atlasmb Robert Taylor plays the main character, Lee Sheridan, in this tale of an American who attends Oxford University. Lee is a talented athlete and he lacks no confidence, thanks, in part, to his father (Lionel Barrymore), who owns the town newspaper and trumpets Lee's exploits on the gridiron and the cinder track.When Lee travels to Oxford, he makes an impression before he even arrives at the school, thanks to his colossal arrogance. The Brits like their heroes humble and they let him know it. But eventually he settles in and comes to cherish the school and its traditions. It doesn't hurt that he meets the beautiful Molly Beaumont (Maureen O'Sullivan). The wonderful cast also includes Vivien Leigh and Edmund Gwenn.This fish out of water story is charming, if conventional. Taylor is fairly convincing as an athlete. With a broad, All-American smile, he has a presence that might remind one of Hubble (Robert Redforfd) in "The Way We Were", but without his self-deprecation.

neithernor2000 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.

Denny Kelly Taylor was entirely too old (27) and WAY too "meaty" to play a star athlete in this film. His fat legs show to disadvantage, and the scenes of him outpacing the track team are absurd. Thers is no possibility of someone of his weight beating the skinny competition shown in this film. If the character had shown some spark of humility & a desire to learn better, this would have been a much more enjoyable story. Think of Harold Lloyd in "The Freshman", where his character wants to succeed by his own efforts, and learns early-on that he can't fake it. Heart warming was that, while this is just a demonstration of a notion of Yankee Superiority and how 'We Americans' can overcome the 'Snooty Englishers'. Spare us.Taylor's character ultimately fails to win our hearts with sincerity; his "nerve" is all he has, and while that's enough to turn the story to his favor, it really isn't sufficient to make us believe he's a good egg after all.Of course, all of this is tainted by Hollywood's habit of using 25-30-35 year olds in the roles of college students (and even 40 year olds, in the case of The Nutty Professor of Jerry Lewis - several of his supposed Football Heroes were OLDER than he was, at the time of filming)

Neil Doyle ROBERT TAYLOR is refreshingly natural in the role of a brash American Yank who immediately succeeds in alienating his fellow Oxford classmates to the extent that they play practical jokes on him. The entire tone of the film seems to want to portray Americans as distinctly out of their element among the British elite. There's a distinctly mean-spirited flavor to some of the proceedings.MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN is pleasant as Taylor's chief love interest, but it's hard to detect any of the qualities VIVIEN LEIGH would later show as Scarlett O'Hara in her role as a flirtatious bookstore worker. Her pencil thin eyebrows and unflattering hairdo don't suggest any of the attractive make-up that transformed her into a Southern belle just a year later. She looks almost dowdy here before Hollywood gave her the glamor treatment.Taylor and Leigh would exhibit much better chemistry in 1940's WATERLOO BRIDGE. Here she is somewhat irritating in a small role.Sports-minded individuals will get more of a kick out of this than the casual movie-goer looking for a good romantic comedy.