Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Why a new made-for-British-TV version of Goodbye, Mr. Chips was thought necessary is a bit of a mystery, given the fact that we already have the peerless and timeless 1939 MGM adaptation of James Hilton's novel about the life of an English schoolmaster. Martin Clunes and Victoria Hamilton are adequate here as the eccentric Latin teacher Mr. Chipping and his free-spirited wife Katie, but they face the thankless task of coming up against the legendary performances of Robert Donat and Greer Garson in the original (especially Hamilton, who lacks the kinetic magic of Garson in her star-making performance). The focus here also seems to be off, aiming to be an intellectually satisfying prestige production rather than a heartwarming celebration of love and affection like the MGM film. But this serving of Chips is not without merit: it's a beautifully-crafted and shot offering, with uncommonly intelligent performances by the many children in its cast, and art direction and set design so authentic you can almost smell the chalk and feel the yellowed pages of the Latin textbooks in Mr. Chipping's classroom. A strong optional purchase. (P. Hall)