Tom Brown's School Days (1940)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Robert Stevenson

Writers:

Thomas Hughes (novel)
Walter Ferris (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

19 July 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

THE GREATEST SCHOOL-STORY EVER WRITTEN COMES TO THE SCREEN IN ALL ITS GLORY! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A young boy starts at Rugby boarding school. He is tormented by Flashman, the school bully.

Plot Keywords:

Rugby | School | Bully | Boarding School | Headmaster

Cast

Cedric Hardwicke	...	Dr. Thomas Arnold (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Freddie Bartholomew	...	East
Jimmy Lydon	...	Tom Brown
Josephine Hutchinson	...	Mrs. Mary Arnold
Billy Halop	...	Flashman
Polly Moran	...	Sally Harowell
Hughie Green	...	Walker Brooke
Ernest Cossart	...	Squire Brown
Alec Craig	...	Old Thomas
Gale Storm	...	Effie

Also Known As:

Adventures at Rugby (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Recording System)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Canada:G (Ontario)

Company:

The Play's The Thing Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Gale Storm's movie debut.

Quotes:

Dr. Thomas Arnold: A new boy is always important. He may be an influence for good or for evil.

Movie Connections:

Spin off Royal Flash (1975)

A Good Version Still Worth Seeing

Since this was made, there have been some other very good movie versions of the story, but this adaptation of "Tom Brown's School Days" is still worth seeing. It has a good cast and good atmosphere, with effective story-telling by Robert Stevenson.

Cedric Hardwicke is well cast as the stern headmaster Arnold, and the three most important young characters also work well. Jimmy Lydon as Tom, Freddie Bartholomew as his friend and rival East, and Billy Halop as the bully Flashman all give good performances.

The boarding school setting is also done effectively, and it works both in creating the right atmosphere and as a period setting. There are times when it pulls you right into the world of the young characters, a world in which they are their own masters in many ways. Their boyish loyalties, threats, fears, rivalries, and misunderstandings all come across believably.

On a broader level, it also succeeds in establishing the tension between the adult's (i.e. the headmaster's) goals and the students' goals. Some of the more recent versions have probably done an even better job of communicating the themes while also making the story entertaining, but this one does a solid job as well, and it deserves also to be remembered.