A Chump at Oxford (1940)

Since in a couple of days, school would be in session again (though here in Baton Rouge, it had already started in mid-August), I thought I'd watch a couple of comedies that take place in the institute of higher learning. So it is that I just watched A Chump at Oxford again which has Stan & Ollie going to that English university after foiling a robbery and the bank head wanting to give them a reward. Plenty of fun follows especially when some students (L & H regular Charlie Hall, Peter Cushing in an early role as Johnson before his horror movie fame) plan some pranks on them with the dean (Wilfred Lucas, previously the warden in the boys' Pardon Us) a victim and then Stan getting his memory back from previously being Lord Paddington, an Oxford alumni. That last bit is a rare instance of Stan playing someone other than himself during the years of his teaming with Babe (Ollie's nickname). He's hilarious playing the complete opposite of the usual dumb characterization for that role but when things switch back, it's great having Ollie overjoyed at the result especially after having to suffer the humiliation of being called "Fatty"! When first released, this was originally a "streamliner"-40 minutes in length-producer Hal Roach made in his dealings with the double feature program. But he decided to add a couple of reels in order to give it a more respectable length in Europe. So the movie now begins with Stan & Ollie being hired as a butler and a maid (Stan plays Agnes without changing his voice!) for Baldy and Mrs. Vandevere (James Finlayson and Anita Garvin in her last L & H role). This reworking of their previous short From Soup to Nuts is almost as funny here with the ending gag of this sequence having cop Harry Bernard suffering the same indignity as in another of the boys' short, Wrong Again! So on that note, I highly recommend A Chump at Oxford. P.S. The VHS tape I viewed from Video Treasures had some extra rarities of Lois Laurel, Stan's daughter, narrating some photos and home movie footage of her as a young child and her mother, Lois Neilson, with Stan. Of her playing in the snow in early '30s Los Angeles. Of James Finlayson, in glasses and clean-shaven, with companion Stephanie-perhaps the one with the last name of Insall that he often had breakfast with. And a color one of Stan at his home after receiving his honorary Oscar-which he dubbed "Mr. Clean"-at his desk where he wrote to his many fans.

I used to watch this with my kid when he was about ten years old and it always cracked us up. I'm beginning to realize now that what I enjoyed most about this movie -- and other Laurel and Hardy efforts -- is his enjoyment of them. They're funny without being particularly witty."A Chump at Oxford" appears to be a collection of four or five separate shorts, brusquely strung together by a slender narrative thread that brings them as students to Oxford.First, they wangle their way into a job as butler and maid, with Laurel in drag and serving the salad "without dressing." They get kicked out and wind up as street sweepers. They unwittingly capture a bank robber and the owner of "The Finlayson National Bank" sends them to England for an education.The students there trick Laurel and Hardy into getting lost in a maze of hedges. When they try to settle down for the night, one of the students introduces "the third hand" into Laurel's twiddling thumbs. This stunt probably originated with Laurel in vaudeville and has since shown up all over the place, from "I Love Lucy" to "Young Frankenstein." It's always amusing.Next, the students rib the newcomers by taking them to the Dean's quarters and telling them that these are their rooms. It was good enough for Errol Flynn's writers to use in "They Died With Their Boots On." Finally, a window slams down on Laurel's head and he regains his memory of himself as Lord Paddington, an Oxfordian so athletic and so brilliant that he's won all sorts of awards and is consulted by Professor Einstein from Princeton. It's the most engaging of the scenes because it involves Laurel adopting an upper-class accent and acting like a snob, tucking his hankie away in his sleeve and insulting Hardy every time he speaks to him. (He calls him "Fatty.") Laurel pretty much pulls it off, too, though I doubt that his accent would fool another Brit. British accents differ from American in that they serve as indexes not only of place but of social class. American English has nothing like the Received Pronunciation of England.Anyway, it's a decent comedy but, as I say, maybe best appreciated in the company of children. I don't mean to sound snooty myself but compared to, say, Charlie Chaplin at his best, Laurel and Hardy, though likable enough, lacked artistry.

This is probably the last consistently funny comedy produced by the duo and, although it's always enjoyable to watch, there's no real stand-out moments as there had been in most of their films of the thirties. Stan's beginning to look a little long in the tooth in his close-ups but he still manages to capture that sweet childlike quality, and there's more evidence of a real friendship between the characters in this film than there were in earlier films.The first 20 minutes, apparently added for its European release, are basically a remake of the duo's silent comedy From Soup to Nuts with a few ideas from Another Fine Mess, and you can pretty much see the join but that doesn't detract from the enjoyment. James Finlayson, the boys classic foil, appears in this early sequence. The action then transfers to Oxford (the film's a parody of Robert Taylor's A Yank at Oxford from the previous year) where the boys find themselves mercilessly teased by the other students. This is where the film is funniest - it's surprising how many laughs can be wrung from two men wandering around a maze for 20 minutes. It's also surprising how well this film stands up to childhood memories of a non-stop hoot; while the laughs might not quite be non-stop, they still came pretty regularly to this old kid...

I remember watching this on BBC2 when I was about 8 years old and finding it hysterical. So, much to my pleasure, Universal has released it on DVD (Region 2 only) along with many other Laurel and Hardy movies. I chose to watch the black and white version as that is how I originally saw it.There is an extended opening featuring a remake of 1928's 'From Soup to Nuts' short in which Stan and Ollie cause havoc at a swanky dinner party before being employed as street sweepers. During their sweeping lunch break they inadvertently foil a bank robbery and as a reward they are sent to Oxford for a good education, perhaps finally getting them out of the gutter.Once there, the students (including a young Peter Cushing) play all sorts of pranks on them and Stan loses (or restores) his memory when he is hit on the back of the head. Now he's Lord Paddington (I must add he does brilliantly with the accent) and he gives Ollie some amount of grief for his weight.Very funny indeed, I suggest you check it out whenever it comes on TV.