Young schoolteacher Charles Edward Chipping (Robert Donat) imposes strict discipline on his young charges at a Victorian-era English public school, becoming a fearsome presence on the campus grounds. But the love of spirited young suffragette Katherine Ellis (Greer Garson) brings the Latin instructor out of his shell and makes him a beloved campus institution into the 20th century and through the shattering violence of World War I. The film is based on the best-selling novel by James Hilton.
A groundling was a person who visited the globe theatre in the early 17th century. They were to poor to pay to be able to sit on one of the three levels of the theatre .
