Thanks for the memories!

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The acting in this movie is really good.

A previous reviewer made an error when he said the movie was filmed in Oxford. MGM were refused permission by Oxford University to film on any of its premises. The studio got someone to walk around Oxford, taking hundreds of photographs of the city and its architecture, and recreated Oxford at Denham Studios in Buckinghamshire. Even for someone who has lived in Oxford for more than 60 years it's hard to believe that parts weren't filmed here. The only giveaway is one of the shop fronts in Market Street, which is different. The shops have stayed roughly the same, just changed hands. We see Market Street when Lee Sheridan (Taylor) leaves the college on his bike, and collides with Edmund Gwenn. The bookshop with the high shelves, where Taylor meets Maureen O'Sullivan actually existed in Broad Street, just around the corner from Market Street. The racetrack is a copy of the same at Iffley Road, where in 1954 Roger Bannister broke the 4 minute mile. The River scene must have been filmed here, as the University barges were a common site for more than a century. On its release there were one or two complaints about accuracy from Old Boys, but on the whole it was very well received, and many distinguished persons attended the premiere in London, including masters of the various colleges.

This film is a humorous examination of the differences between American and British college youth just prior to WWII with an American take on the situation. Robert Taylor plays Lee Sheridan, an American who comes to Oxford to study and also to run track and field. He runs into difficulty with everything from the English driving on "the wrong side of the road" to the British valuing tradition and teamwork over rugged individualism. Not helping matters is that Lee is a swaggering over-confident albeit talented braggart by the standards of any nation. To complicate matters, Lee's chief rival on the track team is the brother of a girl (Maureen O'Sullivan) in whom Lee is romantically interested.To make such an "American fish in British waters" film just three years later after the war broke out and the US and England were allies would have been practically a precode in the eyes of the censors, even though cultural differences are always a problem, especially where boisterous youths are involved. It's an enjoyable little film featuring a young Vivien Leigh as she was waiting to become Scarlett O'Hara, and some fine character actor work from Edmund Gwenn as a dean who is still lovable as always even though he is openly contemptuous of Lee whose forward ways leave him shocked and flustered.

In 1938, when the Great Depression had ended and a World War was about to begin, it was easy for elitist British college students to make fun of a transplanted American athlete. But the romantic counterpoint to the culture clash works very well thanks to the great chemistry between Robert Taylor and Maureen O'Sullivan. A memorable quote from this enjoyable period piece needs to be acknowledged. In a morning after scene, Robert Taylor says to Maureen O'Sullivan: "Don't wipe the sleep from your eyes. It's a beautiful sleep." The scriptwriter responsible for that line was F. Scott Fitzgerald.

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. **