Goodbye, Mr. Chips story
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1939 romantic drama film starring Robert Donat, Greer Garson and directed by Sam Wood Based on the 1934 novella of the same name by James Hilton, the film is about Mr. Chipping, a beloved 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, the film was dedicated to Irving Thalberg, who died on 14 September 1936. At the 12th Academy Awards, it was nominated for seven awards, including Best Picture, and Donat, for his performance as Mr. Chipping, won the award for Best Actor. At the time of its release, the picture appeared on Film Daily's and the National Board of Review's ten best lists for 1939 and received the "best picture" distinction in The Hollywood Reporter Preview Poll of May 1939.
28 total · 1 choice · 12 major · 15 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| teaching occupation | choice | The story in its entirety is that of an old school teacher and former headmaster of a boarding school reflecting on his personal life in general and his teaching career in particular. |
| human childhood | major | The viewer is presented with a window into the lives of successive generations of upper-class British boys at Brookfield School (e.g., studying, playing, getting into mischief). |
| husband and wife | major | Mr. Chips met his beloved wife on a mountainside, had a brief courtship, and a short but blissful marriage. |
| life in late modern Britain | major | The story is set in a British boarding school starting in the Victorian era and ending sometime not long after the First World War. |
| mentor and protégé | major | Mr. Chips was time and again shown interacting with various of his numerous adoring students. |
| remembering bygone days | major | The story is framed as Mr. Chips looking back on his life at Brookfield School. |
| retiring from one's job | major | Much of the story lead up to Mr. Chips finally announcing his retirement after years of digging in his heels. |
| romantic love | major | A noticeable feature of the story was the evident love Mr. Chips and Katherine had for each other, before she tragically died in child birth. |
| the desire for professional success | major | Mr. Chips was sorely disappointed when he learned that he would not be appointed headmaster, as he had expected he would be. He made peace with his fate. In the very end, after he already retired, he was shocked but not displeased when called upon to serve as headmaster after all. |
| the desire to be liked | major | Mr. Chips reflected on how, to his delight, he had gradually become the best loved teacher in the school. |