Review of Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) by Steve R — 06 Apr 2006
Firstly, I really like the 'teacher wins over students' genre. Secondly, I still have immense respect for this film for introducing the genre. However, with that said, I do think this film is over-rated.
Its narrative structure is rather weak. It feels too episodic and doesn't explore each part enough or at least efficiently enough. And what was the point of the flashback technique? It disrupted the flow of the movie I felt.
Robert Donat's performance was decent, though there were many times that as the older Mr Chips he came across as rather fake and rather than 'being an old man' he was 'impersonating an old man'.
That to me made a big difference with how much I engaged with his character. How the heck could the Academy give him the award over Clark Gable's performance in 'Gone With The Wind'?! Nonetheless, if you like this type of film its worth a look, but personally I have seen better ('To Sir, With Love' and 'Mr Holland's Opus' spring to mind).
This review of Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) was written by Steve R on 06 Apr 2006.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips has generally received very positive reviews.
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