A Chump at Oxford

Stephen Jay Walsh

26Nov11

Not Laurel and Hardy's greatest film, perhaps, but Laurel's performance as Lord Paddington, into whom he is transformed after being struck on the 'cranium' by a falling window, features some quite extraordinary comic acting. And, like the best Laurel and Hardy, it is touched by a great poignancy as Laurel/Paddington, having forgotten Hardy, takes him on as his 'rather thick as it were' valet. Greatly moving.