A Chump at Oxford

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 saw this movie several times as a child and only recently I saw it again. I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the movie and this surprised me, as this was completed as the pair's career was heading downhill. Shortly after making this movie, then Saps at Sea, they made the mistake of signing with 20th Century Fox and made a string of completely forgettable and unfortunate comedies (they simply deserved better material).

The story is a takeoff on the MGM film A YANK AT OXFORD and so much of it parodies this film. Stan and Ollie accidentally help a rich guy and are rewarded by receiving an all expense paid admission to Oxford! Talk about being in the wrong element! The movie then moves at a very leisurely pace in their adventures trying to fit in to this fancy-schmancy school.

It's not the best they did, but a nice well-worth seeing picture nonetheless. Another decent movie they did in this same period is Blockheads--it's well worth a look as well.

I'm not a huge L&H fan, but I found this film very enjoyable.

As others have pointed out, CHUMP was originally a 45-minute film, but European distributors demanded at least a full hour for features. You'll spot the REAL beginning of the movie about 20 minutes in, when Stan & Ollie appear as street cleaners. The rest of the opener, beginning with some funny business on various modes of transportation, was tacked on later.

Although the maid/butler scene has some laughs, it's the kind of thing that the Three Stooges did with a lot more manic energy (and more often). The real film begins when Stan and Ollie receive scholarships to Oxford and arrive in England, where the native students decide to pick on them as much as possible. There's not much in the film about what students REALLY do at Oxford, but that's OK. An extended scene in a maze ends with a nicely-choreographed sequence in which a "third hand" from behind the bushes causes havoc with the boys. (Just think of how much rehearsal must have gone into that business to make it look natural.)

And the crowning glory of this movie is Stan's brief transformation from his usual vacuous simpleton into a posh English lord, who makes "Fatty" his personal valet. All in all, a jolly good way to spend an hour.

This is Stan Laurel's show all the way, sure enough Ollie plays his part, but in this double package it's the genius of Laurel that comes to the fore. The double package in question is the now widely available European release of this film, the first 20 minutes sees the boys making their way to an employment agency where they jump at the chance of a job as maid and butler to the Vandevere family. Yes, this sees Stan dress up as a woman {Agnes} with hilarious results, not only does he buffoon his way thru serving dinner, he gets drunk into the bargain as well !. After being chased off the property by Mr Vandevere, the guys end up road sweeping and whilst taking a break they inadvertently foil a bank robbery and as a reward they get to fulfil their wish of a better education.

This sends the guys to England and a place at Oxford, the fun starts straight away as they are dressed for Eton !, upon seeing that these two are candidates for pranks being played on them, some of their fellow students send them into a big maze on the bluff that it's the way to the Deans office. This sets us up for a number of great sequences, most notably a brilliant set of events that sees Stan with three hands, from here we see the boys set up {as a prank} in the Deans own quarters and this of course causes much mirth when the Dean shows up to find the guys boozing away in his bedroom. Roll onto Stan banging his head and suddenly being transformed into an aristocrat called Lord Paddington and you just know that Laurel is getting a pure mania role to get his teeth into, the results are excellent, especially as Stan gets to boss Ollie around.

One of the best films the boys ever did in my honest opinion, 9/10.

This is without doubt one of the best L & H films. It opens with their hilarious attempts at finding employment, which involve Stan dressing as a maid. Then, after foiling a bank robbery whilst working as street cleaners, the duo are rewarded with the possibility of a university education and go to Oxford where they end up on the wrong side of prankster students (including a teenaged Peter Cushing). Before long, it is revealed that Stan has a mysterious past.

Unmissable whether you're a fan of the legendary duo or not, this film has barely a dull moment. The apex of comedy, timeless whether in color or black and white.