Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1939 British romantic drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Robert Donat and Greer Garson. Based on the 1934 novel Goodbye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton, the film is about an aged school teacher and former headmaster of a boarding school who recalls his career and his personal life over the decades. Produced for the British division of MGM at Denham Studios, Goodbye, Mr. Chips was voted the 72nd greatest British film ever in the BFI Top 100 British films poll.

When 25yearold Charles Edward Chipping first arrives as a Latin teacher to Brookfield Public School in 1870, he becomes a target of many practical jokes. He reacts by imposing strict discipline in his classroom, making him respected, but disliked. Time passes and his relationship with his pupils improves and eventually he becomes the senior master. At the end of one year, he is disappointed in not receiving an appointment as the house master within the school for the following year. However, the German teacher, Max Staefel Paul Henreid, saves him from despair by inviting him to share a walking holiday to his native Austria. While mountain climbing, Chipping encounters Kathy Ellis Greer Garson, a feisty English suffragette on a cycling holiday. They meet again in Vienna and dance to the Blue Danube Waltz. This piece of music is used as a leitmotif, symbolising Chippings love for her. Chipping remarks that the Danube appears blue, but only to those who are in love. On another part of the same boat, as Kathy looks at the river, she notices that it is blue. Even though Kathy is considerably younger and livelier than Chipping, she loves and marries him. They return to England, where Kathy takes up residence at the school, charming everyone with her warmth.During their tragically short marriage she dies in childbirth, along with their baby, she brings Mr Chips out of his shell and shows him how to be a better teacher. He acquires a flair for Latin puns. As the years pass, Chips becomes a muchloved school institution, developing a rapport with generations of pupils he teaches the sons and grandsons of many of his earlier pupils. ........

Source: Wikipedia