(1942)
3
Hans J. Wollstein
MGM reportedly made a conscious decision to set this companion piece to the popular A Yank at Oxford in 1935 rather than in war-torn 1942. Not that the comedy doesn't have its fair share of morale boosting effect, what with Edmund Gwen quoting from Thomas Jefferson's letters to President Monroe and other declarations of Anglo-American fellowship. Mainly for fans of Mickey Rooney, A Yank at Eton doesn't quite measure up to the previous Robert Taylor blockbuster but is still good fun with plenty of "pip pips" and "I says" from the likes of Gwen, Freddie Bartholomew, and Ian Hunter pleasantly juxtaposed with Mickey and Juanita Quigley's "hot diggidys" and "swells." A very young Peter Lawford is good as the villain of the piece and although director Norman Taurog was forced to use exteriors in Pasadena rather than the British locations actually planned, the ambience is reasonably close to the real thing.
A Yank at Eton on AllMovie
A Yank at Eton (1942)