Goodbye, Mr. Chips: Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁 🥁

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Romantic, Timeless, Classic
Year Releasd: 1939
Directed by; Sam Wood
Starring: Robert Donat, Greer Garson, Paul Henreid
(Not Rated, 114 min.)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Comedy
Academy Awards: Best Actor – Robert Donat

"I thought you said it was a pity, a pity I never had any children. But you're wrong. I have! Thousands of 'em, thousands of 'em ... and all ... boys."  – Mr. Chips

One of the finest films ever made. The fact that it is in black and white and over six decades old only cements its classic status.  Filled with the power of love, its heartaches and lessons, a magnificent Robert Donat ages from 25 to 88 without skipping a beat. Not a tearjerker, but keep the hankies (that includes you fellows as well) handy. 

Six-time Oscar nominated classic about a staid schoolmaster whose heart is thawed by a beautiful young woman.  Robert Donat portrays a stiff, unpopular schoolmaster converted by love into an inspirational molder of lives.

And those six Oscar nominations with Robert Donat winning the Best Actor award are pretty impressive considering that 1939, the year Goodbye, Mr. Chips was made, is perhaps the golden year of all filmdom.

Here are some other films from 1939:

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Gone with the Wind
Dark Victory
The Wizard of Oz
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Stagecoach
Wuthering Heights
Of Mice and Men

***

Forget all the “meet cute” scenes in modern romantic comedies.  This meeting between the middle aged Mr. Chipping and the young and beautiful Kathy (Greer Garson) is magical.  She is a strong-minded female just like Dr. Peterson (Ingrid Bergman) in Spellbound or Julia (Helene Joy) in Murdoch Mysteries. All these strong women see something in their shy guys that they might not even see in themselves – a heroic quality that is magnetic.

After that meeting with Kathy, “Chips” as she dubs him, is a changed man.  He spends the rest of his mountain climbing expedition trying to find her, and does so unexpectedly on a ship on the Danube.  

Chipping’s friend, the school’s German teacher Max who invited him on this holiday, is disappointed by the river. (By the way, Max is played by Paul Henreid, Victor Laszio of Casablanca.    

Max: Why do they call it the Blue Danube?  It looks brown to me.
Mr. Chipping: There’s a legend, you know. Yes. The Danube is only blue to the eyes of, well, to people in, you know, in love.

Chipping, of course, denies that he sees water as anything but brown, but Kathy, in another part of the boat utterly unknown to Chipping and Max, is unaware of the legend and speaks the truth. 

Her companion also complains about the muddy water, but Kathy responds, “But, Flora, dear. It is blue.”

Then there is the scene in Vienna at its famous ballroom, where Kathy and Chips, as Kathy now calls him, are decked out in their finest.  But they sit on the sidelines while their companions dance.  Finally Kathy asks him to dance; he demurs and insists he hasn’t danced since college, but before we know it, they are on the floor, Kathy prompting him on when to turn and, voila!

They are twirling over the dance floor like two butterflies released from their cocoons. 

By the time the trip ends they are man and wife, and all of Mr. Chipping’s colleagues and the students expect a matronly and dour Mrs. Chipping.  

“What’s she like?” one student asks.

“She’s not much older the some of us, and she calls him Chips!”

Thus begins a tradition Chips continues throughout his life, with Kathy’s subtle instigation:  

“Mr.Chipping wants to give a tea party every Sunday. It would be nice if you boys start the ball rolling next Sunday.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    But the epic romance is only a part of this classic.  We see Chips earlier at age 25 just embarking on his teaching career.  He meets a scared new recruit on the train to Brookfield School, and Chips confesses that he is just about as terrified as the new student.  And unfortunately those fears soon materialize in the classroom, a humiliation many young teachers have experienced.

They boys began to get out of hand and Chips chooses exactly the wrong word. 

 Mr. Chipping (Chips): Silence! Silence! I'll have no more of it!

John Colley: No more silence, sir?

Of course, things get completely out of control just as the stern headmaster enters the classroom.  His job at risk, the young Chipping doubles down on discipline, keeping the whole group in class during the important football (soccer) match.  And that class just happens to include the star football player.  After their loss, Chipping has won their respect, but he has lost their hearts.

Not until he meets Kathy does he learn to relax and show his softer side to the boys.  We see that in several clips where his soft touch eases fears and reconciles would be enemies.  Especially in this scene with a real “stinker.” Robert Donat conveys everything with his gait, the twinkle in his eyes, and the tone of his voice.  Closeups capture not only his emotions, but those of the young “stinker” as well.

Somehow the film leap frogs through six decades without being disjointed. Robert Donat, 34 years old at the time, goes from 25 to 88 years old seamlessly, probably part of the reason he received an Oscar for his unforgettable performance. Wars, starting with the Franco Prussian War and continuing though the Great War, wash over the edifice like the centuries of wind, rain, and snow, and the battalions of boys who come through its halls.  Chips becomes a part of that tradition, almost a part of its aged stone walls and its well-trod step paths. His six decades there beginning in 1870 certainly cannot vie with an institution that started the year Columbus discovered American (1492), but somehow the film almost suggests it does. 

One other character as reassuringly present as Chips is Coley (Terry Kilburn). Yes, the same one who initiated the pandemonium that first day of class.  There is always a Coley at Brookfiled, and Chips sees at least three generations of them, all looking exactly alike, a sly joke and one of many in the film, as they are all played by the same boy. Even one melancholy note during the war cannot end that fine line.

*** 

I was reminded of this fine film, which I first saw in my own childhood, while writing a story about my father.  It reminded me that my love for classic films started with him: 

I guess I owe my love for movies, especially old ones, to my father. He was a salesman and often was so good at it that he got home early, about the time the “Early Show” was on TV. They always played old classic films then. Father knew so much about the films and the lives of the actors that they became living beings to me even if they had already died. I will never forget Goodbye: Mr. Chips (1939) with Robert Donat and Greer Garson, The Good Earth (1937) with Paul Muni and Luise Rainer, or Paul Muni again The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936).

Perhaps you, too, remember your parents and grandparents and the traditions and values they lived by.  You could not go to a better place to see the beauty of these ideals than 1939 and this classic.  And you might also think about seeing some of those other icons from that golden year of all filmdom. 

Enjoy your time travels.  You may no want to come back.

–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

One of the things that the beautiful Kathy teaches Chips is how to relax and let others see the side of him that prompted her to fall in love with him.  She mentions his sly sense of humor, which he never shows to his class.  But following her suggestions, Chips, her pet name for Mr. Chipping, tells a Latin pun to his class.  At first they do not get it and sit stock still.  Chips is mortified.  Then one by one, it dawns on each boy, and the class breaks out in a riot of laughter.

Kathy also invites the students to their house for Sunday tea, the beginning of a tradition that Chips would continue for his lifetime.  And his Sunday tea cakes are an assortment as gorgeous as they are delicious.  Works of art, almost.  

INGREDIENTS

·       2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan

·       1 1/2 cups all-purpose or cake flour

·       1/2 cup almond flour or all-purpose flour

·       1 cup granulated sugar

·       4 large eggs

·       1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

·       1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

·       Finely grated zest of 2 medium lemons

·       2 tablespoons poppy seeds (optional)
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted and divided

·       Juice of 1 medium lemon 

·       Optional garnishes: Lemon zest, toasted sliced almonds, and poppy seeds, flowers (for decoration only)

Instructions

Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch round, 3-inch high springform pan with butter, then line the bottom with parchment paper; set aside.

Place the butter, flours, sugar, eggs, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until pale, fluffy, and mousse-like, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in the lemon zest and poppy seeds until evenly distributed. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and use a spatula to push it out to the sides and smooth over the top.

Bake the cake until golden-brown, firm, springy, and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes. A skewer inserted into the center of the cake should come out clean. While the cake is baking, place the 1 cup of the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and stir until you have a light, lemony smooth glaze.

Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Using a skewer, poke deep holes all over the cake. Spoon 1/2 of the lemon glaze over the cake, making sure it soaks into the holes. When the glaze has soaked in and set, remove the cake from the pan and set on the rack to cool completely. 

Stir the remaining 1 cup powdered sugar into the remaining glaze until smooth, then pour this over the cooled cake. When the glaze is set, decorate the cake with lemon zest, toasted sliced almonds, and poppy seeds if desired. 

Recipe Notes

Storage: Although best eaten as fresh as possible, this cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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