
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.
About John Landis
John Landis is the director of Animal House, The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf In London, Trading Places, Coming To America, Kentucky Fried Movie, Spies Like Us, Three Amigos!, Into The Night and Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and the recent Burke and Hare for Ealing Studios, among many other films and television shows. His documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project premiered on HBO and won an Emmy for Best Music, Comedy or Variety Special. He is also the subject of noted film critic Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan’s recent book “John Landis” and his own book “Monsters in the Movies’ was published to critical and popular acclaim in 2012.