Goodbye, Mr. Chips is as softly sweet an ode to teachers and the untold numbers of students that they touch that has ever been made. It is a story of personal discovery and self-sacrifice. When Mr. Chipping first joined the staff at Brookfield Public School in 1870, he was ceremoniously tormented and disrespected by his students. As the years went on, this reserved, yet entirely well-meaning young man realizes that the key to success with his students, and his personal life, is love and mutual respect. He soon becomes a beloved icon of the school, teaching generations of students. He finds love in a young woman whom he marries. But she dies in childbirth along with their only child. So he recommits his energies to his students, whom he regards as his own children. As with many British films made in the World War Two era, there is the ever present gloom of war on the horizon. Here, it is in the shape of the First World War which claims the lives of many of Mr. Chips' former pupils and friends. The similarities between their wartime trials and the future ones to be faced by Great Britain are startling, particularly in a scene where the school is bombed. But as with a surprising number of British wartime films, there is a melancholy cry for peace and mutual respect by including a German character who is not only sympathetic, but beloved by the audience. Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a sweet little film, one as kind and earnest as the very man at its center.
7/10
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