Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)

Acknowledgements

The opening credits contain a card that reads: "To Sidney Franklin...For his contribution in the preparation of the production...Grateful acknowledgement,"

The opening credits also contain a dedication to Irving Thalberg, who died in September 1936. It reads:

"We wish to acknowledge here our gratitude to the late Irving Thalberg, whose inspiration illuminates the picture of Goodbye, Mr. Chips"— James Hilton, Victor Saville, Sam Wood, Sidney A. Franklin, R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West, Eric Maschwitz

Production

The AFI Catalog reports that Thalberg purchased Goodbye, Mr. Chips from galley proofs; he originally assigned Sidney Franklin to direct. After Franklin became an MGM producer, Sam Wood replaced him as director.

David Lewis said that the film was developed by Irving Thalberg as a vehicle for Charles Laughton and that Lewis suggested that R.C. Sherriff should write the script. However, when Thalberg died, it was reassigned to Robert Donat and Lewis was replaced by an English producer.

Filming locations

The exteriors of the buildings of the fictional Brookfield School were shot at Repton School, an independent school (at the time of filming, for boys only), in the village of Repton in Derbyshire; whilst the interiors, school courtyards and annexes, including the supposedly exterior shots of the Austrian Tyrol Mountains, were filmed at Denham Film Studios near the village of Denham in Buckinghamshire. Around 300 boys from Repton School—as well as members of the faculty—stayed on during the school holidays so they could appear in the film.

Box office

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,717,000 in the US and Canada and $1,535,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $1,305,000.

In December 1939, Variety summed up the film as "a charming, quaintly sophisticated account [from the novel Goodbye, Mr. Chips! by James Hilton] of the life of a schoolteacher, highlighted by a remarkably fine performance from Robert Donat . . . The character he etches creates a bloodstream for the picture that keeps it intensely alive.”

Goodbye, Mr. Chips holds an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on twenty reviews.

Legacy

The film was re-released in the United Kingdom in 1944 and again in 1954.

In 1999, Goodbye, Mr. Chips was voted the 72nd greatest British film ever in the British Film Institute Top 100 British films poll.

In 2003, the American Film Institute ranked Mr. Chipping the 41st greatest film hero of all time.

On TCM.com, Leonard Maltin gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4.

Academy Awards and nominations

The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards: for Outstanding Production, Best Director, Actor, Actress, Best Writing, Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound. It was up against Gone with the Wind in all seven categories; Robert Donat won for Best Actor, beating Laurence Olivier, Clark Gable and James Stewart, though Goodbye, Mr. Chips lost to Gone With the Wind in five of the six remaining categories, while Mr. Smith Goes to Washington won Best Original Story. (Best Sound went to When Tomorrow Comes.)

{| class="wikitable" border="1"

! Award !! Result !! Nominee

| Outstanding Production

| Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Victor Saville, producer) Winner was Gone with the Wind (Selznick International Pictures (David O. Selznick, producer))

| Best Director

| Sam Wood Winner was Victor Fleming – Gone with the Wind

| Best Actor

| Robert Donat

| Best Actress

| Greer Garson Winner was Vivien Leigh – Gone with the Wind

| Best Writing, Screenplay

| R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West, Eric Maschwitz Winner was Sidney Howard – Gone with the Wind

| Best Film Editing

| Charles Frend Winner was Hal C. Kern and James E. Newcom – Gone with the Wind

| Best Sound, Recording

| A. W. Watkins Winner was Bernard B. Brown – When Tomorrow Comes

1969 remake

Goodbye, Mr. Chips was remade as a musical in 1969, starring Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark. The James Hilton novel has also been adapted for television twice as serials in 1984 (starring Roy Marsden) and 2002 (starring Martin Clunes).

Notes

External links

Streaming audio

Goodbye, Mr. Chips on Lux Radio Theater: 20 November 1939
Goodbye, Mr. Chips on Hallmark Playhouse: 16 September 1948
Goodbye, Mr. Chips on NBC University Theater: 9 July 1949
Goodbye, Mr. Chips on Hallmark Playhouse: 1 February 1951