Rating: G
Genre:
Musical
Release Date: 01/27/2009
SubTitles: English/French/Japanese/TH
Dubbed: English/Japanese
Sound: DD5.1/DD1
Run Time: 154 min
Flags: Suitable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Warner Home Video
While it might not have been the best idea on earth to remake the 1939 classic
Goodbye Mr. Chips as a musical, the end result is not altogether displeasing.
Peter O'Toole steps into the old
Robert Donat role of Arthur Chipping (originally Charles Chipping), a young by-the-book schoolmaster at a 1920s British boys school who is humanized by the love of good-natured music-hall singer Katherine Bridges (played by
Petula Clark;
Greer Garson essayed this role, then named Katherine Ellis, in the original). Though Chips must endure the tragedy of Katherine's death during the 1940 London blitz (a scene filmed from the bomb's point of view!), he is able to persevere by devoting himself to his young charges. In retrospect, this version of
Goodbye Mr. Chips might have worked better without the songs, which never rise above banality. And though
Petula Clark can't match the poignancy of
Greer Garson's performance (in all fairness, she didn't have much of a script to work with),
Peter O'Toole is terrific as the title character, convincingly ageing and mellowing as the story unfolds. Originally road-shown at 151 minutes,
Goodbye Mr. Chips is today generally available in its 131-minute general-release version.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
;)
