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{{Short description|1951 British film by Gordon Parry}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Tom Brown's Schooldays
| image = Tom_Brown's_Schooldays_(1951_film).jpg

| caption =
| director = [[Gordon Parry (film director)|Gordon Parry]]
| producer = [[Brian Desmond Hurst]]
| screenplay = [[Noel Langley]]
| based_on = the novel by [[Thomas Hughes]]
| narrator =
| starring = {{ubl|[[John Howard Davies]]|[[Robert Newton]]|[[James Hayter (actor)|James Hayter]]}}
| music = [[Richard Addinsell]]
| cinematography = [[C. M. Pennington-Richards]]
| editing = Kenneth Heeley-Ray
| studio = Talisman Productions
| distributor = {{ubl|[[Renown Pictures]] (UK)|[[United Artists]] (US)}}
| released = {{Film date|1951|04|17|UK|1951|11|02|US|df=y}}
| runtime = 93 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Tom Brown's Schooldays''''' is a 1951 British [[drama film]], directed by [[Gordon Parry (film director)|Gordon Parry]], produced by [[Brian Desmond Hurst]], and starring [[John Howard Davies]], [[Robert Newton]], John Charlesworth and [[James Hayter (actor)|James Hayter]].<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Tom Brown's Schooldays |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150056917 |access-date=19 November 2023 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It is based on the 1857 [[Tom Brown's School Days|novel of the same name]] by [[Thomas Hughes]].<ref name="allmovie.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/tom-browns-school-days-v50286|title=Tom Brown's School Days (1951) - Gordon Parry - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= British cinema of the 1950s : the decline of deference|last1=Harper|first1= Sue|last2=Porter|first2=Vincent|date=2003|publisher= Oxford University Press|page=162-163}}</ref>

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[John Howard Davies]] as [[Tom Brown (character)|Tom Brown]]
* [[Robert Newton]] as [[Thomas Arnold|Dr Thomas Arnold]]
* John Charlesworth as [[Harry "Scud" East|East]]
* [[James Hayter (actor)|James Hayter]] as Old Thomas
* [[John Forrest (actor)|John Forrest]] as [[Harry Flashman|Flashman]]
* [[Michael Hordern]] as Wilkes
* [[Brian Worth]] as Judd
* [[Rachel Gurney]] as Mrs Arthur
* [[Max Bygraves]] as coach guard
* [[Francis de Wolff]] as Squire Brown
* [[Diana Wynyard]] as Mrs Thomas Arnold
* [[Hermione Baddeley]] as Sally Harrowell
* [[Kathleen Byron]] as Mrs Brown
* [[Amy Veness]] as Mrs Wixie
* [[Michael Brennan (actor)|Michael Brennan]] as Black Bart
* [[Michael Ward (actor)|Michael Ward]] as Turke
* [[Neil North]] as Diggs
* [[Glyn Dearman]] as Arthur
* [[Ben Aris]] as Tadpole
* Peter Scott as Gower
}}

==Production==
[[Rugby School]] was used as a filming location.<ref name="variety">{{cite web |author=Variety Staff |date=1 January 1951 |title=Review: 'Tom Brown's Schooldays' |url=https://variety.com/1950/film/reviews/tom-brown-s-schooldays-1200416821/ |publisher=}}</ref>

==Box office==
The film was a hit at the British box office, being judged by ''Kinematograph Weekly'' as a "notable performer" at British cinemas in 1951.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|title=These were the winners in 1951|date=20 December 1951|page=9-10}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
''[[Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' said "The opening scenes of ''Tom Brown’s Schooldays'' establish a pleasing atmosphere. Tom’s arrival at the school and the early scenes at Rugby (particularly the charmingly handled sing-song) give rise to hopes that the director might pull off this almost impossible subject. After this, however, the script fatally compromises: the boring scenes chronicling Doctor Arnold’s struggle to improve the school (his part is written as that of a lonely, single-minded reformer with none of the traditional severity), and the awkwardly tacked-on serminising at the end, spoil the robust, ''[[The Boy's Own Paper|Boy’s Own Paper]]'' feeling of the opening without substituting a new one. This apart, the film's main failure lies in John Howard Davies’ lifeless playing of Tom. John Forrest overplays Flashman atrociously, which might not have mattered had the film stuck consistently to its boisterous, schoolboy story intentions. Robert Newton is, by contrast, surprisingly subdued, while John Charlesworth and Glyn Dearman play naturally and well among a large cast of self-conscious boys."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1951 |title=Tom Brown's Schooldays |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305815445/AA10FE763C284218PQ/15 |journal=[[Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=18 |issue=204 |pages=260 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

"Isn't quite as good as the [[Tom Brown's School Days (1940 film)|1940 Hollywood adaptation]]," thought [[Allmovie]];<ref name="allmovie.com" /> whereas ''[[The New York Times]]'' found it "superior in every way to the one made in Hollywood some years back. The quaint customs have an English-cut, at least".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/01/08/archives/the-screen-in-review-british-version-of-tom-browns-school-days-has.html|title=THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; British Version of 'Tom Brown's School Days' Has Premiere at Park Avenue Theatre|first=Bosley|last=Crowther|date=8 January 1952|publisher=|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' applauded the acting of John Howard Davies, Robert Newton and "a standout performance by John Forrest as the sneering, bullying Flashman".<ref name="variety" />

''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]'' approved the "solidly carpentered third screen version of Thomas Hughes' famous Rugby story – atmospherically shot on location in the old school itself."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/film/tom-browns-schooldays|title=Tom Brown's Schooldays|publisher=}}</ref>

''The [[Radio Times]] Guide to Films'' gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Shot on location at Rugby School, this is a reverential, if rather lacklustre, rendition of Thomas Hughes's famous portrait of public school life. Robert Newton gives a performance of almost saintly sincerity as the headmaster intent on ridding his school of class prejudice and bullying. John Howard Davies does a nice line in smiling through the tears as Tom Brown, but the film belongs squarely to John Forrest, who, as Flashman, is the epitome of vicious snobbery."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=[[Immediate Media Company]] |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=946}}</ref>

[[Leslie Halliwell]] said: "Unexciting remake featuring one surprisingly strong performance."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Halliwell |first=Leslie |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |publisher=Paladin |year=1989 |isbn=0586088946 |edition=7th |location=London |pages=1038}}</ref>

In ''British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959'' [[David Quinlan (film critic)|David Quinlan]] rated the film as "average", writing: "Faithful but uninspired version of a classic story: a popular success however."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=[[Batsford Books|B.T. Batsford Ltd.]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=390}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0044134}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110504003556/http://www.briandesmondhurst.org/tombrownsschooldays.html ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'']}} at the website dedicated to [[Brian Desmond Hurst]]

{{Gordon Parry}}

[[Category:1951 films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Gordon Parry]]
[[Category:Films based on Tom Brown's Schooldays]]
[[Category:British coming-of-age drama films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Richard Addinsell]]
[[Category:1950s coming-of-age drama films]]
[[Category:1951 drama films]]
[[Category:Films shot in Warwickshire]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Noel Langley]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1950s English-language films]]
[[Category:1950s British films]]

Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951 film) - Revision history

imported>Britfilm: /* Critical reception */ add box office