Goodbye, 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 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 a young woman he meets on holiday. "Chips" goes on to have an illustrious career as an inspiring educator at Brookfield.
The novel has been adapted several times for film and television, the best known screen version being the 1939 movie.
The 1939 film adaptation stars Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Terry Kilburn, John Mills and Paul Henreid. It was adapted by R.C. Sherriff, Claudine West and Eric Maschwitz from the novel. It was directed by Sam Wood. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Direction, Actor, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing, and Sound. Robert Donat won for Best Actor, beating out Clark Gable, but Goodbye, Mr. Chips lost to Gone With the Wind in five of the six remaining categories (in the sixth, Best Sound, both lost to the otherwise undistinguished When Tomorrow Comes).
In 1969, a relatively unsuccessful musical film version appeared, starring Peter O'Toole as Mr Chipping and Petula Clark as his wife.
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.
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.