Goodbye, Mr Chips ***½ (1969, Peter O’Toole, Petula Clark, Michael Redgrave, Michael Bryant, Alison Leggatt, George Baker, Jack Hedley, Siân Phillips) –  Classic Movie Review 6338

Director Herbert Ross’s expensive ($9 million) big-scale musical version of the famous 1939 Robert Donat weepie was a dangerously risky idea in the radical days of 1969 and it duly flopped despite the MGM fanfare release.

But the surprise is that it is a thoroughly enjoyable musical romantic drama, with an ideal cast in Peter O’Toole as Mr Arthur Chipping, the crusty but shy and withdrawn English schoolteacher at Brookfield Boys School awakened by flashy music hall star Katherine Bridges (played by Petula Clark, who holds her own very nicely in the acting department), plus Michael Redgrave as The Headmaster, Alison Leggatt as the Headmaster’s Wife, George Baker, Michael Bryant, Jack Hedley and Siân Phillips.

It was nominated for two Oscars, including Best Actor (O’Toole) and Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation) for Leslie Bricusse and John Williams. O’Toole won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Comedy or Musical. O’Toole was eventually nominated for eight Oscars but never won.

Terence Rattigan sensitively re-scripts the novella by James Hilton, moving the story along from World War One to World War Two. Plus there are pretty tunes and so it sounds very jolly thanks to the music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, and it looks a treat as well, thanks to Oswald Morris’s widescreen cinematography and Ken Adam’s sets.

It is choreographer Ross’s directorial début.

Ronnie Stevens plays Algie.

Also in the cast are Clinton Greyn, Barbara Couper, Michael Culver, Elspeth March, Clive Morton and Ronnie Stevens as Algie.

Richard Burton and Lee Remick replaced Rex Harrison and Samantha Eggar. But when MGM dumped Remick for Petula Clark after her success in Finian’s Rainbow (1968), Burton walked and O’Toole stepped in.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6338

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