 Cover of the UK first edition | |
| Author | James Hilton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Ethel "Bip" Pares |
| Genre | Psychological fiction |
| Publisher | Little, Brown (US) Hodder & Stoughton (UK) |
Publication date | June 1934 (US) October 1934 (UK) |
| OCLC | 8462789 |
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two television presentations.
The story was originally issued in 1933, as a supplement to the British Weekly, an evangelical newspaper. It came to prominence when it was reprinted as the lead piece of the April 1934 issue of The Atlantic Monthly . The success of the Atlantic Monthly publication prompted a book deal between the author and the US publisher Little, Brown and Company, who published the story in book form for the first time in June 1934. Published during the Great Depression, Little, Brown cautiously released a small first print run. Public demand for more was immediate and Little, Brown went into an almost immediate reprinting the same month. Public demand remained strong, and Little, Brown continued to reprint the book in cautious lots for many months, with at least two reprintings per month.
The first British edition went to press in October 1934. The publishers were Hodder & Stoughton, who had observed the success of the book in the United States, and they released a much larger first print run. It sold 15,000 copies on the day of publication, [1] and they quickly found themselves going into reprints as the reading public's demand for the book proved insatiable. With the huge success of this book, James Hilton became a best-selling author. [2] In 1938, he published a sequel, To You, Mr Chips. [3]
 | This section possibly contains original research .(July 2021) |
The novella tells the story of a beloved school teacher, Mr Chipping, and his long tenure at Brookfield School, a fictional minor British boys' public boarding school located in the fictional village of Brookfield in the Fenlands. Mr Chips, as the boys call him, is conventional in his beliefs and exercises firm discipline in the classroom. His views broaden, and his pedagogical manner loosens after he marries Katherine, a young woman whom he meets on holiday in the Lake District. Katherine charms the Brookfield teachers and headmaster and quickly wins the favour of Brookfield's pupils. Their marriage is brief. She dies in childbirth and he never remarries or has another romantic interest.
One of the themes of the book is that Chipping so outlasts all of his peers that his brief marriage fades into myth and few people know him as anything other than a confirmed and lonely bachelor. Despite Chipping's mediocre credentials and his view that classic Greek and Latin (his academic subjects) are dead languages, he is an effective teacher who becomes highly regarded by pupils and the school's governors—he has become a well-worn institution. In his later years, he develops an arch sense of humour that pleases everyone. However, he also becomes somewhat of an anachronism, with an antiquated pronunciation, and is pitied for his isolation. On his deathbed, he talks of the fulfilment he felt as a teacher of boys.
The setting for Goodbye, Mr. Chips is probably based on The Leys School, Cambridge, where James Hilton was a pupil (1915–18). Hilton is reported to have said that the inspiration for the protagonist, Mr. Chips, came from many sources, including his father, who was the headmaster of Chapel End School. Mr. Chips is also likely to have been based on W. H. Balgarnie, a master at The Leys (1900–30), who was in charge of the Leys Fortnightly (in which Hilton's first short stories and essays were published.) Over the years, old boys wrote to Geoffery Houghton, a master at The Leys and a historian of the school, confirming the links between Chipping and Balgarnie, who eventually died at Porthmadog at the age of 82. [4] Balgarnie had been linked with the school for 51 years and spent his last years in modest lodgings nearby. Like Mr. Chips, Balgarnie was a strict disciplinarian, but would also invite boys to visit him for tea and biscuits. [5]
Hilton wrote upon Balgarnie's death that "Balgarnie was, I suppose, the chief model for my story. When I read so many other stories about public school life, I am struck by the fact that I suffered no such purgatory as their authors apparently did, and much of this miracle was due to Balgarnie." [5] The mutton chop side whiskers of one of the masters at The Leys earned him the nickname "Chops", a likely inspiration for Mr Chips' name. [5]
In Hilton’s final novel, Time and Time Again (1953), protagonist Charles Anderson bears clear biographical similarities to Hilton himself.[ citation needed ] Early in the novel, Anderson briefly reminisces about attending Brookfield and knowing "Chips".
A 50-minute adaptation by James Hilton and Barbara Burnham was broadcast on the BBC National Programme at 20:00 on 23 July 1936, with Richard Goolden in the title part and a cast that included Norman Shelley, Ronald Simpson, Lewis Shaw and Hermione Hannen. [6] There was a repeat broadcast the following evening. [7]
A radio adaptation by the Lux Radio Theatre starring Laurence Olivier and Edna Best and presented by Cecil B. DeMille was first broadcast on 20 November 1939. [8] [9]
A radio adaptation by Hallmark Playhouse starring Ronald Colman was broadcast on 16 September 1948. Jean Holloway wrote the adaptation, Dee Engelbach was the producer and director, and James Hilton was the host. [10] [11] A second version, told from the point of view of Mrs. Chips as portrayed by Deborah Kerr, was broadcast on 1 February 1951. Whitfield Connor was Mr. Chips, Leonard St. Clair wrote the adaptation, Bill Gay was the producer and director, and James Hilton was again the host. [12] [13]
A radio adaptation by the NBC University Theatre was broadcast on 9 July 1949. Agnes Eckhardt wrote the adaptation, and Andrew C. Love was the director. [14]
Barbara Burnham adapted the book for a stage production in three acts, which was first performed at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 23 September 1938, with Leslie Banks as Mr. Chips and Constance Cummings as his wife Katherine. [15] It ran for over 100 performances [16] until 14 January 1939. [17]
A stage musical based on the original novel, but using most of the Leslie Bricusse vocal score of the 1969 film, was mounted at the Chichester Festival and opened on 11 August 1982. The book was by Roland Starke and the production was directed by Patrick Garland and Christopher Selbie. Among the Chichester Festival cast were John Mills as Mr. Chips, Colette Gleeson as Kathie, Nigel Stock as Max, Michael Sadler and Robert Meadmore in supporting roles, and 20 local school boys, including Kevin Farrar who was selected by Bricusse to sing the final verse of the iconic "School Song", which features on the original cast album which was recorded on the That's Entertainment Records label TER 1025 at Abbey Roads Studios in London on 17/18 August 1982. JAY-jay Records also have a release of it.[ citation needed ]
This version stars Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John Mills, and Paul Henreid. Donat won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the lead role, beating Clark Gable, James Stewart, Laurence Olivier, and Mickey Rooney. While some of the incidents depicted in the various screen adaptations do not appear in the book, this film is generally faithful to the original story. The exteriors of the buildings of the fictional Brookfield School were filmed at Repton School, [18] [19] an independent school (at the time of filming, for boys only), located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England, whilst the interiors, school courtyards and annexes, including the supposedly exterior shots of the Austrian Tyrol Mountains, were filmed at Denham Film Studios, [20] near the village of Denham in Buckinghamshire. Around 200 boys from Repton School stayed on during the school holidays so that they could appear in the film. [21]
In 1969 a musical film version appeared, starring Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark, with songs by Leslie Bricusse and an underscore by John Williams. In this version the character of Katherine is greatly expanded, and the time setting of the story is moved forward several decades, with Chips' career beginning in the early 20th century and his later career covering World War II, rather than World War I. O'Toole and Clark's performances were widely praised. At the 42nd Academy Awards, O'Toole was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
In 1984 it was adapted as a television serial by the BBC. It starred Roy Marsden and Jill Meager and ran for six half-hour episodes. Many scenes were filmed at Repton School, Derbyshire, in an effort to remain faithful to the original film. [22]
A television film adaptation was produced by STV Studios (then known as "SMG TV Productions") in 2002. It aired on the ITV Network in Britain and on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre in the United States. It starred Martin Clunes and Victoria Hamilton with Henry Cavill, William Moseley, Oliver Rokison and Harry Lloyd. [23]
Goodbye, Mr. Chips was parodied in the British sketch comedy programmes Hale and Pace (as Piss Off, Mr. Chips) and Big Train .
Vince Gilligan created the television show Breaking Bad with the premise that the show's protagonist Walter White would turn "From Mr. Chips to Scarface " through the series' course. [24]
In the Marx Brothers film At the Circus , as Groucho Marx is about to walk out of a scene, he shakes hands with a nearby caged monkey and says, "Goodbye, Mister Chimps."
In 2009, the short-running ABC sitcom Better Off Ted titles its 6th episode "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" wherein the computer system misidentifies then completely deletes the account of Ted Crisp, the main character.
Lost Horizon is a 1933 novel by English writer James Hilton. The book was turned into a film, also called Lost Horizon, in 1937 by director Frank Capra and a lavish musical remake in 1973 by producer Ross Hunter with music by Burt Bacharach. It is best remembered as the origin of Shangri-La, a fictional utopian lamasery located high in the mountains of Tibet.
Raymond William Stacy Burr was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.
James Hilton was an English novelist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for his novels Lost Horizon, Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Random Harvest, as well as co-writing screenplays for the films Camille (1936) and Mrs. Miniver (1942), the latter earning him an Academy Award.
Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE, sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive.
Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England.
Leslie Bricusse OBE was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films Doctor Dolittle, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Scrooge, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, the songs "Goldfinger", "You Only Live Twice", "Can You Read My Mind " from Superman, and "Le Jazz Hot!" with Henry Mancini from Victor/Victoria.
Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about 12 miles (19 km) south-west of Banbury and 18 miles (29 km) north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as 5,719. It was estimated at 6,254 in 2019.
The lex Canuleia, or lex de conubio patrum et plebis, was a law of the Roman Republic, passed in the year 445 BC, restoring the right of conubium (marriage) between patricians and plebeians.
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 for his performance as Mr. Chipping, Donat won the award for Best Actor.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1969 British musical film directed by Herbert Ross. The screenplay by Terence Rattigan is based on James Hilton's 1934 novella Goodbye, Mr. Chips, which was first adapted for the screen in 1939.
The Leys School is a co-educational private school in Cambridge, England. It is a boarding and day school for about 574 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen, and the head is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Ray Bidwell Collins was an American character actor in stock and Broadway theatre, radio, films, and television. With 900 stage roles to his credit, he became one of the most successful actors in the developing field of radio drama. A friend and associate of Orson Welles for many years, Collins went to Hollywood with the Mercury Theatre company and made his feature-film debut in Citizen Kane (1941), as Kane's political rival. Collins appeared in more than 75 films and had one of his best-remembered roles on television, as Los Angeles homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg in the CBS-TV series Perry Mason.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a 1934 novella by James Hilton.
We Are Not Alone is a 1937 novel by James Hilton. It is one of his more sombre works, portraying the tragic consequences of anti-foreign hysteria in England just before World War I. It has been compared to Goodbye, Mr. Chips in its portrayal of small-town life through the eyes of an everyman protagonist.
Francis James Joseph Raphael Delaney was an Irish novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He was the author of The New York Times best-seller Ireland, the non-fiction book Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea and many other works of fiction, non-fiction and collections. He was born in Thomastown, Tipperary, Ireland.
James Byng is an English actor and vocalist. Acting since the age of ten, James made his West End debut in the title role of Oliver! at the London Palladium. He played the same role in the national tour of Oliver! and at the Royal Charity Gala Hey! Mr. Producer, honoring theatrical producer Cameron Mackintosh at the Lyceum Theatre on 8 June 1998. Byng also played Gavroche in Les Misérables at the Palace Theatre. From 2007 to 2008 he was seen on stage at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, first playing various ensemble roles and then taking over the part of Frodo Baggins in Matthew Warchus' theatrical adaption of The Lord of the Rings. In 2008-09 Byng appeared in the role of John Darling in the musical Peter Pan at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. He just finished a tour with the West Yorkshire Playhouse production of The History Boys by Alan Bennet, in which he played Posner. From September until November 2010 Byng was on tour with a production of Carrie's War in the role of Nick Willow. After performing in Secret Cinema - Back to the Future he can currently be seen in The Grimm Tales at The Bargehouse at Oxo Tower Wharf.
Peter Gawthorne was an Anglo-Irish actor, probably best known for his roles in the films of Will Hay and other popular British comedians of the 1930s and 1940s. Gawthorne was one of Britain's most called-upon supporting actors during this period.
William Henry Balgarnie was a schoolmaster at Elmfield College, Woodbridge School and The Leys School, and was the inspiration for the character Mr. Chips in the book Goodbye, Mr. Chips, written by one of his students at The Leys, James Hilton.
Frederick Leister, was an English actor. He began his career in musical comedy and after serving in the First World War he played character roles in modern West End plays and in classic drama. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1922 and 1961.
