A Yank at Oxford

In the glory days of Hollywood, young stars in amid the studio system were given several chances to display their talent. Here is one for the budding young star later known as Robert Taylor. In this movie of which there are several versions is entitled " A Yank at Oxford " it is Taylor who plays Lee Sheridan, an U.S. athlete who wins a athletic scholarship to prestigious Oxford University in England. Lionel Barrymore plays Dan Sheridan his proud father, while beautiful Maureen O'Sullivan is Molly Beaumont his college sweetheart. Vivien Leigh, Edmund Gwenn, Griffith Jones as Paul Beaumont all gather to recreate life at the Oxford during the depression. Wedged between light humor and serious attention, the movie sails easily along and Taylor is able to deliver one of his many renditions of an up and coming actor. A good B/W film and notable offering. **

Hollywood's MGM, wanting to capitalize on the United Kingdom law that required its theaters to show at least 20 percent of its films be made in the commonwealth, created an English subsidiary company called MGM-British Studios. Its first movie released under the new branch was February 1938's "A Yank in Oxford." MGM longed to establish a presence in England ever since the 'Cinematograph Films Act of 1927' was passed by the Parliament, which was designed to project the UK movie industry from being overrun by Hollywood films. One product of the law produced a large number of cheaply made English B-movies, called 'Quota Quickies.' MGM felt it could improve upon the quality of the British pictures, using a mix of the county's talented actors with a few Hollywood stars. MGM production head Louis B. Mayer wanted to give one of his newfound actors, Robert Taylor, a more masculine edge to counter his 'pretty boy' image males viewers found a bit feminine. "A Yank at Oxford's" screenplay, with a contribution from writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, focused on college athlete Lee Sheridan (Taylor), a track and field specialist. His athleticism attracts the attention of one of the colleges making up 'the University of Oxford' network of schools, the fictitious Cardinal College. He meets student Molly Beaumont (Maureen O'Sullivan) as well as a philandering wife of a book store owner, Elsa Craddock (Vivien Leigh).

Taylor's macho image was forever imprinted because of "A Yank in Oxford," an objective Mayer had intended. Said Taylor biographer Lawrence Quirk, "He rows, he races, he wears brief track suits which demonstrate to everyone's final satisfaction that he has a good mat of hair on his chest, and he even gets into fist fights during the course of the film." It helped Taylor excelled in track when he attended Doane College years earlier. Before the camera the actor ran the foot races and the rowed in the skulls without needing any body double. Taylor later played in a number of World War Two combat films as well as in rough-and-tumble Westerns.

English producer Michael Balcon, responsible for elevating Alfred Hitchcock into his director chair, was head of the new MGM-British Studios. He was directing "A Yank in Oxford" when Louis Mayer, attentive towards his new overseas studio's first film, visited the set several times early in the production. Balcon and Meyers soon clashed over his methods, and shortly was replaced by MGM stalwart Jack Conway.

Balcom remained as producer for MGM-British Studios until heading to Ealing Studios. He saw the potential star power in English actress Vivien Leigh, and recommended to Mayer her for the role of the promiscuous Elsa. Leigh had a great acting experience with Robert Taylor in making "A Yank at Oxford," who related that fact to producer David O. Selznick. This was the movie, along with a series of positive screen tests, that convinced Selznick Leigh would be perfect for his Civil War epic. Film reviewer Laura Grieve noticed, "There are glimpses of Scarlett O'Hara in Leigh's bookstore vixen, yet her performance does not hint at the power and depth she would bring to her role in 'Gone With The Wind' the following year."

While making "A Yank at Oxford," Leigh sustained an infection on her foot and took some time off to treat the injury. One of her toes became so inflamed a hole was punched out of her shoe to relieve the pressure. The actress went through several personal pairs of her own during filming, and later claimed MGM refused to pay for them. MGM refuted her contention, saying it did. Leigh's manager, producer Alexander Korda, warned her to back off or he wouldn't not renew her contract. She did.

MGM's tactical plan to invest in England paid off. "A Yank in Oxford" was a success in both the United States and the UK. MGM made a Mickey Rooney sequel in 1942's "A Yank at Eaton" while Rob Lowe had his first lead role in another remake, 1984's "Oxford Blues." MGM-British Studios produced a couple of classics, 1938's "The Citadel" and 1939's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," before suspending its filming during World War Two. The studio resumed operations after the war until closing for good in 1970, partly because of Stanley Kubrick's richly ambitious 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey.

A skilled, albeit highly egocentric young athlete becomes A YANK AT OXFORD when he accepts a scholarship to the English university. Romance and various personal problems help punch a hole through his self-conceit.

Robert Taylor gets to show-off his athletic prowess (running, rowing) in this pleasant, lightweight film. Produced by MGM's British division, it is an enjoyable look at a privileged world about to be changed forever by World War Two.

Taylor does a fine job in the title role, but he is also aided immensely by excellent co-stars from both sides of the Atlantic: Lionel Barrymore, giving another acting lesson as Taylor's peppery, loyal father; lovable Edmund Gwenn, as the long-suffering Dean of (fictional) Cardinal College, Oxford; beautiful Maureen O'Sullivan, as Taylor's English girlfriend; and enchanting Vivien Leigh, one year before her tremendous success in GONE WITH THE WIND, as a philandering young wife with an eye for male students.

Equally impressive is a gaggle of less well known British actors: stalwart Griffith Jones, as Taylor's main college rival; Robert Coote, as a cheery student forever looking for new ways to get sent down; Walter Kingsford, as a benevolent dean; ancient C. V. France as a delightfully forgetful academician; and cuddly Edward Rigby as Taylor's elderly attendant.

Claude Gillingwater appears as Barrymore's caustic banker. Movie mavens will recognize Ethel Griffies as an Oxford proctor.

When all-star athlete Robert Taylor gets accepted to go to Oxford, his entire small American town is extremely proud of him. His newspaper owner father Lionel Barrymore prints glorious articles, and he gets a great sendoff when he sails off the continent. In England, he gets an entirely different welcome. His classmates tease and haze him, he makes a bad impression with the dean, Edmund Gwenn, and he gets entangled in a love affair with a married woman.

Vivien Leigh didn't seem to get the memo that she was in a different movie from Gone With the Wind. She played every line and expression as if she were Scarlett O'Hara, and her character wasn't much different, either. In this movie, she plays an unsatisfied wife who makes a sport out of seducing young college boys. She flirts constantly, and the only saving grace is that she's not the leading lady in this movie. Maureen O'Sullivan, who would have been equally as good - if not better - as Scarlett O'Hara, is Robert Taylor's real love interest.

I've never really been a Robert Taylor fan, but this was a fun movie of his to watch. He shows off his athletic prowess in running, rowing, and cycling. What an athlete! If you've got a crush on him, you've got to check him - I mean, this movie, out.

A YANK AT OXFORD is notable for several reasons. This was MGM's first British production with Mayer in charge (co-produced by Michael Balcon who quit after a fight with Mayer). Despite Mayer's reservations, Balcon hired Vivien Leigh for one of the leads, and this was a key film in getting her noticed by Selznick for the Scarlett casting battle. Star Robert Taylor thought highly of Leigh, and they were reteamed several years later. A-level film boasted a big cast and used quite a few British actors. Besides Taylor (who did his own stunts) and Leigh, film also boasted Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Edmund Gwenn, and Griffith Jones (fairly big star in UK). Also C.V. France, Robert Coote, Claude Gillingwater, Tully Marshall, Edward Rigby, and Richard Todd as an extra. Stock footage of Oxford but film was mostly shot as Denham Studios. No idea where the boating scenes were filmed. I didn't recognize anything.

What struck me about the film was that MGM had dusted off the old William Haines formula of braggart goes off to (fill in the blank) where he acts like an a-hole until he gets his comeuppance and rallies the team for a big win and becomes a true hero, In this case, film follows the general plot of Haines' BROWN OF HARVARD minus the homoerotic subtext (sort of) right down to the crewing scenes.

Breezy performance by Robert Taylor in one of his best films.