Goodbye Mr Chips (1969) always has and always will be one of my all time favourite movies. I have directed three stage versions over the years with young actors based on Terrence Rattigan's brilliant, witty, theatrical script. I am always amazed the film was not well received in its initial release. When it was released in Australia in 1970, it was a smash hit, yet its failure in the States forced distributors to pull it out of theatres and slash 30 minutes out of it. There were so many various cut versions I have seen over the years. Thankfully it was released on VHS about fifteen years ago and was restored to its original length (well almost, the song "When I Was Younger" has always been cut from the film altho on the soundtrack). I despair it has never been released on DVD and only a shortened CD exists where it is doubled up with songs from the soundtrack of "The Boy Friend:"/. I feel sure if it was released on DVD it would find a whole new audience. I watched it again recently and was amazed at how fresh and charming it is, its one of those rare movies that never date. A movie desperately needing to be re-evaluated by critics again. Also, the music is wonderful, why do people criticise Bricusse. His style is so subtle, hummable? What does that mean> These are gentle, tender love songs with a couple of theatrical showstoppers....PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE someone get a full length CD (its pefect for Rhino to release) and DVD of this movie out very soon., O Toole and Petula Clarke were never better. My one criticism of the VHS is that it is a little misty (and I dont mean in the sequences that are supposed to have that effect) and not very sharp and clear. It needs to be srestored to its original 70MM brilliance.

I write this specifically for british and Australian members of Amazon who may have bought "Maurice" in the el-cheapo full screen DVD version which has been around for the last twelve months or so. I was shocked when I bought this(at the ridiculous price of $Aus9.99)to see a faded print in full frame and not particularly good sound and no extras. This new American release is like another world. Glorious to look at and with a whole second disc of special features (including a whole section of the movie in deleted scenes that was removed from the final cut). The interviews with the three actors are informative and intelligent. Rupert Graves is certainly one of Britain's finest and he hardly looks any older!!(why???how???) The deleted scenes do reconstruct a rather confusing opening sequence with a plotline that would be exorcised from the final film and it is easy to see why.These scenes that have been cut are quite erotic at times. There is also a bedroom scene between James Wilby and Hugh Grant, which is not sexual, but underscores the drama of the piece beautifully. Surely the best film Merchant Ivory ever made, now in all its glory at last. Beware of the earlier DVD release and grab this one as fast as you can.

"Star" is a movie that suffered at the hands of distributors in the late sixties. Released as a supremo roadshow attraction on the back of the success of "The Sound of Music", it was marketed to the wrong market at a time when movie musicals were on the way out. Consequently it was badly hacked about, re released in shorter retitled versions and , (even though in Australia it has always been readily available on video,) it seems in the States it took years for the film to be 'discovered" again in a video release. Regardless , this new DVD pristine print of the movie is a joy to behold and goes a long way to establishing the movie as one of the great Hollywood musicals and will help further in establishing a large and passionate fan base for the film. The DVD is narrated by director Robert Wise, but with numerous other cast members(some recently and sadly deceased) popping in to give their memories of the film, including Ms Andrews herself. The print is gloriously restored, the accompanying special features include a featurette with rare "on the set" shots and an update from the video release in 1993 when several of the actors attended a revival release of the movie in cinemas. This is DVD exploring and giving extraordinary information and using the form at its best. The accompanying "Saga of Star" which in text form takes readers into the creation, production and the appaling distribution of the film and the horrific hacking of it after its initial release (including shots of some amazingly bad lobby cards) is truly a fascinating excursion into Hollywood at a time of great transition when some diabolical decisions were made .
Now the film can be seen in its glorious, original, unedited form and in a DVD release packed with information that will help gain this movie its rightful place high on the list of the best movie musicals ever made.
Footnote" This is also, arguably Julie Andrews' best movie role and if had been seen by a wider audience would have
stopped the hiatus that followed in her career for so many years afterward and also killed off the "goody two shoes"image that was so wrongly attributed to her for so many years.