Tom Brown's School Days (1940)

To me, this movie is perfection.

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Comparing this, 'Little Men' and 'Swiss Family Robinson', all made in 1940 by RKO and based, 'Tom Brown's School Days' is not as good as the unjustly forgotten and actually very good 'Swiss Family Robinson' but it does fare much better than the terribly adapted and mediocre at best 'Little Men'.As an adaptation, 'Tom Brown's School Days' doesn't have a huge amount to do with the original source material, which is one of the best books depicting schoolboy life. However, it is a quite good film on its own, haven't seen any other adaptations yet so can't compare.It does have its flaws as a standalone, the ending agreed does feel rushed, anticlimactic and not as complete as it could be, some of the script does lay it on a bit too thickly with the sentimentality and juvenility and although a more dominant focus on Arnold comes off well because Arnold is an interesting character for a titular character there should have been more of Tom Brown, who sometimes did feel like too much of a supporting character in his own story.On the other hand, 'Tom Brown's School Days' is a beautifully shot and very capably directed film (though Robert Stevenson did go on to even better things), and the period setting is both quaint and austere and suitably so. Anthony Collins' score is superb, it complements the film beautifully and fares even better on its own. The script is not perfect but has some nice doses of humour, poignancy and charm. The story is told with a great charm and lively pace, with plenty for youngsters to delight in and enough for adults to be interested too.Cedric Hardwicke, benefited by Arnold being very interestingly written, is wonderful in the role, appropriately stern and authoritative. He was a fine actor and his performance ranks up there with his best in my opinion. The three juveniles fare just as well, Jimmy Lydon handles the title role exceptionally, Freddie Bartholomew plays East with an appealing charm and Billy Halop is a suitably intimidating bully.To conclude, flawed but quite good and worth seeing, especially for Hardwicke. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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.

This film is not the first screen adaption of the classic story of Tom Brown's schooldays. There is actually a version made in 1916 which I never saw but even if I could, sincerely I wouldn't bother with it. It's too old even for me and it's silent (I dislike silent movies).The 1940 version was therefore the first version with sound and the first "true" version. It was directed by Robert Stevenson who'd become famous years later for directing several Disney films such as 'Old Yeller', 'Mary Poppins', 'The Gnome-Mobile', 'The Love Bug', 'Herbie Rides Again' and 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks'.I got to know 3 versions of "Tom Brown's Schooldays": 1940, 1951 and 2005. There is also a 1971 version as a TV show but I never saw it. Of all the versions I got to know, my favorite is the one from 1951. It's a very rare case of a remake that's better than the original (even if it's possibly not as faithful to the book than the 1940 version) and therefore more watchable. But the 1940 film is not bad, it is actually a decent alternative. The 2005 version is fairly weak, no matter how hard they tried.Sir Cedric Hardwicke plays the charismatic Dr. Thomas Arnold with wiseness and class. I like him as Dr. Arnold as much as Robert Newton when it comes to acting, although in this version he is more prone to expelling boys and more intolerant in certain things. As a person, I prefer the more sympathetic Dr. Arnold played by Robert Newton.John Howard Davies is my favorite Tom Brown, but I also like this version's Tom Brown sentimentally played by Jimmy Lydon. If you ask me, Jimmy Lydon makes a different Tom Brown but equally likable and interesting.I have mixed feelings about East in this version. Even if he is greatly played by Freddie Bartholomew, the character himself isn't always very sympathetic. In the 1951 version, East is nicer and friendlier to Tom if still occasionally selfish.Billy Halop is an interesting choice as Flashman, as good as the actor in the 1951 version, just different. Comparing to the 1951 version, Flashman is generally less intimidating although almost as vicious.This version seems more detailed and realistic than the others in some ways and yet not as detailed in other aspects. The beginning is considerably different and many events happen much sooner and quicker than in other versions, which also makes its last 30 minutes different from other versions - with stuff missing in them. Having that said, this version has similarities with the others too.

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.