Tom Brown's School Days is a 1940 coming-of-age drama film about a teenage boy's experiences at Rugby School in the nineteenth century under the revolutionary headmastership of Thomas Arnold. It stars Cedric Hardwicke, Freddie Bartholomew, and Jimmy Lydon in the title role. The film was based on the 1857 novel of the same name by Thomas Hughes.
In this version, greater emphasis is placed on the character development of Headmaster Thomas Arnold an...
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Tom Brown's School Days is a 1940 coming-of-age drama film about a teenage boy's experiences at Rugby School in the nineteenth century under the revolutionary headmastership of Thomas Arnold. It stars Cedric Hardwicke, Freddie Bartholomew, and Jimmy Lydon in the title role. The film was based on the 1857 novel of the same name by Thomas Hughes.
In this version, greater emphasis is placed on the character development of Headmaster Thomas Arnold and his reformist ideas concerning the English educational system. It was well received by critics, with Variety praising it in a January 1940 review as "sympathetically and skillfully made, with many touching moments and an excellent cast". Hardwicke's performance as Arnold was called "one of the best he has ever given," as the veteran actor convincingly tempered the headmaster's strict demeanor with "the underlying sympathy, tolerance, quiet humor and steadfast courage" for which Arnold was acclaimed. Jimmy Lydon as the title character was...
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