firm, bright core for a film always in danger of becoming mushy. Nearly unaided, they make the old thing work — and make it worthwhile."
Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
feels "the main problem with turning the film into a musical is that the songs lack the emotion that the story really needs . . . That said, O'Toole is superb as Chips and Clark charming as the woman who dramatically changes his life."
Musical numbers
- Music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
- "Overture" (Orchestra, conducted by John Williams)
- "Main Titles/Fill the World With Love" (Orchestra and Boys Chorus) (Brookfield school anthem)
- "Where Did My Childhood Go?" (Peter O'Toole)
- "London Is London" (Petula Clark)
- "And the Sky Smiled" (Petula Clark)
- "Apollo" (Petula Clark)
- "When I Am Older" (Boys Chorus)
- "Walk Through the World" (Petula Clark)
- "Fill the World With Love" (Petula Clark, Boys Chorus)
- "Entr'Acte/What Shall I Do With Today?" (Orchestra/Petula Clark)
- "What a Lot of Flowers" (Peter O'Toole)
- "What a Lot of Flowers (Reprise)" (Peter O'Toole)
- "And the Sky Smiled (Reprise)" (Petula Clark)
- "Schooldays" (Petula Clark and Boys)
- "You and I" (Petula Clark)
- "Fill the World With Love (Reprise)" (Peter O'Toole, Boys Chorus)
- "Exit Music - You and I" (Orchestra)
- "When I Was Younger" (Peter O'Toole) (Deleted from film but included on original soundtrack recording)
A limited-edition 3-CD set of the complete score, including alternate versions and discarded numbers, was released by the Film Score Monthly Silver Age Classics label in 2006. "You and I" remains a staple of Petula Clark's concert repertoire.
Awards and nominations
- Academy Award for Best ActorAcademy Award for Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Peter O'Toole, nominee) - Academy Award for Best Score of a Musical PictureAcademy Award for Original Music ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(Leslie Bricusse and John Williams, nominees) - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Peter O'Toole, winner)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (Siân Phillips, nominee)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Original ScoreGolden Globe Award for Best Original ScoreThe Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is one of several categories presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications outside North America, since its institution in 1947...
(Leslie Bricusse, nominee) - National Board of Review Award for Best ActorNational Board of Review Award for Best ActorAn incomplete list of the winners of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actor :-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(Peter O'Toole, winner) - National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting ActressNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting ActressThe National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the annual awards given by the National Society of Film Critics.This awards was given for the first time in 1967 to Marjorie Rhodes for her role in The Family Way....
(Siân Phillips, winner) - David di Donatello AwardDavid di DonatelloDavid di Donatello, named after Donatello's David, is a movie award assigned each year for cinematic performances and production by Ente David di Donatello, part of Accademia del Cinema Italiano. It is the Italian equivalent to the Academy Award. There are 24 categories as of 2006.- History :The...
for Best Foreign Actor (Peter O'Toole, co-winner with Dustin HoffmanDustin HoffmanDustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
for Midnight CowboyMidnight CowboyMidnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and newcomer Jon Voight in the title role. Notable smaller roles are filled by Sylvia Miles, John...
) - Giffoni Film FestivalGiffoni Film FestivalThe Giffoni International Film Festival is the largest children’s film festival in Europe, and possibly the World. It takes place in the little Italian town of Giffoni Valle Piana in Southern Italy, close to Salerno. Over 2,000 children attend the festival from 39 countries around the world...
Golden Gryphon (Herbert Ross, winner)
DVD release
The film was released in anamorphic widescreenAnamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
format on Region 1 DVD by Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
on January 29, 2009. It has audio tracks in English and Japanese and subtitles in English, French, Japanese, and Thai. The only bonus features are the trailers for the 1939 and 1969 films.