Goodbye, Mr. Chips

There are some experiences that are nearly universal, no matter what country you grew up in. Love, sadness, inspiration, heartache; all of these things and more tie us all together as fellow human beings and speak to us when we see them in others. That is one of the reasons a well-made film can speak to our hearts and spark memories of times in our own lives where we can relate to those we are seeing on screen. Many of us have also had someone in our lives, whether it was a relative, a parent, or a teacher who has made a difference in our lives and inspired us in some way; someone who won us over through their genuineness, sincerity, and love. I have had teachers that I got along with and teachers that I really liked. I have also had teachers that I really believed were there because they loved being teachers and the students that were put in their charge. This latter group is far more rare, but when you find one, you never forget them.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips is about just such a teacher: Charles “Mr. Chips” Chipping (Robert Donat). When we first see him, he is elderly, retired, and misses a first-day assembly at Brookfield Public School for the first time in nearly sixty years due to a cold. While waiting outside the hall, he visits with a new student and remarks on how he taught that young boy’s father and grandfather before him and points out an engraving outside the hall with the boy’s family name imprinted on it, indicating a legacy this boy will have to live up to. This gets Mr. Chips thinking about all the young boys over the years, all these legacies, he has helped teach and inspire over his long and storied career as a teacher and mentor. When he retires for the night, he falls asleep in his chair and dreams of this lifetime of teaching, and we see it told to us via flashback.

This portion of the story begins when Mr. Chips is just twenty-five and a new instructor, teaching Latin to the young boys at Brookfield. Nervous and shy, he is besieged by the rambunctious young men, overwhelmed by their pranks and boisterous attitudes until a fellow instructor comes in and invokes corporal punishment on all the boys in the class. Chips in turn overcompensates by imposing strict discipline in his classroom, garnering respect from the boys but also making him extremely disliked. Eventually he finds a middle ground where mutual respect and order allows him to teach these young men while also endearing himself to them. 

Years go by and he is disappointed by not being selected for an appointment as a headmaster within the school. To cushion the blow, the new German teacher, Max Staefel (Paul Henreid), invites him on holiday in his native Austria. Here, Chips meets Katherine Ellis (Greer Garson), a young woman who manages to steel his heart and the two eventually marry. From there, the film follows the highs and lows of Mr. Chips’ life and how he ended up beloved by his students, respected by his peers, and even temporary headmaster of the school while those who were physically able were off fighting in the Great War. 

Films about inspirational teachers are a dime-a-dozen. It’s a genre that has become a cliché over the years because it can be considered an easy target for audiences. Films like To Sir, With Love and Dangerous Minds tackled the subject, effectively showing how a good teacher can get through to a hostile classroom and make a difference in the minds of the youth of the day. Parodies like High School High point out the clichés of the genre and beat them to death with exaggerations and obvious tropes. 

What keeps Goodbye, Mr. Chips from falling into obvious clichés is the superb script by the trio of R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West, and Eric Maschwitz. This script elects to shift a good deal of the story away from the classroom and towards the personal life of Mr. Chips, showing us the man behind the desk. It also never spends too much time in any particular time period, so we get only a little time with any one group of kids. This is not a film about a teacher inspiring a specific group of kids to be great adults. This is not Dead Poets Society. This is a character study, and that character is the teacher, himself. 

A great deal of time is dedicated to Mr. Chips’ trip to Austria and his budding relationship with Katherine. It takes a lot of prodding from her to get anything from him, but when he does, he goes all in. As a person who was once very shy and awkward around women, I could relate to his plight and found it an endearing character trait, one that was consistent with his character throughout. Their life together is presented as loving and supportive, but there is a sense that it may be brief. What happens, though, is heartbreaking and one of the saddest moments in cinema that I can remember seeing in a long time. 

Robert Donat is outstanding in his portrayal of Mr. Chips. He is tasked with covering a wide range of ages from about ten years younger than his actual age all the way up to elderly. While there are times makeup betrays the effect, the acting never does, and he is completely believable in his physicality and manners. Just watch his gait as he walks around the campus and you forget that you are watching a young man pantomiming being old. In a year when Gone With the Wind was dominating the Academy Awards, Donat managed to pick up the only Oscar win for Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

This is an absolutely amazing movie that I don’t hear talked about enough anymore. This is a well-made film about a man that overcame his mild-mannered personality and gained the respect, and even love, of his students. We see him grow as a man and as a professional throughout the years, and when he talks with some young boy and says that he taught their father and grandfather, we believe he remembers them clearly and would have countless stories to tell should the time permit. He is a fully realized character, brought to life perfectly by Robert Donat, and I can say without reservations that fans of classic cinema need to see this one. It may have gotten drowned out come awards time by the two juggernauts that are Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, but it is just as important a film to watch as those two are. 

Academy Awards Nominations:

Outstanding Production: Victor Saville

Best Director: Sam Wood

Best Actor: Robert Donat (won)

Best Actress: Greer Garson

Best Writing - Screenplay: R. C. Sherriff, Claudine West, and Eric Maschwitz

Best Film Editing: Charles Frend

Best Sound Recording: A. W. Watkins

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Release Date: May 15, 1939

Running Time: 114 Minutes

Not Rated

Starring: Robert Donat and Greer Garson

Directed By: Sam Wood