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At Oxford University they suffer the customary hazing, including being given the quarters of the Dean (Wilfred Lucas) as their own, and get lost in the maze where they are chased by a ghost (another student in disguise). Among the students is a young Peter Cushing who later became a popular English movie star. Laurel is accidentally hit on the head, and a freak mental condition changes him into the reincarnation of a long-lost Oxford "great" -- Lord Paddington, a thoroughly British mental wizard and sports champion. In this state he puts the other students to shame and makes Hardy his personal lackey. Hardy finally rebels, and a falling window sash hits Stan on the head again, restoring him to his formal self. The humor of Laurel and Hardy during the 1920's and 30's was very much the humor of vaudeville and the music hall. Much of it was visual, physical humor. By the 1940's the trend was toward more verbal humor. The invention of sound movies was part of the cause. Compare the humor of Chaplain or W.C. Fields or Buster Keaton or Laurel & Hardy with that of Cary Grant or Robert Benchley. At least in the early L&H; films sound was not essential to understanding the humor. Not so with the later comics of the 1940's. Although A Chump At Oxford has many good scenes, the film as a whole is loosely organized, not up to the standards of their earlier features. Comedy in the 1940's was leaning away from sight comedy and physical comedy. >>Top of Page | Return to Films Index
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Street-cleaners Laurel and Hardy accidentally foil a bank holdup. The bank president (Forbes Murray) asks the boys what reward they would like. They ask for an education and the banker decides the best is none too good.