10 Fascinating Rituals and Traditions of English Schools School novels are enormously popular and have been since they were first developed in the 19th century, with depictions ranging from the grim Victorian institutions of Dickens and Brontë to the enchanting world of Hogwarts in Harry Potter. In this article, we look at some of the most famous fictional British schools and see how they compare with the real-life boarding school experience. 1. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Harry Potter has reignited interest in boarding school fiction. The most recent and arguably most famous example of a fictional boarding school is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, attended by Harry Potter and his friends (and foes). Though it’s clearly not based on a particular real-life boarding school, it’s closely modelled on the concept of a British boarding school, and we see many parallels with them – which don’t include the moving staircases, enchanted ceilings and talking paintings! Hogwarts is divided up into ‘houses’ – Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

These houses form four distinct communities, and provide a social hub for their members, as there are common rooms for each house, and this is also where students’ dormitories are located. This system is also true of real-life boarding schools, which also get divided into houses; though real-life boarding school pupils aren’t sorted into their houses using a Sorting Hat! Another similarity is the uniforms; though real-life schools don’t make their pupils wear robes (though that of Christ’s Hospital comes close), the colour scheme of those depicted in the films is surprisingly similar to real-life schools. And just like real-life boarders, pupils at Hogwarts are allowed to go on organised outings – in their case to the nearby village of Hogsmeade – with parental permission, of course. 2. Malory Towers Created by Enid Blyton – the author responsible for such classics as the Famous Five and Secret Seven novels, not to mention the children’s character Noddy – Malory Towers is a fictional girls’ boarding school located by the sea in Cornwall. It looks like a castle, with four round towers named after points of the compass (North, South, East, West) around a central courtyard. There’s even a seawater swimming pool out on the rocks.

The plot of the six novels centres on the main character, Darrell Williams, and her efforts to succeed in spite of her fiery temper and the bad influence of her friend Alicia, who encourages her to participate in mischief and pranks. Though the school isn’t thought to be based on any real-life boarding school, at the end of the series the protagonist is heading for a place at the real-life St Andrew’s University, a reflection of the fact that boarding schools tend to offer extremely good preparation for life at the country’s top universities. 3. St Trinian’s Ronald Searle was also the illustrator of the Molesworth series, about a schoolboy at the fictional St Custard’s prep school. Film still from St Trinian’s (B. Thompson and O. Parker, 2007) St Trinian’s is a girls’ boarding school dreamt up by the cartoonist Ronald Searle. It started life as a cartoon series and was later adapted into a number of very popular films. The twist with St Trinian’s is that it’s populated by girls who are essentially juvenile delinquents, presided over by disreputable teachers.

Vice and mayhem rule the day at St Trinian’s; its team sports particularly violent, and murder is by no means unheard of. Though clearly a work of fiction, Searle was inspired to create St Trinian’s by two real-life independent schools: Perse School for Girls, and St Mary’s School, both in the cartoonist’s hometown of Cambridge and the latter a boarding school. It’s also said that the uniforms were inspired by those of his daughter’s school, James Alleyn’s Girls’ School in Dulwich. However, despite any superficial similarities with real-life schools, parents will be reassured to learn that the antics of the St Trinian’s girls would not be permissible in real-life boarding schools. 4. Dotheboys Hall Another cruel fictional Victorian school, Dotheboys Hall features in the Charles Dickens novel Nicholas Nickleby. It’s based on an infamous school in Yorkshire called the Bowes Academy, and its pupils live a life of extreme hardship under its vicious headmaster, Wackford Squeers. The eponymous protagonist, Nicholas, is sent to teach at the school, where he attempts to defend its pupils from the cruelty of the headmaster.

The novel features an advert for the school, which provides an interesting insight into boarding schools of this period: “Youth are boarded, clothed, booked, furnished with pocket-money, provided with all necessaries, instructed in all languages living and dead, mathematics, orthography, geometry, astronomy, trigonometry, the use of the globes, algebra, single stick (if required), writing, arithmetic, fortification, and every other branch of classical literature. Terms, twenty guineas per annum. No extras, no vacations, and diet unparalleled.” As this extract shows, boarding schools have changed a lot since Dickens’ day, not least the fact that modern-day boarding schools aren’t places with “no vacations” where parents can leave their children and forget about them. 5. The Lowood Institution Jane’s experiences at Lowood cause her to prioritise kindness when she comes to found her own school. Film still from Jane Eyre (R. Stevenson, 1943). The grim boarding school attended by Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre in the novel that bears her name is, very fortunately, not representative of the modern boarding school experience. Lowood, led by the cruel Mr.

Brocklehurst, is a boarding school for poor or orphaned girls. It’s very cold, the food is awful and there are no creature comforts; Jane’s only sources of comfort there are a caring teacher, Miss Temple, and her friend Helen Burns, who later dies of tuberculosis. Conditions at the school greatly improve after Mr. Brocklehurst’s cruelty is discovered by benefactors, who replace him with kinder management; Jane ends up becoming a teacher at the school herself before moving on to a governess position at Thornfield. Luckily, schools like Lowood are very much a thing of the past in Britain; modern English boarding schools are warm and welcoming, with excellent food, and sympathetic staff who provide superb pastoral support for their pupils. 6. Brookfield Grammar School Brookfield Grammar School is the school at the centre of Goodbye Mr Chips, a novella adapted many times for the screen and stage, which tells the tale of a much-loved schoolteacher and his 43-year long teaching career at this school.

The school is believed to be modelled on The Leys School in Cambridge, the day and boarding school attended by James Hilton, author of the story; the central character is an amalgamation of many people known to the author, including his father. Hilton published his first essays and short stories in his school newspaper, the Leys Fortnightly, a reminder of the fact that boarding schools can provide excellent opportunities for preparing pupils for their future careers. 7. Hailsham In many ways Hailsham is an idealised picture of a traditional boarding school, were it not for its dark secrets. Film still from Never Let Me Go (M. Romanek, 2010). It’s apparent from very early on that Hailsham in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go (and its film adaptation) is different from other boarding schools. The teachers are referred to as “guardians”, and the curriculum focuses primarily on art. Pupils are taught that it’s vitally important that they keep themselves as healthy as possible. Behind all this lies a sinister secret: Hailsham’s pupils are all clones, who will one day be harvested for their organs.

After leaving the school, the central character, Kathy, has no idea where the school is, and is unable to track it down again. It’s safe to say that this school is purely a work of (science) fiction, and not based on a real school, but it’s certainly one of the most unusual and upsetting boarding schools in English literature. 8. Abbey Mount Abbey Mount is the name of the boarding school in the film 2008 Wild Child. It’s a quintessentially English boarding school, and the film’s tagline – “A new term for trouble” – gives you an indication of the antics that go on in this school. It’s nowhere near as bad as St Trinian’s, but the film’s American protagonist, Poppy, certainly gets herself into a few scrapes. Poppy is sent to Abbey Mount by her father, who believes that the experience will teach the spoilt teenager some discipline. At the centre of the story is her rivalry with Head Girl Harriet, along with Poppy’s efforts to get herself expelled so that she can return to her glamorous life in California.

The climax of the film is an action-packed game of lacrosse, in which Poppy leads her school to victory – a reflection of the fact that real-life boarding schools are noted for their strong participation in such team sports. The real-life girls’ boarding school Cobham Hall in Kent stands in for Abbey Mount on screen. 9. Rugby School Lewis Carroll, Rupert Brooke and Matthew Arnold all attended Rugby School. The first and only real-life school on this list, the prestigious Rugby School is the setting for Tom Brown’s School Days, and much of what happens in this novel is inspired by author Thomas Hughes’ own experiences of being a Rugby pupil. The book deals initially with Tom’s experiences of bullying at the hands of Flashman (a name that has since come to be used to describe bullies who come from wealthy backgrounds), whom he defeats with the help of an older boy named Diggs. This victory results in Tom becoming badly behaved, but, having been put in charge of looking after another boy, George Arthur, he develops into a well-behaved model pupil. Rugby School’s traditions form a major theme in the novel, including the playing of rugby football; Rugby School was famously the place where the game of rugby was first invented.

Modern-day Rugby is rather different from how it’s described in the novel – it’s even in a different county these days – so if you’re thinking of applying for this school, it’s best to visit rather than basing your opinions on the novel. 10. Greyfriar’s School Greyfriar’s School is the fictional boys’ boarding school at the centre of a series of stories by Charles Hamilton, who wrote under the pseudonym of Frank Richards and was a contemporary of the Jeeves and Wooster creator P.G. Wodehouse (whose style is similar). The unusual thing about Greyfriars is its lack of a House system, which is often used in this genre to provide rivalries around which to base plots (such as the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin in the Harry Potter series). Instead, the rivalries exist between individual characters and between year-groups of a similar age. As in many real-life boarding schools, a high value is placed on sporting prowess, and boys are more concerned with this than with educational achievements. Of course, the top boarding schools in real life ensure that the balance between scholarly studies and sports is maintained. 11.

Roslyn School Marlborough College, on which Roslyn School is partly based, is now better known as the alma mater of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge. Roslyn School is the fictional English boys’ school depicted in Eric, or, Little by Little, by Frederic W. Farrar. The school is based on a cross between two real-life schools: King William’s College, on the Isle of Man, where Farrar went himself; and Marlborough College, the prestigious independent school in Wiltshire where Farrar was later the Master. The book’s plot is based around the descent of the protagonist – the son of a British couple based in British-ruled India – into vice, with the end result that he loses everything. It was very popular moral tale in Victorian Britain, though it’s less widely read now because of its religious overtones. As these fictional schools show, there’s clearly something about life at British boarding schools that captures the imagination. It’s a setting that gives more modern authors plentiful opportunities for plots centred around mischief-making, while for the Victorian writers who first developed the idea of school novels, the boarding school environment was a place of hardship in which characters could be developed.

The modern boarding school bears some similarities with fictional depictions, particularly in the way in which they’re structured and the rivalries and bonds that form within them. But any parents concerned about the experiences to which their children will be subjected at a boarding school need not be worried: unlike in the stories, real-life boarding schools are incredibly well-regulated and monitored, with brutal discipline a thing of the past, and first-class facilities coupled with superb pastoral care. If you’re thinking about applying for a boarding school, be sure to read our guide to getting into the best British boarding schools . Your email will not be shared and you can unsubscribe whenever you want with a simple click. Tom Brown's School Days Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 8:34 AM, PST NEWS 20 out of 20 people found the following review useful: A Film That Takes The Measure Of A Man. from Mountain Mesa, California 20 April 2001 This work is primarily occupied with the major incidents in the life of Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby, and his overcoming of a good deal of resistance in lifting that institution from a tepid state to a position of England's finest public school.

The strong direction is by Robert Stevenson, who also contributed mightily to the script, which is rather faithfully based upon the novel of the same name by Thomas Hughes, and which employs the student Tom Brown as Arnold's tactical and ethical surrogate within the scholastic body. Arnold, who must find an answer to the prevalent bullying of the day, is portrayed by Sir Cedric Hardwicke with a stunning performance, ably supported by Josephine Hutchinson as Mrs. Arnold. The film proceeds at a very crisp pace, with the scenario building well as Brown, played with feeling by Jimmy Lydon, prepares to make a stand against older and tyrannical students led by Billy Halop as Flashman. The arteries of the novel are presented with some depth, demonstrating the inculcation into the students of the importance of physical and mental courage, loyalty, and self-reliance, albeit apparently at the cost of some amount of intellectual achievement. The love of the students for Rugby and for their headmaster is presented throughout, the production design, costumes, and editing are all first-rate, and a superb musical score is contributed by Anthony Collins. Was the above review useful to you?

14 out of 14 people found the following review useful: A Good Version Still Worth Seeing from Ohio 5 December 2005 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. Was the above review useful to you? 12 out of 12 people found the following review useful: The Great Dr Arnold 1 February 2006 Sir Cedric Hardwick is superb as Doctor Arnold. It is hard to over-estimate the importance of this headmaster in the history of education. Singlehanded, he revolutionised not only school discipline but also curriculum in one of England's oldest and most famous Public Schools. From Rugby the reforms spread out to Eton, to Harrow and to Winchester. The ideologies were carried by students of these colleges to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and out into the world. To our modern eyes, the notion of a master whipping a student with a birch for fighting and expelling a boy for telling a lie seems a bit extreme. But prior to Dr Arnold, punishments were brutal and were administered in an arbitrary manner by each teacher. Boys were exploited by the masters, and junior boys were exploited by the seniors.

Hardwick's portrayal of Arnold as a dour, devout and almost obsessively righteous man is wonderful. Arnold hates bullying, but more than anything, he hates lies. Lies, to Arnold, are the mark of real cowardice. Where there are lies, there is Sin and Corruption. A boy that lied to Arnold was immediately expelled. There is an aspect of Dr Arnold's reformation that is only hinted at- It was he who brought modern subjects such as History and Geography to the school syllabus, to stand alongside the Classic as valuable learning. Jimmy Lydon is wonderful as Tom. His emotions, be they glee, grief, pain or loneliness are expressed in an irrepressible manner by this lovely boy with his mobile face and eager expression. Was the above review useful to you? 10 out of 11 people found the following review useful: an exciting film for everyone to watch even now?

from United Kingdom 19 August 2006 one of the best old movies I have ever seen and would like to own it either on DVD or video, its exciting from start to finish, with a great story line even I could understand even at the early age of 14yrs, it has few good actors who in my mind will never be replaced even now. A clean film for all the family, something to get your teeth into with a story line that needs to be watched and listened too. even though black and white the film was well produced for its time and I would love to see it again over and over again. considering the age and the location the film contained beautiful places of interest and lots of great actors, these people will never be seen again which is why we should keep this film ongoing and to the fore front of all films. Was the above review useful to you? 11 out of 14 people found the following review useful: The story of the three Toms.

4 August 2004 *** This review may contain spoilers *** This is a film of a work of fiction written by Thomas Hughes in 1857 which featured the life of Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1842, and the name Hughes gave to the principal fictional character in his novel was Tom Brown. There appears to be some significance in this choice of name. Hughes himself attended Rugby school during the period of Dr Arnold's headmastership, this is why he was able to write about the school with such authority; so it appears to me that the character of Tom Brown (and perhaps the entire book) is probably semi-autobiographical - but, somewhat surprisingly, I have never seen this discussed elsewhere. There are many famous schools throughout the world which have modelled themselves, with greater or lesser success, on the British Public School, but collectively the British schools have one unique feature - they created an extremely successful method for perpetuating the rule of the established oligarchy in the U.K. over a period of several centuries when the country was the most powerful in the world. In the U.K.

Public Schools are private foundations theoretically open to all, but their high fees meant that education was largely limited to the sons of members of the ruling class, and a Public School education became almost a pre-requisite for admission to a University, election to Parliament or recruitment to any senior government position. It is surprising that, despite this, the Public Schools have always been able to keep a fairly low profile although it is clear that they must have considerable importance both sociologically and historically. Most Englishmen can think of several of the leading Public Schools such as Eton, Harrow, Rugby and Shrewsbury, but few know much about them. Almost the only widely read book dealing with the subject has been "Tom Brown's School Days" the book written by Thomas Hughes on which this film is based. It is a fictional work dealing with the reform of the public school system which started in Rugby under Thomas Arnold, its great headmaster from 1828 to 1842. This was a time when abuses had crept into the system and were beginning to discredit it. At Rugby, Arnold largely stamped out excessive bullying and helped establish ethical standards under which telling tales about fellow students or uttering any untruths became totally unacceptable behaviour.

During the process Rugby, which had been a fairly minor Public School, became the leading one in the country. This is the background to Hughes' book, and it also forms an integral part of this film, as well as a remake of it that was released a decade later. Both films were made more than a half century ago but have remained of sufficient interest to justify them retaining ongoing availability on videotape. Nevertheless today this ongoing interest probably arises primarily from readers who have enjoyed the book, former students at one of these schools, educationalists or sociological historians, so today sales of these tapes are probably small and I would guess that we are unlikely to see either film on DVD in the near future. Although the two films are well made, with well acted stories that most people can watch with enjoyment, their unfamiliar scenario would make it unlikely that many of today's movie patrons would make any effort to search them out and this makes rating them a little difficult. PARTIAL SPOILER FOLLOWS - The book relates how Tom Brown goes to Rugby as a new boy and falls victim to the older bully Flashman. Eventually he obtains boxing training and successfully fights Flashman to establish his place in the sun.

When Flashman contravenes the unwritten school ethical code Arnold takes the opportunity to expel him and, by the time Tom graduates, the headmaster, together with other boys like him, have succeeded in transforming the old atmosphere in the school. The story in the book is followed fairly closely by this film, which was made in 1940 with the famous and very prolific actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke giving a great performance as the headmaster. Unfortunately, in the U.K. 1940 was the darkest period of World War II and films released then did not attract a great deal of attention, so the film was remade only a decade later with a different cast who also gave a number of very fine performances, and it was spiced up with a much more melodramatic screenplay in which Flashman is not merely a bully but exhibits behaviour verging on the criminal. Since both films provide good meaty stories which most viewers should enjoy, this is one of the rare cases where both an original film and its remake are still worth watching.

However for my money I prefer this 1940 film because it is more faithful to the book on which it is based, and (although we can no longer ask anyone what life in the school was actually like in the early nineteenth century) in my opinion is probably much closer to the actual historical story. Primarily because of its somewhat limited appeal I do not think rating this film at more than 6 out of 10 would be justified, but it certainly remains well worth watching by anyone of any nationality with an interest in education. Was the above review useful to you? 8 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Young Tom Brown tests his mettle at a tough British Public school. from United States 4 June 2008 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. Was the above review useful to you? 4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: A fine novel that is even more gripping on the screen! 19 October 2012 *** This review may contain spoilers *** "Tom Brown's School Days": A novel? A memoir? An autobiography? I think the third is the best description of this schoolboy's time at Rugby, written by "an old boy".

Thomas Hughes was not identified as the author of the book until around the time he was re-elected to the House of Commons in 1871. (He had been a member of parliament since 1864). By that time, Doctor Arnold was long dead, but his educational ideas persisted in the British education system until well into the 1960s. However, he is not a major character in the novel. Indeed, he is a somewhat shadowy figure, remote from Tom's immediate world. It was the 1916 movie version that elevated Arnold's importance, and following that lead, it is our 1940 version that virtually makes the influential educationalist the central character. However, I don't think that elevating Arnold's importance detracts from the movie. Far from it! As brilliantly brought to life by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Arnold is indeed a fascinating, charismatic figure. Hardwicke is not only ideally cast, he rejoices in the best role of his extensive career, demonstrating how he can not only capture an audience's attention and sympathy, but how he can totally dominate the action if given the right script and director.

Nevertheless, the supporting players, led by Billy Halop, also turn in outstanding performances. This was probably the only totally unsympathetic role Halop ever played, but he limns the character with a skill that simply rivets the attention. His is the definitive study of a swaggering bully. Of course, Jimmy Lydon never bettered his role as Tom Brown. Freddie Bartholomew is also solidly convincing as East, and there are fine studies from Polly Moran, Josephine Hutchinson, Ernest Cossart and Charles Smith (who was soon to prove Lydon's mainstay in the Aldrich movies). Adroitly directed by Robert Stevenson, and most expansively produced with marvelous sets and evocative photography, this version of Tom Brown's School Days is not only a really gripping, stirring experience, it's an absolute must-see movie  a credit to all concerned! Was the above review useful to you?

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Harry Potter's Ancestral Roots from Los Angeles 21 March 2010 In 1842 England, Rugby School students Jimmy Lydon (as Tom Brown) and Freddie Bartholomew (as Harry East) meet, after the death of beloved headmaster Cedric Hardwicke (as Thomas Arnold). The lads agree to "be friends again" as Mr. Hardwicke would have wanted Then, in flashback, young Mr. Lydon recalls his education at Rugby, where he went to war with bullying Billy Halop (as Flashman) and his gang, ended his friendship with Mr. Bartholomew through misunderstanding, and watched as Hardwicke's Thomas Arnold (1795-1842) reform British education. This interpretation of Thomas Hughes' classic "Tom Brown's School Days" isn't the most faithful to the book; but it's close enough for Hollywood, and the tightening makes it a finer film. The RKO production team does great work. They found the perfect director by importing England's Robert Stevenson.

And, Anthony Collins' musical score is outstanding (he received "Oscar" nominations 1940-1942). It also helps to have Sir Hardwicke head the school, as he registers a British headmaster you can use as a standard. As a bonus, debuting Gale Storm (as Effie) makes heads turn. The three youngsters are a nice surprise. Lydon handles his part exceptionally well; this could be his best juvenile lead. To great effect, they let Bartholomew act, and in a supporting role. And, Mr. Halop is a believable punk Brit. Coincidently, "Harry" is the first name given for the characters played by Bartholomew ("Harry East" in the original novel) and Halop ("Harry Flashman" in a spin-off series). So, it may be no wonder J.K. Rowling found it a perfect surname for "Happy Potter" of Hogwarts. By the way, this film will give you a sense of what those British Public Schools were like...

******* Tom Brown's School Days (6/27/40) Robert Stevenson ~ Jimmy Lydon, Cedric Hardwicke, Freddie Bartholomew, Billy Halop Was the above review useful to you? "What's a school boy to do with moral principles?" from United Kingdom 19 June 2016 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 Was the above review useful to you? Better than Goodbye Mr. Chips! 19 March 2015 *** This review may contain spoilers *** 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. Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 2: School Corporal Punishment: School Corporal Punishment in Films School Corporal Punishment in Films April 28 2003 at 6:35 PM Roger A useful addition to the archives would be a catalogue of mainstream cinema films which feature school corporal punishment. The Guinea Pig from 1948, starring the twenty-five year old Dickie as a schoolboy, has been mentioned in another thread. Does anyone know of others?

Re: School Corporal Punishment in Films April 28 2003, 7:25 PM In Young Winston (1972) the marks from a caning on the Churchill bum by his headmaster are shown in the uncensored version. I cannot remember if the actual beating is seen. The film was directed by dear, dear Dickie. Re: Re: School Corporal Punishment in Films April 28 2003, 9:54 PM In Melody a.k.a. S.W.A.L.K. (1971) two boys are slippered by their headmaster. The Happy Valley (1989) has some memorable F/f. I think this could qualify as school corporal punishment, for the F is the governess/tutor of the f.

Re: Re: Re: School Corporal Punishment in Films April 28 2003, 11:12 PM The brutal  If made in the late sixties and The comic - Bottoms Up! starring Jimmy Edwards in 1960. Re: Re: Re: Re: School Corporal Punishment in Films April 29 2003, 7:34 AM F/f in a school environment is rare. The Spanking Facts and Research site has Brides of Christ (Australia 1985) April 29 2003, 8:10 AM See the video clip at: (it's on the bottom left of the page) April 29 2003, 7:05 PM I trust that those who have criticised C. Nickel will now feel ashamed. C. Nickel is a great asset to this forum and taking the trouble to provide a link to a rare piece of F/f fladge is just one of the many kindnesses he/she has shown to members.

young winston April 30 2003, 9:44 PM You see the school assembled in the library and individual boys called into an adjoining room to be caned on the bare bottom. The one caning of which the viewer gets a glimpse is not in fact the Churchill one but the previous boy. You see him bending over with his trousers down and then the door is closed just as the cane is placed across his buttocks. The scene is based on Churchill's account in "My Early Life" of his prep school, not named in the book but in fact St George's, Ascot. The headmaster, played in the film by Robert Hardy, was the Rev. Herbert Sneyd-Kynnersley and in real life the instrument used was the birch. Churchill described boys being "flogged until they bled freely". Virginia Woolf's biography of Roger Fry, who was at the school shortly before Churchill (c.1880), gives a much more explicit and rather disgusting account, quoted in Ian Gibson's silly book "The English Vice". From the lines given to Robert Hardy to speak, one deduces that the scriptwriters for the film drew substantially on the Roger Fry account.

All in all, I think we can say that Rev. Sneyd-Kynnersley was the sort of headmaster who gave corporal punishment a bad name. Re: Re: british films May 2 2003, 4:27 PM Not cinema but TV, I recall "The School Play" by Frederic Raphael shown some 20 years ago. It's one of the genre where adult actors play children and features a very formal public school thrashing carried out by a prefect (played by a middle-aged actor - Jeremy Kemp?) on a "boy" (played by an actor in his 20s). The film "Lady Jane" is cited as a good example of F/f CP with the young Lady Jane Grey (H Bonham-Carter) being birched by her mother. I haven't seen it though. "Happy Valley" also has a scene of F/f hand caning in a school setting. There's also an extremely unpleasant and graphic scene where the much-punished heroine is assaulted with a whip by her father.

School CP On Television May 2 2003, 7:40 PM I have seen Spare the Rod on television several times, although probably not in the past 30 years. It might pop up on one the dedicated film channels, so it is worth keeping an eye out. Back in the days of grainy black and white, early 1960s,TV I remember an episode of Dr Finlays Casebook, (ask your Grandparents), where the Doctor visited a girls boarding school and entered a classroom where the school mistress was giving a girl the tawse on her hands. The series was set in Scotland. I also remember a BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre from the same time where the story opened with Jane being caned on her hands at school by Mr Brocklebank, rather than sticking to Charlotte Brontes original. More recently in the 1980s Dennis Potters Singing Detective had a very severe cane-wielding schoolmistress in it. I do not remember any of the pupils being caned, but she walked around the class, cane in hand.

From the same period I recall a play where adults played all the childrens parts, I think Colin Welland played one of the roles, and several of the boys and one of the girls were caned at school. From the late 1970s there was the famous Grange Hill caning. Headmistress Mrs McCluskey, (Bridget the Midget) caned Cathy Hargreaves, on her hand, for playing truant. Not quite school CP but in an episode of the truly awful Nanny series, set in the 19030s staring Wendy Craig, she worked as Nanny in a house where the Governess regularly caned the older girls on their hands. Wendy, of course, came to the rescue and drove her out. Another school CP classic that pops up on TV every now and then is the film Kess, where the Headmaster canes a group of boys. Re: School Corporal Punishment in Films May 2 2003, 8:16 PM 1982 British film 'The Wall' shows state school beatings.

Directed by Alan Parker, it includes the memorable anti-authority anthem 'We don't want no education.' The regimented ranks of automaton-like pupils and graphic school beatings depicted would appear to justify the song's repeated call for teachers to 'leave those kids alone'. 1971 British film 'Melody' shows two schoolboys slippered by the headmaster. It featuring Mark Lester and Jack Wild (who had come to fame together in the Oscar winning musical, 'Oliver') as two London schoolboys. They are each given six of the best with the slipper by the genial tea drinking headmaster for various failings in their schoolwork and chirpy Jack Wild sails through the ordeal with aplomb, having carefully padded his backside beforehand. However, young Mark Lester's attempt to trick the head in the same fashion is discovered, and once the padding has been removed he is given six hard whacks, much to his consternation. 1938 British film 'Housemaster' is set in a public school and features a caning scene right at the beginning when the housemaster of the title, played by Otto Kruger, is seen chastising a pupil.

The film is based upon the novel by Ian Hay, first published in 1936. 1969 British film 'Kes' shows a group of boys receiving hand canings. The film includes scenes set in a tough city comprehensive school in the north of England. A group of boys are caned on both hands for smoking. The line-up includes an innocent first-former who has been sent to the headmaster with a message and is forced by the older boys to secrete their contraband cigarettes and matches in his trouser pockets. When all the assembled boys are told to empty their pockets the pathetic junior, who is too shy to speak up to the overbearing headmaster, is deemed to be an illicit smoker and is caned along with the guilty pupils - much to his distress. 1942 film 'A Yank at Eton' shows Mickey Rooney receiving a prefect's tanning. He plays a rebellious all-American kid who is sent to Eton College for an English public school education. To begin with, Mickey greatly dislikes the famous school, with its peculiar uniforms, arrogant prefects and tedious fagging.

Early on in the movie, a practical joke which misfires results in a caning from senior boy Peter Lawford. May 2 2003, 9:44 PM Well done C.Nickel. "Yank at Eton" was not perhaps one of Mickey Rooney's best efforts. I think it was meant as wartime propaganda - how USA and UK think they don't like each other much, but turn out to be on the same side really, when push comes to shove. Highly allegorical for 1942, you see. Thus, Rooney first appears to the Brits as a vulgar, bragging loudmouth (sound familiar?) but is revealed in the end to be quite a decent chap. He for his part is most reluctant to leave his American school, a smart, ivy-leaf-bedecked establishment called Notre Dame (pron. Nohtre Daym) to be sent to what he imagines - with some justification, one might suppose - to be a nest of arrogant, snobby poofters. But after a few sound thrashings and a few goes at the Eton Wall Game he realises that those goddam Limeys are made of tougher stuff than he realised.

To me the most striking thing about this completely preposterous farrago of nonsense is that, typically I think for film-makers on both sides of the Atlantic in those days, it doesn't seem to have occurred to its originators that 99% of the US audience and 99% of the UK audience would have regarded both these posh schools and their inmates as being on another planet altogether from anything they could possibly relate to. Re: Re: Films and TV May 2 2003, 10:23 PM "Goodbye, Mr Chips" (1939) starred Robert Donat as the eponymous academic. When a pupil calls the masters at the school "a lot of weak-kneed women - they're not in the army because they're not fit to be, or too old, or too frightened. They're getting back on us by being tough and being tyrants," Chips (shown in an enlarged shadow) canes the boy and then lectures: "It didn't amuse me to do that, Burton. Very soon now, you'll be an officer in France. You'll need discipline from your men and to get that you must know what discipline means.

Now you despise the masters here because they're not young enough or strong enough to fight. You might like to know that every one of them has done his best to join the army. We take no man unless he has done that. I'm headmaster now simply because every man fit to be headmaster is fighting in France. I'm a war-time fluke - a temporary officer risen from the ranks. But I'm going to keep Brookfield together til the war's over." Donat won an oscar for his performance - in a year of unprecedented competition (e.g. Clark Gable's Rhett Butler).

Question: Brookfield public boarding school for boys is the setting for what famous novel, which also became a famous film?
Answer: GOODBYE MR CHIPS