Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969)

A rather stuffy and reserved school teacher (Peter O'Toole) falls in love with a musical comedy actress (Petula Clark) while on a vacation in Greece. An unlikely romance develops. Based on the novel by James Hilton (filmed previously in 1939 with Robert Donat in his Oscar winning role) and directed by Herbert Ross (STEEL MAGNOLIAS) in his feature film debut. This was a major "Roadshow" musical when first released but upon its failure at the box office, most of the musical numbers were cut out of the general release prints. Today, it holds up surprisingly well. The Leslie Bricusse songs are charming or perhaps made so by the shimmering arrangements of John Williams (6 years before JAWS made him the John Williams) and the song You And I has become something of a standard. Clark is delightful here but what really holds the film together is O'Toole's magnificent performance. His superbly rendered final monologue reminds you what a truly remarkable actor he could be. With Michael Redgrave, Michael Bryant, George Baker, Jack Hedley and stealing the movie, Sian Phillips (I CLAUDIUS and at the time, Mrs. Peter O'Toole) as an Auntie Mame-ish confidante of Clark's.