MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

marcslope Terrence Rattigan, who authored this screenplay at a time when he was out of fashion (and he still is), did a wonderful job renovating and updating James Hilton's sentimental novel, and his screenplay, and the playing of Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark, save the movie. Rattigan emphasizes the love story and carefully shows how Chipping, seemingly stiff and unemotional, has great reservoirs of tenderness and gallantry. It's a love story of two very different people who not only complement one another but bring out unforeseen qualities in each other: She teaches him to care, and he teaches her to function outside her shallow theatrical surroundings. O'Toole is as touching as Robert Donat in the original, and Clark, with less to play, is lovely and sympathetic and in superb voice. Of course, most of Leslie Bricusse's songs are dreadful, and O'Toole's no singer, and the internal-dialog nature of most of them (they don't advance plot, they don't define character, they just tell you what the protagonists are thinking) slows the action down. But with Rattigan's excellent touches, a splendidly showy supporting performance by Sian Phillips (then Mrs. O'Toole), and some eye-filling Oswald Morris photography, it's a love story you can weep copiously through--I know I did--and have a wonderful time doing so.

edwagreen 30 years after the original film, "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" was made over as a musical. Peter O'Toole and Petula Clarke starred in this wonderful remake of the beloved schoolteacher, Chippington, who is referred to as Chips by his beloved wife.O'Toole was excellent here and received another Oscar nomination. You have to wonder what Peter O'Toole has to do to win an Oscar. He has lost the coveted award 8 times now. You also have to wonder that he lost in 1969 to John Wayne for "True Grit," which was really a testament to Mr. Wayne's long career and popularity. This year was also marked by great performances by Richard Burton, "Anne of the Thousand Days," as well as Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight for "Midnight Cowboy."Surprised to see Petula Clarke cast as Mrs. Chippington. However, as this was a musical, a beautiful voice came well through and she did a nice piece of acting as well.Who can forget the scene when Chips carries on in the class despite the news that his beloved has been killed in a bombing. He never got to tell her the wonderful news of his pending promotion.The beautiful cinematography and music only enhanced a truly memorable experience.

wright7700 Watch this movie for the performance of Peter O'Toole alone. Clearly, this was a strong effort even when compared to his other triumphs: Lion in Winter, Lawrence of Arabia. I feel that his Mr. Chips exists a little in all of us. Again, O'Toole should have gotten that Oscar for this one too. Can't the academy ever get it right? On other fronts, I would agree with many other reviewers that this version would do better overall as a drama and NOT as a musical. While the songs were okay and clearly not offensive, they really didn't add anything here. The movie could have been 30+ minutes shorter and given even greater impact without them. Petula Clark was also excellent here, and it's a shame that she chose not to do more film roles. At any rate, this is worth a look for O'Toole and the fantastic English countryside as well as sites in Italy and Greece.

Ruby Liang (ruby_fff) Caught this 1969 film on cable TCM one night. I remember when I first saw the film in Hong Kong, I really enjoyed the songs and performances by Peter O'Toole and Petula Clark. I love Clark best in Francis Ford Coppola's "Finian's Rainbow" (1968) opposite Fred Astaire, Don Francks and Tommy Steele. Simply ecstatic to learn that finally, this delightful Irish-flavored pot of gold musical is released on DVD! Ah, "it's that old devil moon (in your eyes)." Peter O'Toole as Mr. Chips - yes, he did sing - quite a deliverance. He may not be a veteran at musical like Rex Harrison, but he inhabited the role marvelously. The scene of him running across the lawn in his cape a-flying reminds me of the PBS series, "To Serve Them All My Days" - a lovable schoolmaster and loving man, he is, 'Mr. Chipey.' Clark and O'Toole somehow gave us just the right mix of spunk and circumstance. The songs and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse are catchy as usual. The tunes of "You and I" and "Walk Through the World (with Me)" stayed with me the most all these years. And there's "What a Lot of Flowers," "And the Sky Smiled," "Fill the World with Love" - not syrupy at all. Sometimes I think if the world is immersed in Bricusse's songs and words, we would overcome all strife on earth and 'lovely' will be all our days! Yes, "Talk to the Animals," too. ("Doctor Doolittle" 1967) Musicals are a blessing to the world of moviegoers, they are somehow larger than life. Like the music and lyrics by the Sherman Brothers (Richard M. and Robert B.) who gave us "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" (1968) and "Mary Poppins" (1964) - who wouldn't feel absolutely delighted simply uttering "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious"? I was tickled by even just one featured song & dance number in the Spanish film "Km.0 - Kilometer Zero" (2000). My all time favorite is French filmmaker Jacques Demy's "Young Girls of Rochefort" (1967) with colorful cast of Catherine Deneuve and (late sister) Francoise Dorléac, Jacques Perrin, Michel Piccoli, Danielle Darrieux, Gene Kelly and George Chakiris singing, dancing to Michel Legrand's music. Long live musicals.