As someone who loves the Robert Donat and Martin Clunes versions, and having heard a lot of negativity around this film there was some intrepidation but considering that Peter O' Toole was a great actor I really did feel it deserved a chance. This film does have a fair number of problems and is a very distant least favourite of the three Goodbye, Mr. Chips versions, but it was to me still a decent film and much better than its reputation. The weak link are the songs, You and I is lovely but most of them are forgettable with insipid lyrics and added little if anything to the story. It was interesting initially to have the songs as a kind of voiced thought process, but it was overused and slowed things down. A lot of the second half drags too, loved the final assembly scene but the dialogue came across at times as sketchy and contrived(with a feeling of Terrence Rattigan running out of ideas and not being interested anymore), making the film longer than it needed to be(and the length in personal opinion was overlong and overblown by the second half). Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a great film to look at, the colours are wonderfully rich, the scenery is eye-catching and there's always something interesting to see regarding the photography. The songs didn't work but John Williams' score did, the harmonies and orchestration just soar to thrilling effect and any theme of any song included is given much more richness, colour and nuance as orchestrated than when it's sung. While the second half lags the first half is good, there is some fun dialogue and there are amusing and thoughtful moments. The romance is affecting and very charming, I for one didn't think it was rushed, and throughout the film there is a great deal of emotion, the assembly scene near the end was genuinely touching. The direction from Herbert Ross is not so bad for a directorial debut, though he did go on to better things. The performances are good, the singing is not mind-blowing, neither is it terrible(unlike something like Man of La Mancha the performers don't try to sing out of their ranges). Petula Clark is radiant and excels brilliantly at being sympathetic, her character is not the best developed but still memorable. The main reason to see Goodbye, Mr. Chips is the performance of the late Peter O' Toole, which is dignified and very moving, also one of his most subtle performances. In conclusion, very flawed but is so much better than I expected it to be. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Review of Goodbye, Mr. Chips
