sijoe22
I saw this movie DECADES before I saw "Chips" so maybe I'm prejudice, but I think it's better nonetheless.After the success of "Chips," I'll bet studio went scrambling to find a similar book to make a film of, and this was it. They, did- it was based on Thomas Hughes' novel, TOM BROWNS SCHOOL DAYS. (But it receives NO credit in the movie- what happened there?) Characters and acting all top notch. Kind of a sad movie, especially when poor Tom is ostracized for something he didn't do. Many American actors were used, but their fake British accents weren't bad at all. (I thought they were REAL ENGLISHMEN for years.) Has a somewhat happy ending I guess, though it takes a great man's death to cause it.Might contain the worst "stunt double" scene in movie history- when Tom steals cart, look closely - his "double" is about thirty years older than him! I submitted this in the "Goof" section to no avail.I recommend this movie to everyone of all ages.
MartinHafer
As an American, I didn't have the privilege of growing up in a British boarding school. So, regular beatings, hazings and the like are something I did not have the fortune to experience first-hand. Considering what I saw in this film, I think I can live without that privilege."Tom Brown's School Days" is about an enlightened headmaster (Cedric Hardwicke) and his attempts to create a school based on honesty, tradition and regular beatings administered by staff and not fellow students. While Hardwicke is against bullying and dishonesty, I did find his regular lashings of the boys to be a bit hypocritical. But, in this film he's supposed to be the model of decency and integrity--which makes me assume other educators of the day regularly killed their kids!! All sarcasm aside, the film is watchable and mildly entertaining. Harwicke was a wonderful actor and so I would recommend you see it if only to watch him. As for the rest, it's a decent time-passer. However, the ending seemed VERY anticlimactic and incomplete--the reason why I only scored this one a 5.
maksquibs
Pinch-penny version of the oft-filmed fictionalized memoir (rushed out by RKO to pick up any GOODBYE, MR CHIPS backsplash) is remarkably clear-eyed in detailing the petty (and not so petty) sadism of British "public" schools, as well as its harrowing ostracism, despair & loneliness. Thomas Arnold's 19th century school reforms are alluded to, but neither dramatized nor properly integrated into the dorm dungeon life which the reliable director Robert Stevenson unintentionally(?) exposes. A good cast mixes real Brits like Cedric Hardwicke & Freddie Bartholomew with Yankee ringers who come off better than you might expect. Especially the Flashman, played by DEAD END kid Billy Halop, who makes a convincingly threatening top boy. Added bonus value: dig those musical lifts from Verdi's FALSTAFF in Anthony Collins' score. And you might want to try this out on a HARRY POTTER fan who wants to know where schools like Hogwarts come from. No quidditch field, but the school is called Rugby.
Snow Leopard
Since this was made, there have been some other very good movie versions of the story, but this adaptation of "Tom Brown's School Days" is still worth seeing. It has a good cast and good atmosphere, with effective story-telling by Robert Stevenson.Cedric Hardwicke is well cast as the stern headmaster Arnold, and the three most important young characters also work well. Jimmy Lydon as Tom, Freddie Bartholomew as his friend and rival East, and Billy Halop as the bully Flashman all give good performances.The boarding school setting is also done effectively, and it works both in creating the right atmosphere and as a period setting. There are times when it pulls you right into the world of the young characters, a world in which they are their own masters in many ways. Their boyish loyalties, threats, fears, rivalries, and misunderstandings all come across believably.On a broader level, it also succeeds in establishing the tension between the adult's (i.e. the headmaster's) goals and the students' goals. Some of the more recent versions have probably done an even better job of communicating the themes while also making the story entertaining, but this one does a solid job as well, and it deserves also to be remembered.
AD
