http://www.laurelandhardycentral.com/chump.htmlhttp://www.lordheath.com/menu1_82.html Some spring cleaning before we get to the review proper. Yes, there is a 42 minute streamlined version and a 63 minute version. The former I cannot find a link to online but it is available on the ten disc Essential Collection North American DVD set. Hal Roach was transitioning to 4 reel streamliners and the initial plan was to release A CHUMP AT OXFORD as such. However, Roach saw the big box office THE FLYING DEUCES was doing at RKO as a full length feature and decided to add extra footage to A CHUMP AT OXFORD to make it a full length feature. The streamlined version did not see release until 1942 - two years later. The streamlined version is tighter story wise but the extra footage with James Finlayson and Anita Garvin (talk about an odd pairing for a married couple) is funny, and as important as story is, funny is more important. Therefore, I prefer the extended version. For an in depth comparison between the two versions, click below.
http://www.lordheath.com/menu1_1147.html I also would like to bring up some actors who appear in this that are of interest. Not only do we get Anita Garvin, but the secretary early in the film is Ethelreda Leopold, so between those two, my heart rate goes up. Of Stooge interest Stanley Blystone also has a small part and in the extended version only, the patron saint of Weekly Episode Discussions himself, Al Thompson, gets a scene in a sewer hole. The most noteworthy supporting actor, however, is a 26 year old Peter Cushing. He plays one of the prankster college students (he's the one on the left of the four they show in the initial shot). One of my all time favorite actors decades later for his British horror roles with and without Hammer, he also lead the Death Star in the first Star Wars movie. Yes folks, A CHUMP AT OXFORD is the unlikely link between Laurel and Hardy and Star Wars. Here, Cushing is well before his prime years and just gets a few lines.
Overall, I really do like this film. Stan and Ollie play really uneducated guys, as their characters are ready to admit. The world doesn't treat them kindly as a result, especially the Oxford college students. That's what makes Stan's transformation into Lord Paddington such a fascinating turn. He turns into an intellectual and athletic giant versus the simpleton he was before. Stan really shows his range as an actor here developing a posh accent and stiff upper lip persona. It really is one of Stan's most memorable turns. It is also fascinating how Ollie stays with Stan during this time as his servant, even if it means suffering humiliating insult after insult. Just as Ollie can't take it anymore and is about to leave, Paddington gets another bump on the head and Stan returns, as does their friendship.
I enjoy all the comic scenes in this film, including the maze scene which some people don't care for. Stan and his "three arms" is a physical comic wonder as all that business must have taken a lot of rehearsal to accomplish. Between that and Paddington, this really is a great Stan film. I enjoy Stan and Ollie as street sweepers and the aforementioned scene with Anita Garvin and James Finlayson is also fantastic. Ollie gets a great moment rearranging all the guests in their chairs like an overly focused carnival barker, even shooing away James Finlayson in his own home. Stan as Paddington, ears flying in those wonderful close up shots, having all the college students fly out the window is another definite highlight. I'll also praise the scene when they unknowingly get shown the Dean's room as theirs, climaxing in a wonderful pillow fight.
Overall another fine Laurel and Hardy feature, definitely highlighted by Stan's Lord Paddington turn. After we're done with next week's film, we'll have finished the Hal Roach era. We've made it this far, what a journey.
