This misfired musical remake of the classic 1939 Robert Donat-Greer Garson film features a fine star turn by O'Toole as Chips and less-than-successful performance by pop singer Clark as his bride. O'Toole, a shy and unassuming schoolmaster in England circa 1924, grows frustrated with a
student body with which he seems unable to communicate. While on holiday, he is taken to a music hall by a former student, and it is there he meets Clark, an uneducated singer. Later, while vacationing at Pompeii, O'Toole again meets Clark and the two fall in love and marry. The union is
surprisingly successful, with O'Toole educating Clark, while she brings him out of his shell. When school begins again, Baker, an important benefactor, learns of O'Toole's marriage to the dance-hall girl and tries to have him fired. Luckily, Clark knows Baker's former mistress and forces him to
back down. As the years go by O'Toole and Clark remain content, though he never seems able to land the headmaster's position at the school. When WW II erupts, Clark volunteers to entertain the troops, and while she is away, she is killed in a bomb explosion. Just before Clark's death, O'Toole is
finally named headmaster, but he is never to relay the news to her. Eventually, O'Toole retires and gives a memorable, impassioned farewell address to the students and faculty before he leaves.
Given a lavish production, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS was shot on location at Sherborne School in Dorset, England, and also in Pompeii. The musical numbers are passable but far from memorable, save for O'Toole's atrocious attempt at singing "Where Did My Childhood Go?". Overall, rookie director Ross
stumbles over the material, neither destroying nor enhancing the talents of O'Toole, Clark, and company. (He would improve vastly with such hits as THE GOODBYE GIRL [1977].) Besides adding music to the remake, the filmmakers have changed other aspects of the original. The time frame has moved from
WW I to WW II, and Mrs. Chips undergoes a metamorphosis from educated socialite to impoverished dance-hall girl. The changes are of negligible importance, however, because whatever they had decided to do the producers were bound to lose; there was simply no way to top Donat's masterful performance
in the original. O'Toole was up for Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Mr. Chips, but lost to John Wayne in TRUE GRIT. Oscar-nominated Leslie Bricusse penned the tunes, which include "Fill The World with Love," "Walk Through the World," "When I Am Older" (sung by chorus), "Where Did My
Childhood Go?" "What a Lot of Flowers," "When I Was Younger" (performed by O'Toole), "London Is London," "And the Sky Smiled," "Apollo," "You and I," "What Shall I Do with Today?" (Clark), "Schooldays" (Clark and chorus). leave a comment
