Goodbye, Mr. Chips
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Release date: November 5, 1969
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Running time: 156 minutes
Director: Herbert Ross
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Petula Clark, Sir Michael Redgrave, George Baker, Michael Bryant, Jack Hedley, Sian Phillips, Alison Leggatt, Clinton Greyn, Michael Culver, Barbara Couper, Elspeth March, Clive Morton, John Gugolka, Michael Ridgeway, Craig Marriott, Elspet Gray, Jeremy Lloyd, Jack May, Leo Britt, Royston Tickner, Patricia Hayes.
Technical information: Panavision, DeLuxe color
After the success of The Sound of Music in 1965, every major Hollywood film studio (and even a few independent companies) rallied to duplicate its success by collectively lining up over thirty big-budget widescreen musical spectacles to be released over the next eight years. With audiences tiring of traditional studio fare and gravitating towards films that reflected the growing counterculture, most of the big-screen musicals were flops. Among these is this musicalization of James Hilton's 1935 novel (or "long short story," as the author called it) Goodbye, Mr. Chips, which producer Arthur P. Jacobs hoped would not be the failure that his Doctor Dolittle had been the year before.
In an Oscar-nominated performance, Peter O'Toole stars as Arthur Chipping, a housemaster at Brookfield, a typical English public school. "Chips," as he is called by the schoolboys, is unliked by his young charges due to his perpetual "stick-in-the-mud" personality — typified by his opinion that life's most important task is to accurately translate Caesar's Gaelic Wars. All of that changes when, on holiday in Pompeii, he encounters Katherine Bridges (Clark), an unhappy but perky musical-comedy actress whom Chips' former student Johnny Longbridge (Culver) is courting. The chance meeting produces considerable sparks, and despite the extraordinary polarity of their backgrounds, Katherine and Chips fall in love and marry.
The Headmaster (Redgrave) and faculty are stunned, but the boys are duly impressed. Unfortunately, influential parent Lord Sutterwick (Baker) resolves to have Chips sacked by exaggerating Katherine's theater-world background into something the school's Board of Governors will find morally unacceptable. Overhearing Sutterwick's threat, Katherine leaves Brookfield and returns to London. Chips follows, tracking her down at the apartment of flamboyant stage star Ursula Mossbank (Phillips, O'Toole's wife, in a brilliant comedic performance). There the couple pledge to stand up to Sutterwick when they learn that he's had an affair with Ursula! At Parents' Day, Katherine stages the dramatic arrival of Ursula herself, resulting in Sutterwick withdrawing his complaints to the Board of Governors for fear of jeopardizing his own reputation and marriage.
As time passes, Katherine fills her role as a schoolmaster's wife with grace and dedication, and Chips himself becomes more sincere and human, at last gaining the boys' friendship and admiration. A disappointment comes in 1939, when Chips is passed over for the position of Headmaster; it is given to Baxter (Hedley), under whom Chips only reluctantly agrees to work.
Although Nazi flying bombs detonate in the vicinity regularly during the final year of the war in Europe, Brookfield, along with the rest of England, faces the bombardment with gritty resolve. When Baxter is called to an important state appointment, Chips is finally offered the Headmaster post. But as soon as he receive the news, a bomb drops on a nearby RAF base where Katherine is entertaining troops. Chips is devastated by the loss, but finds comfort in the genuine fondness that he has for the boys he has taught, and they for him. Nevertheless, without Katherine, he feels it is time to end his career. In his retirement address, the announcement that he will be taking up residence nearby causes an explosion of cheers and applause.
Finally, as an old man in 1969, Chips is visited by a new Brookfield boy, the great-grandson of Lord Sutterwick, and Chips realizes that dedicating his life to teaching young men how to behave towards one another was indeed a worthwhile endeavor, since life at Brookfield is continuing just as it always has, despite the immense changes in the world.
As a musical, Goodbye, Mr. Chips is not without its faults, and one can see why it was largely dismissed at the time of its initial release. In 1969, it was lost in a logjam of similar musicals with English settings, all of which seemed innocuous in light of world events of the day. But in hindsight, despite its shortcomings, there is something undeniably appealing about the film. This is largely due to the understated, winning performance of Peter O'Toole, who, even when he is supposed to be perceived as curmudgeonly, is charming and fascinating to watch. Although the casting of Petula Clark was a nod to the pop mentality of the time, she too is endearing as Katherine and her performance is as pleasing as her singing voice.
Terence Rattigan was an ideal choice for screenwriter, since his acclaimed plays The Browning Version and The Winslow Boy both realistically portray British boarding school life. As a result, the dramatic sequences in Chips are deftly and intelligently handled. Less successful is the integration of the songs. Musical fans were understandably bewildered that most of the numbers were staged as interior monologues "in the characters' heads" instead of being actually voiced "out loud" within the narrative, but this has inadvertently enabled the film to better withstand a modern audience's lower tolerance for live-action musical films.
Considering that this was his directorial debut, Herbert Ross' contribution is competent, and some visually and/or sonically awkward moments are redeemed by a number of strikingly memorable ones. The cinematography by Oswald Morris (following Oliver! and preceding Fiddler on the Roof) captures a romanticized but accurate view of life at a boys school and of the lush Dorset county environs near Sherbourne, where the film was shot. But experimentation with new film stock and an overuse of the zoom lens (a new toy in those days) are elements that unfortunately date the picture.
The production was not an entirely smooth one. A long list of stars (Laurence Olivier, Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, Julie Andrews) and directors (Vincente Minnelli, Gower Champion) had been attached to the film at one point or another, as had a number of composers and lyricists, who combined to produce fifty-one songs before Leslie Bricusse was hired on. (At the end of filming, John Williams presented members of the cast and crew with an album called "MGM Presents the Losers Sing Goodbye, Mr. Chips, which listed all of the directors, stars and composers who at one time had been associated with the project.)
At the time, critical reaction was less than enthusiastic. Variety praised O'Toole's performance but stated that "the sum total is considerably less than its parts." Likewise, Vincent Canby, writing in the New York Times, called O'Toole's work a "restrained, affecting comic performance" but labeled everything else in the film "out of symmetry or out of date." But opinions were not completely unfavorable; in addition to praising O'Toole in his Los Angeles Times review, Charles Champlin called the film itself "unhesitatingly sentimental, literate and tasteful."
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Music and Lyrics by: Leslie Bricusse
Music Conducted and Supervised by: John Williams
Associate Musical Supervisor: Ian Fraser
Music Editor: Bill Saracino
In 1969 Goodbye, Mr. Chips was considered a prestigious project by John Williams, and it could not have come at a better time. Even though he had already gained serious respect through his Emmy Award-winning score for Heidi in 1968, it wasn't until The Reivers (released shortly after Chips) that Williams' distinctive and recognizable musical voice was fully expressed.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips was Williams' fourth and largest (with the possible exception of an aborted Peter Pan musical that evolved into Hook) collaboration with Leslie Bricusse. Previously, Bricusse had supplied the lyrics to the title songs for Penelope and A Guide for the Married Man, as well as "Two Lovers" from How to Steal a Million. Separately, Bricusse had written the score for Doctor Dolittle, with arrangements by Alexander Courage and Lionel Newman; for Goodbye, Mr. Chips he is credited with both music and lyrics, while Williams is credited with "supervision." But to the listener familiar with Williams' style, his artistic presence is ubiquitous throughout the score.
In Chips, John Williams accomplishes something that he would do to an even greater degree with Fiddler on the Roof a few years later: take another person's melodies and make them unmistakably his own through his distinct use of harmony, counterpoint, and instrumentation. Bricusse — or any composer whose work is adapted — might disagree with this, but one has only to listen to Doctor Dolittle to appreciate the special flavor Williams brings to this film.
Chips [Williams later remarked] was an original film musical, not a stage transfer, and I think I felt I had more scope to be myself, to develop Leslie's melodies in my own way. I don't think that Chips or Leslie's other films Doctor Dolittle and Scrooge have had the success they deserve. He's one of the best songwriting talents around today, but he's basically a romantic in an anti-romantic age. You see, audiences are constantly in a state of flux, their attitudes, tempers, reactions, are forever shifting and you can never really know for sure what's going to strike a responsive chord and what isn't. Ten years ago Chips or Scrooge might well have been smash hits.Although tremendous artistic challenges lay ahead for the composer in 1969, Chips represents an important milestone in his career, both artistically and professionally. Goodbye, Mr. Chips stands as the longest-running project of Williams' career up to that time (64 minutes of music in the film, plus additional album arrangements), and it is also noteworthy for being Williams' first score recorded in London. (Speaking of the opportunity to work with members of the London Symphony, Williams asked "How else could I get on the podium of such a great orchestra?") Despite the failure of several musicals of the period, they were still sought-after projects, and this one was an important stepping stone to Williams' first Academy Award two years later. Referring to both Fiddler and Chips, Williams said both were "conceived as dramas with musical numbers rather than musicals in the traditional Hollywood sense. I was very disappointed with the critical and commercial response to Mr. Chips because I thought it achieved an excellent balance."
Overture 4:00
Main Title /
"Fill the World With Love" (Boys) 4:17
"Where Did My Childhood Go?" - Intro (O'Toole) :28
"Where Did My Childhood Go?" (O'Toole) 2:53
Flossie from Fulham Overture [source] :41
Flossie's Entrance [source] :14
"London is London" [source] (Clark, Chorus) 3:28
Savoy Hotel 1 [source] :20
Savoy Hotel 2 [source] 2:37
Pompeii :29
Katherine's Tour Guide 1:54
"And the Sky Smiled" - Part 1 (Clark) 3:12
Question for Apollo /
"And the Sky Smiled" - Part 2 (Clark) 1:34
Paestum vocal [source] :44
"Apollo" (Clark) 1:04
"When I Am Older" (Boys) 3:04
Katherine's Party 1 [source] :41
Katherine's Party 2 [source] 4:19
"Walk Through the World" - Part 1 (Clark) 2:46
"Walk Through the World" - Part 2 (Clark) 1:00
"Fill the World With Love" (Clark, chorus) 1:42
Boy choir hymn [source] 1:08
Katherine's Departure 1:39
Entr'Acte /
"What Shall I Do With Today?" (Clark) 3:41
Ursula's Apartment [source] :54
"What a Lot of Flowers!" (O'Toole) 2:19
"O Worship the King" [Hanover] (Chorus) :41
"What a Lot of Flowers!" (O'Toole) :50
Piano practice [source] :25
"And the Sky Smiled" - Reprise (Clark) 1:18
"School Days" [source] (Clark, Boys) 1:52
"You and I" (Clark) 2:20
Headmaster At Last :38
"London is London" [source] :09
"Fill the World With Love" (O'Toole) 2:33
End Title and Exit Music 2:26
Total Time: 64:20
The Overture begins quietly as horns play the opening phrase of "Fill the World With Love" over a D-major pedal in organ and strings. An upward flourish of winds establishes a light-hearted romantic mood. The orchestra builds to a joyous brass fanfare, and the French horns descend into the "And the Sky Smiled" melody (orchestrationally similar to Williams' contemporaneous Heidi theme), which is then taken up by violins and oboes. The music segues to sprightly suggestions of "When I Am Older" played by various winds and brass, followed by a distinctive Williams string passage (reminiscent of a similar passage in his Reivers score). The melody repeats, playing in counterpoint with "What A Lot of Flowers!" and is followed by the "You and I" melody, stated by brass and then strings. The piece concludes with a brief coda based on "Walk Through the World."
While the Overture is identical in the film and on the soundtrack album, the opening occurrences of the Brookfield school song, "Fill the World With Love" are completely different, though both contain the same simple, but heartfelt, lyrics, sung to solo organ accompaniment. The album presents a beautiful, straightforward version sung by the schoolboys, the second verse handled by a soprano solo, and the final chorus adding a descant. In contrast, the film's Main Title, begins with high violin phrases over exterior shots of Brookfield School. As the camera moves to empty interiors, a rising organ voluntary is heard, leading into a slower rendition of "Fill the World With Love" with different choral harmonies (and the inclusion of deeper male voices — perhaps suggesting grown men looking back upon their schoolboy days). As the song nears its end, the film cuts to a close-up of Peter O'Toole. The organ solo returns, over which the camera zooms out, pulls back, and cranes up to reveal the procession of uniformed boys moving past Chips in the quadrangle for morning roll call.
The first song in the film is Chips' sentimental reflection, "Where Did My Childhood Go?" Presented as one complete piece on the album, in the film only the brief opening recitative is heard (but not sung on screen) before dialogue interrupts for the continuation of a scene in Chips' classroom. After several minutes, the song continues, beginning with a short instrumental lead-in that is not on the album. The song is a simple and rather typical Bricusse melody, featuring a descending line and several octave leaps, but an overlaid repeating piano phrase and other orchestral adornments elevate it to something more interesting. The lyrics are simplistic and occasionally awkward, sometimes seeming pleased with themselves that the phrases manage to rhyme.
O'Toole's singing voice retains his conversational tone, adding to the effectiveness of the song. (O'Toole, as Leslie Bricusse put it, was "not exactly renowned for his musicianship." After struggling with one song, he flung off his earphones and told Williams, "You know, I think we've got one note from every one of those forty-nine takes.") Only a few lines are actually sung on screen by O'Toole, the rest of the song being devoted to flashback imagery of Chips' early years at Brookfield and other shots evoking the passage of time and lost innocence. Some of the visual choices are too overt and some too esoteric, but nevertheless the song is saved by O'Toole's sincerity. An edit in the film eliminates one measure of the piano phrase at the song's conclusion, which can be heard on the album.
Chips reluctantly accepts the invitation of a successful former pupil, Lord Johnny Longbridge, to attend a performance of the supposedly shoddy musical-comedy Flossie From Fulham in order to meet the girl Longbridge intends to marry. The source music begins with a fragment of the Flossie Overture; a conductor and portion of the orchestra are visible on screen. Another short piece is heard for Flossie's Entrance, Flossie being played by Longbridge's intended, Katherine Bridges (Clark). The show jumps immediately into "London is London," sung by Petula Clark and the chorus of the show. Cheesy but full of spectacle, the staged number shows several costume and scenery changes, including Clark dressed as a palace guard and then in full Britannia outfit. It is assumed that an attempt was made to compose a song that was intentionally shaggy, but Williams' orchestrations are nevertheless compelling. Both "London Bridge" and "Rule Britannia" are integrated. The lyrics once again border on the ludicrous, but the song manages to serve its purpose and still be entertaining.
A post-show sequence at the Savoy Hotel features Charleston-like source music in the background, over which O'Toole and Clark play out their clumsy first meeting. A short piece of underscore (not based on any song melody) plays over an establishing shot of ruins at Pompeii, where Chips travels on holiday. After Katherine's unexpected appearance, additional underscore is heard as Chips becomes Katherine's Tour Guide through ancient ruins such as the temple of Jupiter. (Many of the locations seen here had previously been off-limits to film productions.) Most of the quiet music that plays beneath their dialogue draws on the melody for "Walk Through the World," which is not sung until later in the film. After a brief unscored exchange, "And the Sky Smiled" begins, sung entirely by Petula Clark, although none of it is actually voiced on screen. Once again, one wishes for some sophistication in both melody and lyrics, but the song is salvaged by Clark's wistful voice and Williams' arrangements, which include lovely string flourishes and a repeated woodwind phrase. The lyrics are in the past tense, as if Katherine is reflecting on her meeting with Chips years later.
The album presents a longer continuous version of the song, which gives it a "pop" feel, but in the film it quiets to an early end for a sequence where Chips and Katherine take a breather at a shrine to Apollo. Katherine's Question for Apollo is scored with eerie strings and dancing flute, and the scene ends with a quiet conclusion to "And the Sky Smiled." After Chips and Katherine chat over dinner in Paestum, they part company as a solo vocal source is heard in the background. After Chips' departure, Katherine engages in a short soliloquy, "Apollo" — identified in the film's souvenir program as a "fragment." Melodically and lyrically, it is actually one of the best songs in the score, with an evocative flute solo and an ending that cleverly returns to "And the Sky Smiled" in an unexpected way.
By far the best developed number in the film — musically, lyrically, and visually — is one that has nothing to do with the relationship between Katherine and Chips. After term break, we see a trainload of schoolboys returning to Brookfield; as they arrive they sing "When I Am Older," which begins with a dirge-like lament and builds into a wonderfully energetic montage that fully and succinctly conveys every aspect of Brookfield activity. The arrangements are classic Williams, the orchestrations rich and vibrant throughout. The song begins with dark tonalities as the boys approach the gates of Brookfield, and then Williams cuts loose with wind flourishes, rising brass phrases, counter-melodies, and punctuated trumpet bursts. (When compared to the later stage version it becomes clear that this song exemplifies the remarkable contribution Williams made to the film and to Bricusse's work.) There are some very subtle differences between the song as heard in the film as compared to the original soundtrack album. The latter contains one instance of a second solo voice part that is absent in the film, and for the final line of lyric, "Just as soon as I am seventeen," the film contains an overlaid chorus while the album presents a pure solo. However, the album ends with a wordless three-note soprano line that is absent in the film.
Now back at Brookfield, Chips is surprised to receive a party invitation from Katherine. Reluctantly accepting, Chips approaches her Thames-side flat while piano source music from Katherine's Party is heard. The party is an obnoxious cacophony of second-rate London stage actors, which overwhelms Chips. Johnny Longbridge rescues him from the lunacy, a moment later recognizing the budding romance between Katherine and his former teacher. A second piano background source provides the introduction to "Walk Through the World." The song, once again, is Katherine's interior monologue, but is especially awkward in this instance when dialogue and lyrics are interweaved, and sometimes even played simultaneously. Williams was most likely referring to this number when he told an interviewer:
There's always a problematic Act 2 love song — the number that never quite fits into a cogent plot. "On the Street Where You Live" didn't work that well in My Fair Lady and we had similar problems in Chips. You can get away with some things on the stage that you can't do in a film. So it's even harder sometimes, but that particular romantic song is usually a good one. You sort of close your eyes and let it pass.The album version plays as a complete number, once again achieving a pop feel, but in the film it drifts in and out of underscore as the two characters discuss their relationship. At one point, the music comes to a complete stop, beginning again only after Katherine realizes she would like to escape from her life in the theater to become the wife of a schoolmaster. Although the lyrics would benefit from some sophistication, Clark's vocal and the expected lush Williams orchestration make it an acceptable number.
Back at Brookfield, students and faculty are abuzz with news that Chips has taken a wife. The school song ("Fill the World With Love") is heard again at morning assembly. Katherine, making her Brookfield debut, dominates it with her lilting tone, leading the boys in a rousing rendition. This version, which is not on the album, contains an additional middle verse.
A moment later, an off-screen Boy Choir hymn plays as Katherine overhears a conversation between the headmaster and Lord Sutterwick, who is attempting to sully Katherine's reputation. Knowing that this would disgrace Chips, she immediately runs to her car and drives off. Over Katherine's Departure, Williams builds a sweeping bit of underscore that uses the heretofore unsung "You and I" melody. The music builds to a full-orchestra conclusion as the "Intermission" card appears.
The Entr'Acte reprises the melodies from "London is London" and "Walk Through the World," with Williams' arrangements in top form, and leads into the next short song, "What Shall I Do With Today?" sung (on screen yet!) by Petula Clark, who is seen walking the bustling streets of Westminster.
Chips finally tracks Katherine down at Ursula's Apartment, where a gramophone provides source music at another dreadful show-people party. Katherine and Chips reconcile, but when Ursula overhears them talking about Sutterwick, it comes to light that she has had an affair with him. The couple returns to Brookfield, where another montage shows their blossoming marriage and Katherine's assimilation into Brookfield life, all played to "What A Lot Of Flowers!" Apart from the usual schoolroom lyrics and some over-obvious visuals, it is another rousing Williams arrangement of flourishes and romantic flavors. Once again, most of it plays on the soundtrack only, but particularly impressive is a tracking shot of O'Toole voicing one of the lines while bicycling with Katherine, which then pulls back to a panoramic aerial view of the Dorset countryside. The album features the original version of the song, but in the film a few lines were replaced with a jubilant violin insert.
On Parents' Day, everyone gathers in the Abbey church where all sing the Hymn "O Worship the King," to the tune of Hanover, written by William Croft in 1708. At a cricket match that follows, Chips confronts Sutterwick, and Katherine stages Ursula's dramatic arrival. A moment later, Sutterwick approaches Katherine, and a tacit agreement is arranged where each vows silence. The unsuspecting Chips reports that evening that Sutterwick has withdrawn his complaint to the Board. Ending the scene is a quiet reprise of "What a Lot of Flowers" sung as an interior monologue by Chips.
The film jumps forward to the fifteenth wedding anniversary of Katherine and Chips in 1939, a day on which the retiring headmaster reveals that he is recommending Chips as his successor. Chips becomes annoyed by Katherine's expensive anniversary gift of an Apollo figure in a scene in their house with a piano practice source cue in the background. Chips soon softens as he recalls the trip to Pompeii in a flashback playing to a short reprise of "And the Sky Smiled." This leads into a short bit of underscore for Chips' revelation that he has the inside track for the position of Headmaster.
At the Founders' Night concert, Katherine and a group of boys perform a comic stage number, "School Days." The whimsical setting, melody, arrangements, and lyrics all seem to work, but unfortunately, its only purpose is to be frivolously entertaining. A sizable chunk of the song as heard on the album was eliminated from the film, so that it plays as little more than a fragment.
A shock comes when the headmastership is given to Baxter. After Chips reconsiders his offer of resignation, Katherine sings "You and I" on screen, expressing her happiness in Chips' new faith in his own importance. The sweeping romantic melody is given an appropriate warmth by Williams. The album version features a bit more of a pop beat and a repeat of the second verse.
The timeline jumps forward again to 1944, with Brookfield faculty and students occasionally ducking for cover from Nazi flying bombs in the final days of the war in Europe. Donning her costume from Flossie From Fulham, Katherine heads off to an RAF base to entertain the pilots just as the school's governors decide to appoint Chips as Headmaster when Baxter is given an important state duty. An elated bit of fanfarish underscore marks Chips' receipt of the news (Headmaster At Last), but he is unable to catch Katherine before she leaves.
A fragment of "London is London" is heard as a flying bomb descends on the base where Katherine is performing. News of her death reaches Chips' classroom, and he is devastated. The film cuts forward to Chips' retirement address some time later, where it becomes clear that he has led a fruitful and fulfilling life at Brookfield and that he is truly admired and liked by the schoolboys. Finally, the film jumps to the present day of 1969, and the elderly Chips delivers a final reflection on his life as a schoolmaster. As he makes his way to Brookfield to observe the morning roll call, we hear him sing the school song "Fill the World With Love." The film ends with an orchestral version of the tune, played to a high-angle shot of the schoolboys in the quadrangle. Life at Brookfield continues. The album presents a considerably different version of the finale, with additional phrases by O'Toole and a final choral version sung by the boys.
The End Title and cast crawl plays over an orchestral version of "You and I," which continues as Exit Music to its conclusion. Lovely Williams arrangements are featured here in a piece that is identical in the film and on the album.
Overall, Williams' contribution to Goodbye, Mr. Chips is substantial, elevating considerably some pedestrian melodies and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and a slightly uneven effort in the sub-genre of late 1960's roadshow musicals.
— Michael Matessino
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The original soundtrack album to Goodbye, Mr. Chips is appreciably different from what is heard in the film, as detailed above. The original LP (MGM S1E-19STX) was released at the time the film opened and features a gatefold jacket with several glossy pages of color photos, a generous amount of text including plot synopsis, lyric excerpts, production information, and cast and crew biographies. The synopsis and lyrics both attest (as does the film's souvenir program) that songs were cut from the film at a very late date, hence the discrepancies. The album was reissued in the mid-1980s by MCA Classics (MCA-39066) without the gatefold content and with inferior sound quality. Overall, the album mix reflects the era in which it was executed, with a thin, reverbed quality that was supposed to make musical film soundtracks sound like Broadway cast recordings. When compared to the movie itself, the difference is obvious
After completing work on the picture, Petula Clark recorded two songs from the film, "You and I" — released on the B side of a 45 RPM single with "Look at Mine" (Pye 17733) — and "Fill the World With Love" — included on her solo album Just Pet (Warner Bros. WS 1823). The 1996 CD reissue of Just Pet (Sequel NEB-CD-902 - purchase) includes both of these songs along with an alternate version of "Fill the World With Love".
There is also a cast album of a later stage adaptation by Bricusse himself, for which he wrote additional lyrics and songs. This was released on CD by Jay Productions/TER as part of a "Leslie Bricusse series" (CDTER 1025). For this production, which starred John Mills, Williams' arrangements were not used and the result is a much less interesting work.
The Film | The Music
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The film is available from MGM/UA Home Video in the pan-and-scan format on VHS and in widescreen format on LD (ML102213). The film was restored for this release, since it had been truncated by 23 minutes after its initial box office failure. Many thanks to the folks at MGM/UA who were responsible for the restoration! The stereo sound is decent, but photographic flaws and improper storage (probably due to the re-editing) limit the otherwise adequately transferred picture. The only avoidable flaw is that the width-height proportion seems inaccurate, the image appearing too tall and thin. A re-mastering with today's more sophisticated technology would be most welcome.
The Film | The Music
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References | Links
Goodbye, Mr. Chips, James Hilton
New York: Bantam Books, 1935
"Film Reviews: Goodbye, Mr. Chips," Rick.
Variety, October 15 1969, 16:3
"O'Toole Stars in Musical Goodbye, Mr. Chips," Vincent Canby
New York Times, November 6 1969, 56:1
"A Musical Chip Off the Old Chips," Charles Champlin
Los Angeles Times, November 9 1969, CAL, 1:4+
"John T. on films"
BMI, March 1970, 10
"The Changing world of film music," C. Palmer
Crescendo International, Apr 1972, 10:8+
"The Music Man"
Films Illustrated, May 1972, 1:11, 33
Peter O'Toole, Michael Freedland
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982
"Forgotten Beauties," Jeff Laffel
Films in Review, November/December 1992, XLIII:11/12, 363-367
The Film | The Music
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References | Links
Internet Movie Database entry for Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Cinebooks Database entry for Goodbye, Mr. Chips
All Movie Guide entry for Goodbye, Mr. Chips
A Petula Clark site
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June 05, 2006
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