Rent Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Chalk Dust and Quiet Dignity - Goodbye, Mr. Chips review by griggs

Chalk dust, quiet dignity and just enough sentiment to have me dabbing my eyes while giving the schmaltz the side-eye. Goodbye, Mr Chips is the sort of film that pats you gently on the shoulder and doesn’t let go.

Robert Donat carries the whole thing. He starts stiff and awkward, all cramped vowels and nervous coughs, then thaws so convincingly you forget you’re watching a performance at all. You can watch the decades pile up on him, one line and one grey hair at a time.

Greer Garson turns up as Katherine and gives the film a genuine pulse, though her job feels suspiciously specific: loosen him up, then bow out gracefully. Once she’s gone, the boys blur into one long corridor of blazers and Latin homework.

It’s handsome, sincere and terribly polite, occasionally settling for a tasteful nod when a sharper moment would land harder. Chips himself, though, stays lovely company right to the final bell — a fine old master in a film that maybe grades him a little too generously.

Guaranteed to bring a tear to just about anyone's eye. Highly recommended - Goodbye, Mr. Chips review by RP

The film tells the story of a teacher at a boys' private boarding school (curiously, the British call them 'public' schools...) from his first day as an insecure young teacher, through a mediocre middle age where he is passed over for promotion, his whirlwind love affair and marriage to a young woman who inspires him to greater things, his days as headmaster during the Great War, through to his death bed memories of the boys he has taught over the years.

This is a sentimental and yet uplifting film, guaranteed to bring a tear to just about anyone's eye. If you're wondering if it's worth watching, then remember that it won Robert Donat an Oscar for Best Actor – when the competition in the same year was Clark Gable in 'Gone With The Wind'. Yes, it really is that good. 5/5 stars. Highly recommended.

Beautiful Whimsy - Goodbye, Mr. Chips review by CP Customer

This is nothing more or less than the BBC2 Sunday matinee movie that all BBC2 Sunday matinee movies aspire to be - shamelessly warm hearted, wearing its sentimentality with pride, nostalgic (albeit for a time that never existed for 99.5% of us), it's an absolute delight and highly recommended. Robert Donat absolutely deserved his Academy Award, ageing visibly and not just thanks to make-up but also his nuanced performance. Donat suffered from acute asthma and sadly limited his screen appearances, but those we have are always wholehearted and this is his best one, possibly only matched by his Hannay in THE 39 STEPS. Watch with hankies.