A Chump at Oxford

A CHUMP AT OXFORD

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white)

Arriving in Oxford to improve their education, Stan and Ollie fall victim to a number of practical jokes by their fellow students, until a knock on the head transforms Stan into a brilliant scholar!

Originally released in two separate versions - a 42 minute print for the US market, and a 63 minute European edition - this patchwork parody of A YANK AT OXFORD (1938) arrived at the tail-end of a long collaboration between Laurel and Hardy and producer Hal Roach, which ended in 1940 following the production of SAPS AT SEA. The longer version of "Chump" includes an unrelated opening reel derived from a scenario in L&H's silent short FROM SOUP TO NUTS (1928), and while this material is only tenuously related to subsequent plot developments, there's still much to admire in the various set-pieces, including L&H as 'maid' and butler at a swank dinner party (Stan is told to serve the salad undressed!...), the famous maze sequence, and a show-stealing turn from Stan as alter ego 'Lord Paddington', an Oxford champion who excels at sports, addresses Ollie as 'Fatty', and is asked to advise Einstein on his theory of relativity! The movie is also notable for providing Peter Cushing with one of his earliest roles, alongside L&H stalwart Charlie Hall as a rabble-rousing student. Surprisingly, James Finlayson - another L&H regular - goes uncredited, despite playing a prominent role in the opening reel. Directed by comedy specialist Alfred Goulding, and co-written by silent star Harry Langdon.