Goodbye, Mr. Chips

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"To the honored memory

of Jonathan Brookfield...

...who hath founded Brookfield School...

...to the glory of God and the promotion

of piety and learning...

...in the year of our Lord 1492."

-The year Columbus discovered America.

Brookfield School.

One can almost feel the centuries.

-True.

-Gray, old-aged...

...dreaming over a crowded past.

We're in the heart

of England, Mr. Jackson.

It's a heart that has a very gentle beat.

There's the special train. In 15 minutes,

the heart of England's...

...going to have slight palpitations.

Get out, you beast. It's mine.

Assembly.

Assembly. Come on, you boys.

Assembly.

Hurry up, now. Assembly.

Assembly. Assembly.

-Carrie primus.

-Carrie secundus.

-Danvers.

-Denville.

Darby.

-Good afternoon, boys.

-Good afternoon, sir.

You may sit down.

Well, here we are at the beginning

of another school year.

One which I sincerely hope will be

a credit to Brookfield.

We require not only to win the matches

against Millfield and Sedbury...

...but also, if it's not

troubling you too much...

...some fairly decent results

in the examinations.

Now I have a small

disappointment for you.

Perhaps you're aware of it already.

For the first time in 58 years...

...Mr. Chipping has been unable

to attend first-day assembly.

Chips, and you'll allow me

to refer to him as Chips...

...seeing that 37 years ago

this autumn...

...he gave me a thrashing

for sheer bone laziness.

Well, Chips has a cold.

And a cold can be quite a serious thing

for a young fellow of 83.

So Dr. Merivale has ordered him

to stay at home.

It was quite a battle.

But our old friend was

finally induced to surrender...

...and he is now sitting, under

violent protest, by his own fireside.

Oh, oh.

Oh, sir. Sorry, sir.

-What is this? A scrimmage?

No, sir. I'm looking for assembly.

Oh, are you? So am I.

Hang onto my tail. Come on.

Locked out.

Well, I'll be--

Well, we'll have to wait.

That's all there is to it.

-So you're a stinker?

-A stinker, sir?

A new boy. That is what we call

them here. "Stinkers."

-What's your name?

-I'm Dorset, sir.

Duke of Dorset? I taught your father.

He was always late. Always late.

Look.

Here.

-Ancestor of yours.

-Yes, sir.

-Drake! Was he here, sir?

-Yes.

-Was he a stinker too, sir?

-To be sure, he was.

But he grew out of it, and so will you.

-Are you a master, sir?

-I was a master once.

I've taught thousands of boys,

right back to 1870...

...but I gave it up.

Gave it up 15 years ago.

I say, you must be terribly old, sir.

Well, I'm certainly no chicken.

No chicken.

-That's the school song.

-Oh.

-It's a beautiful song.

-Yes, sir.

-Mr. Chipping, we weren't expecting you.

-Good afternoon, Martin.

-Good afternoon, sir!

-Rigby, good afternoon.

My governor asked to be remembered.

He'll send some grouse.

Thank you, Grayson.

I shall appreciate that very much.

-Where did you go for holiday?

-I stayed home.

-Glad to see you.

-Thank you, Mills.

-The head said you couldn't come out, sir.

-Couldn't I?

-How do you do, sir?

-Collingwoods.

You look more

like your father every day.

-Good afternoon, sir. This is my brother.

-Miller? Miller secundus, eh?

-Yes, sir.

-Hm.

Do they starve you at home, Miller?

-Hello, sir.

-Hello, Morgan.

Still growing out of your trousers?

Your grandfather's trousers were short.

Runs in the family. Morgans are always

three inches ahead of their trousers.

Chipping.

Why, Chipping.

Sorry I'm late. Interference. Interference.

The first time for 58 years.

-I told you to stay indoors.

-A lot of namby-pamby nonsense.

I'm as sound as a bell, no thanks to you.

Ridiculous old man. He's in his dotage.

-Mr. Jackson, this is Mr. Chipping.

-I thought so.

-Mr. Jackson, our new history master.

-Oh.

Now you can say you've shaken hands

with Chips of Brookfield School.

You mustn't let the honor

turn your head.

Well, here we are.

-Won't you come in?

-Sorry. I must be getting along, sir.

I've got to unpack.

Lower school prep at 6:00.

Oh, of course. That's always

the new master's fate.

-It's a bit of an ordeal, isn't it, sir?

-Well, I found it so when I started in 1870.

You found difficulty with the boys?

-But seeing you just now...?

-It took time.

Too much time.

You seem to have found

the secret in the end.

Hm? What? The secret?

Oh, yes, in the end...

...but I didn't find it myself,

Mr. Jackson.

It was given to me by someone else.

Someone else.

Mr. Jackson, when you

go into class tonight...

...to take evening school

for the first time...

...remember you're not the first master

who stood there and felt afraid.

-Good night.

-Thank you, sir. Good night.

Oh, do come in, sir.

Standing out there in the cold.

-All right, all right.

-There's quite a wind.

-Mrs. Wickett, I can do that myself.

-Really, sir, not so much as a scarf.

You don't seem to show good sense.

Wait till the doctor hears about it.

He has heard about it from me.

I gave him a piece of my mind.

You sit down by the fire.

What you want is a nice cup of hot tea.

I'll wait a bit.

Some of the boys might drop in.

Well, I have to pop out for a minute.

Everything's ready for your tea.

-And a cake?

-Yes, there's a cake.

I wonder how many of them those boys

have eaten since you first came here.

Letting them gorge you

out of house and home.

Last term, 26 iced cakes,

200 rock cakes, 156 Bath buns--

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