Sian Phillips
No one has mentioned the delightfully over-the-top performance of Ms. Phillips really Mrs. O'Toole) as Clark's theatre friend.
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MovieChat Forums > Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) Discussion > Sian Phillips
I loved her!! She stole every scene she was in... like Auntie Mame on absynthe...
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If Michaelangelo were heterosexual, the Cystine Chapel would have been painted basic white with a roller - Rita Mae Brown
like Auntie Mame on absynthe...
That's a nice one. Although to me she was more Vera Charles-ish. But definitely on absynthe.
For her turn in GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS Sian Phillips won the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Supporting Actress of 1969. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
A year earlier, Pauline Kael had written unfavorably about the film STAR! because she didn't feel Julie Andrews had captured Gertrude Lawrence's spontaneity and joie de vivre. In her review for GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS, Kael wrote favorably about Phillips and noted: "Here's the actress who could have played Gertrude Lawrence!" share
I thoroughly enjoyed her very entertaining performance and she should have recieved further awards recognition.
I read that O'Toole, her then husband, refused to rehearse their scenes and that there was an odd atmosphere when it came to shoot them, which you really wouldn't know when watching the film.