Goodbye, Mr. Chips
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Goodbye, Mr. Chips (originally Good-bye, Mr. Chips) is a novel by James Hilton, first published in 1934. It tells the story of a much-beloved schoolteacher through the long years of his tenure at Brookfield, the boys' school where he taught. Mr. Chipping's inability to connect with the boys at the school as well as his initial shyness is conquered when he marries Katherine, a young woman he meets on holiday. "Chips" goes on to have an illustrious career as an inspiring educator at Brookfield.
The story is relatively short and written in a simple style. Many of the incidents depicted in the various screen adaptations do not appear in the book.
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Screen adaptations
1939 film
See Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939 film)
The novel has been adapted several times for film and television, the best known screen version being the 1939 movie, which starred 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.
1969 film
See Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969 film)
In 1969, a relatively unsuccessful musical film version appeared, starring Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark. While most critics deemed the songs unnecessary, both O'Toole and Clark were universally praised for their performances and the obvious chemistry between them; O'Toole was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical.
1984 TV mini-series
In 1984, it was adapted as a television miniseries for the BBC. It starred Roy Marsden and Jill Meagher, and ran for six half-hour episodes.
2002 TV mini-series
Another television adaptation, a television movie, was produced in 2002. It aired on ITV1 in Britain and on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre in the United States. It starred Martin Clunes and Victoria Hamilton.