IMDb > A Chump at Oxford (1940)

A Chump at Oxford (1940) More at IMDbPro »

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A Chump at Oxford (1940) -- Open-ended Trailer from Media Home Entertainment
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Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   1,047 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Alfred J. Goulding
Writers:
Charley Rogers (original story and screenplay) &
Felix Adler (original story and screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for A Chump at Oxford on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 January 1940 (Australia) more
Genre:
Comedy more
Plot:
With Stan in drag, the boys get jobs as a butler and maid for a dinner party at the Vandevere's. After that ends in disaster... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Peter Cushing in a Laurel & Hardy movie? Now I truly have seen everything! more (25 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Stan Laurel ... Stan / Lord Paddington

Oliver Hardy ... Ollie
Wilfred Lucas ... Dean Williams
Forbes Murray ... Banker
Frank Baker ... Dean's servant
Eddie Borden ... Student ghost
Gerald Rogers ... Student (Johnson)
Victor Kendall ... Student (Cecil)
Gerald Fielding ... Student (Brown)
Charlie Hall ... Student (Hector) (as Charles Hall)

Peter Cushing ... Student (Jones)
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
63 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
Australia:G | Ireland:G | Germany:6 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U
Filming Locations:
Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA more
Company:
Hal Roach Studios more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In the movie's final scenes, Stan Laurel played a snob named Lord Paddington, the only instance after 1927 in which Stan Laurel played a role not related to his Stanley character. more
Quotes:
Stan: Fatty, lift up your chin. No no no, both of them! more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Of Mice and Men (1939) more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful.
Peter Cushing in a Laurel & Hardy movie? Now I truly have seen everything!, 6 November 2006
7/10
Author: Boba_Fett1138 from Groningen, The Netherlands

Before this, I've elephant fly and monkeys explaining the Theorem of Pythagoras but that all is nothing compared to seeing Peter Cushing in a Laurel & Hardy movie.

This is a good and fair, late effort from the boys, who already clearly had their best years behind them. This movie still reminded me at times of some of the good old Laurel & Hardy pictures from the early '30's. But there also lays a problem; the movie its originality. In multiple movies Laurel & Hardy reused some jokes or even situations but the fact that this movie is from 1940, multiple years after their glory years, leaves an even worse aftertaste. Nevertheless it as always still works effective so it's not really a big complaint about this movie, at least not the biggest.

Basically the movie can be divided into three separate parts. The boys trying to get a job, the boys getting a job at the Finlayson residence and the boys at Oxford. Perhaps if the movie really was divided into three separate parts, each of them would work out better. As a whole its a bit too much. Each part is really great on their own and provides some good slapstick entertainment but as a whole it doesn't always connect. This is the biggest problem of the movie and the reason why it's nothing more than an above average Laurel & Hardy movie, despite having some great comical premises and situations.

The sequences at the Finlayson residence are certainly the most 'Laurel & Hardy' ones, also of course thanks to the presence of James Finlayson. It's in the middle of the movie but in my opinion it's the best part of the movie. It's not really ever a good sign when the middle is better than the ending. The end part at Oxford is also most definitely good and enjoyable but the humor is a bit stretched out at times. Some sequences last too long, which sorts of drags down the amusement level of the movie with it. Nevertheless those parts still provide some good amusing entertainment, with a couple of fellow student who are giving the dumb and naive Laurel & Hardy a hard time. One of the students giving the boys a hard time is Peter Cushing, in one of his very first movie roles.

Definitely worth seeing but a bit too stretched thin and disjointed at certain moments.

7/10

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