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Tom Brown's School Days (1940)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
19 July 1940 (USA) moreTagline:
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. full summary | add synopsisUser Comments:
A Good Version Still Worth Seeing moreCast
(Complete credited 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
86 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (RCA Recording System)Fun Stuff
Quotes:
Dr. Thomas Arnold: A new boy is always important. He may be an influence for good or for evil. moreFAQ
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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Tom Brown's School Days (1940)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| Harry Flashman | armigerous-1 |
| John Charlesworth | hayleys_livin_on_a_prayer |
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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.