SYNOPSIS: Thomas Hughes' novel of life in a boys' boarding school comes boldly to life on the screen.  At the age of eleven Tom Brown is sent off to Rugby where, as his father tells him, he likely will, "see a great many blackguard things."  He does indeed.

Young Tom receives a good deal of hazing from his classmates, but he takes it all in stride until he runs afoul of the school bully, the sadistic Flashman.  A more despicable villain doesn't exist in English literature - or in English movies, for that matter.  Tom learns the hard way that rebelling against Flashman carries a painful penalty.

Robert Newton plays Mr. Arnold, the school's reform-minded headmaster.  He seeks to eliminate the school's venerable "traditions" of intimidation and torture, but he knows that he must proceed quietly and with great caution.  It is a moving performance, one in which Newton shows us what a fine actor he was.  He tries to convey to Tom that he is helpless against rogues like Flashman unless his victims will identify him.  But Tom, though repeatedly tormented by Flashman, refuses to be an informer.  It is only through a series of coincidental events that Flashman receives his comeuppance.

The film's exteriors where shot on location at Rugby, giving the picture its strong flavor of authenticity.  So join Tom and his friends in their adventures at Rugby.  You'll find Tom Brown's Schooldays an experience you won't soon forget.

EDITORIAL REVIEW:  Sound like an odd synopsis?  That's because it came from the official 1987 description of the 1951 version of Tom Brown's School Days, which is based in 1834 England!

Like Oliver Twist before it, Tom Brown's Schooldays is another English gem that's been redone a number of times.  And just like the Oliver Twist remakes, each one has its own telling of a timeless classic novel.  In this version of Tom Brown's Schooldays, it is nearly a scene-by-scene duplicate of the 2005 version with Alex Pettyfer playing Tom Brown.  Actually, we should say the 2005 version is nearly a scene-by-scene remake of this 1951 version.  I say "nearly" because it's not an exact duplicate, but it's pretty darned close!  There are some differences. though.  In this version, Flashman is waaaaaay more sadistic and Dr. Arnold is not as mean spirited - in fact, he's downright fatherly in some scenes.  The ending is slightly skewed as well, and although a remake (the original was made in 1916), this is quite an enjoyable film.  A keeper for your collection of rare gems for sure.

It's funny to take note of the "British Board of Film Censors" disclaimer at the very beginning that proudly proclaims this movie as being for "general audiences".  Strange, considering the amount of violence and manhandling throughout, and even the brief nudity - which is usually met with an abrupt censoring by the BBFC nowadays.  There's no obvious swearing (save for the generous use of the word "bloomin" and "fiddle sticks"), but one would think the BBFC would most likely give this a different rating today for the violence, and order the cutting of the skinny dipping shot.

Speaking of censoring, I do have one question though, for our English visitors.  I understand the word "Fag" can be used to describe cigarettes or homosexuals, but in this movie it seems to be used in a whole other context.  Take for example, Flashman telling a young school chum, "You'll be my personal fag for the next week".  If one was only listening to this movie and not watching, that may prompt a quick glance at the TV to see WTF is going on.  I presume the flagrant use of "fag" throughout this picture means some sort of "slave" (and not of the "naughty" variety)?  Enlighten us, dear chaps from Great Britain!

Here's a little bit of mindless information about John Howard Davies, the boy who played Tom Brown (who also starred in Oliver Twist).  He starred in one more movie after Tom Brown's Schooldays, then assistant directed a B-movie horror slasher flick before directing a few "Mr. Bean" videos in the late 1990's!  You gotta love Mr. Bean.

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STARRING: John Howard Davies, John Charlesworth, Robert Newton, John Forrest.
DIRECTOR: Gordon Parry.
AVAILABILITY: In stock! Ships within one business day.
LENGTH: 96 minutes.
LANGUAGE: English.
SPECIAL FEATURES: 1.33:1 (4:3 Full Screen); Mono audio; 1 disc; Uncut.
VIEWER DISCRETION: Brief nudity, violence.
PICTURE QUALITY: Good picture quality. (what's this mean?)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK (1951).
ALSO KNOWN AS:
DATE ADDED TO OUR LIBRARY:  July 17, 2009.
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