Though this film rates a nine out of ten for Robert Newton, which is the main reason to see it, overall it only deserves the six I have given it. Newton made this more or less back to back with Sergeants Three a ho hum adaptation of the Kipling story and there is no comparison in terms of performance. Although a very underrated actor with a large range he rarely got to portray sympathetic characters on screen and this performance as Dr. Arnold the Reforming headmaster of Rugby School is on a par with his Frank Gibbons in Noel Coward's This Happy Breed - and as Coward wrote the part for himself and played it on stage this is saying something. Apart from Newton's standout performance the film is little more than a 'Saturday Morning' picture but passes the time.
Review of Tom Brown's Schooldays
