New at TFH: John Landis on A CHUMP AT OXFORD

John Landis takes on A CHUMP AT OXFORD.

Like Saps at Sea, this Hal Roach Laurel & Hardy vehicle was originally conceived as a four-reeler, but was bumped up to 63 minutes to compete in the feature market. These were arguably their last substantial feature releases before a contract with 20th Century Fox reduced them to formula B-pictures. It’s a cultural crime that today’s kids know nothing of Stan and Ollie, but that’s their loss. John McCabe’s 1961 biography “Mr. Laurel & Mr. Hardy” remains the definitive word on the duo.

Click here to watch the trailer.

Nothing much to add to this commentary today, folks. Instead, have a Laurel and Hardy short:

And, if you haven’t checked it out, this commentary and (I think) all the Landis-hosted commentaries this week were recorded in the session in which we captured the bloopers in the John Landis blooper reel.