Tom Browns Schulzeit

On one level this is a rollicking tale of life in an English Public School (other nationals may need to remember to read "Private" for "Public" here.) during the reign of King William IV in the first half of the nineteenth century. It is a well acted and well directed film that most people would find enjoyable to watch, but because of the specialised and unfamiliar scenario it is unlikely to attract audiences from outside those who themselves attended similar schools or those with some form of interest in the history of education.

At a slightly deeper level we must recognise that this film is essentially a remake of a film with a very similar title (Tom Brown's School Days rather than Tom Brown's Schooldays) released ten years earlier. Both films featured Rugby school under the headmastership of the famous educationalist Thomas Arnold - a part played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke in the earlier film and by Robert Newton in this remake - and both were based on the book of the same name written by Thomas Hughes in 1857. It is very hard to discuss one of these films without referring to the other, and since there is no point in duplicating comments on this IMDb database I would recommend anyone reading this page who is sufficiently interested to refer also to my comments on the earlier film. This second version of the story is much more melodramatic than the previous one, but is less in keeping with the original book, and I feel that it probably reflects life as it was in Rugby school at the time less accurately. The climax of the book is Arnold expelling the school bully Flashman for breaching the school moral code. This later film is slightly longer than its predecessor and in it Flashman's behaviour is shown as so reprehensible that the viewer can have no sympathy for him, whereas in the book and the earlier film Flashman is simply a typical bully who is caught out for lying. This is important because it causes the viewer to reflect on the magnitude of the task of creating a school code of conduct strict enough to justify this expulsion. For these reasons, whilst I can watch and enjoy both these films almost equally, I regard the 1940 film as the better, and as more worthy of repeat viewing. For the IMDb database I have also rated it slightly higher than the present one (six out of ten rather than five out of ten).

I recently seen Tom Brown's Schooldays for the first time and enjoyed it.

Tom Brown starts Rugby School and it isn't long before he becomes one of the victims of the school bully, Flashman. A year later, he is assigned to look after a new starter, the rather nervous Arthur. He also becomes a victim of Flashman and together with Tom's friend East, they help Flashman to get his comeuppance at the end and he is thrown out and the bullying stops.

Tom Brown's Schooldays gives you an idea on what life was like in school many years ago.

Now to the cast with an excellent performance from John Howard Davies (Oliver Twist) as Tom, Robert Newton (Treasure Island) as the head, Diania Wynyard (On the Night of the Fire), James Hayter, Michael Hordern (Scrooge), Max Bygraves (who doesn't sing in this) and Francis De Wolff (Corriders of Blood). Also, John Charlesworth as East, Glyn Dearman as Arthur and John Forrest as the bully Flashman. Quite a collection of well known British talent there.

Tom Brown's Schooldays is certainly worth checking out if you get the chance. Great stuff.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

John Howard Davies - probably most famous for his portrayal of orphan "Oliver Twist" in David Lean's classic - is a little too weedy, for me, as the title character in this adaptation of Thomas Hughes' story about a young boy sent to the prestigious Rugby School in the 1830's where he encounters bullies; brutality and ultimately kindness. Robert Newton turns in a great performance as "Dr. Arnold" who believes that the somewhat cruel educational practices are of the past, and so he and "Tom Brown" try to improve things. This film is not so faithful to the book; but uses the two lead performances, as well as a convincing effort from John Forrest as his nemesis "Flashman", to convey much of it's sentiment. I probably preferred the 1940 version, but there's not much in it.

The film follows the trials and tribulations of a young schoolboy, Tom Brown, who is sent to Rugby public school.

Here he is looked after on arrival by "Scud" East who becomes his friend. East helps the young Brown to make his way through the initiations that each newcomer is expected to undergo. They include Singing in the Hall whilst being pelted with all manner of small objects, and also the tradition of "fagging" - this means running errands and doing small jobs for the 6th Formers.

The school bully , Flashman, although only being a 5th Former forces the younger boys to undertake these "fagging" tasks, failure on their part usually resulting in some kind of punishment. One of these is "Roasting' - the young boy being held against a hearth where an open fire singes their legs.

Tom is forced to undergo this treatment. Shortly afterwards he and East rebel against Flashman and a fight ensues with the two younger boys emerging victorious.This puts an end to the bullying.

All in all a very watchable film. Of course the discipline endured by the boys at Rugby in the 1830's is long gone. Maybe it a loss to modern society, of course we will never know.

Recommended viewing.

I caught this years ago on a classic movie station and I thought it might be another hopelessly dated "classic" movie. Classic in the sense that just because it's old it's good. When, more often than not, that is obviously not the friggin' case, Jack.

But this was a rousing fun tale of a young British dude and his trials and tribulations at a English boarding school. It's all about the revolution/revenge (good hearted arse kicking revenge, mind you) Tom Brown and the other underclassmen take on the bullying upperclass dudes.

The scene that got me most was the "roasting" scene. It involves the main character, the bad guy, and a turn of the century fireplace, what happens, well...you'll have to see the flick to find out. For an older movie it's a pretty brutal, wincing scene. Hooray for the revolution!