A Chump at Oxford (1940) Review

I first became exposed to Laurel and Hardy when I watched a colourised copy of "Way out West" on VHS and have been a devoted fan ever since. Recently my much younger sister has started to watch some of their films with me. One day she decided she wanted to watch this 1940 feature. I had only seen it once before and couldn't remember my opinions on it so I was fairly interested in giving it a second go.


The version we watched was the extended European version which features an additional 20 minute prologue, which is a semi-remake of their earlier silent short "From Soup to Nuts". This segment see's the boys posing as a butler and maid, (with Stan reprising his role as "Agnes" from "Another Fine Mess") to help organise a dinner party hosted by regular co-star James Finlayson. None of this has anything to do with the rest of the story and is rather pointless, but it's still funny, mainly because anytime Stan and Ollie are onscreen with Finlayson it's pure comedic gold.

We next see them working as road sweepers, bemoaning their lack of an education and deciding to take night school lessons. While eating their lunch they unwittingly stop a bank robbery. The bank manager thanks them and, upon learning of their desire to learn, enrols them at Oxford University. I understand he's grateful, but wouldn't it make more sense if he enrolled them at a local college or something. It's a comedy though so I'll let it slide.


When they arrive there, they meet a group of students who take an instant disliking to Stan and Ollie and pull several pranks on them such as making them get lost in a maze and tricking them into thinking the Dean's room is theirs. Interesting fact, one of the students is is played by Horror Icon Peter Cushing in his first onscreen role.


It's also revealed that Stan is actually an English Lord, Lord Paddington, who has lost his memory. He then regains his memories but forgets his life as Stan, and starts bossing Ollie around. Now this is absolutely hilarious, with Stan putting on a posh accent and constantly calling Ollie "fatty", but it's far too short as after about 10 minutes he loses his memory, becomes Stan again and the film finishes.


So what did I think of it? It's nowhere near as good as their best features but it's still entertaining and my sister and I laughed at several points throughout, such as the Maze sequence and Stanley as Lord Paddington but the rest of the film doesn't reach that same level of quality. Over all it's worth watching if you're a fan, but I recommend newcomers watch their short films or their classic features like "Way out West" and Sons of the Desert " first.