Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

A Masterpiece!

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

SYNOPSIS: Timothy Dennis (Mickey Rooney) and his sister (Juanita Quigley) travel the Atlantic to Eton to live with their newly married mother (Marta Linden) and stepfather (Ian Hunter). (Hmm. That doesn't sound so good. Better make it "their recently remarried mother." No, that won't quite do either. Better leave it). At first, our Mick is a bit resentful at being enrolled at Eton, but by film's end he comes to love the Brits.NOTES: As a generalization, Freund photographed the first two-thirds of the film up to and including the car crash sequence, at which point Lawton took over. The difference between the gray-toned lighting favored by Freund and the glossy blacks created by Lawton is really striking. On the other hand, the camera-work is more inventive under Freund's control, using a combination of effective tracking shots and attractive compositions.This was Freddie Bartholomew's last important film role. He starred in a PRC movie, "The Town Went Wild", released in 1945, and finished up with a co-starring part in Edgar Ulmer's "Saint Benny the Dip" (1951). COMMENT: The screenplay itself comes across as rather dated, thanks to blatant wartime propaganda sermonizing, but the players give it their all. In fact, many of the actors seem a bit too anxious to make an impression somewhat larger than life. Edmund Gwenn appears a trifle overly patronizing, whilst Miss Quigley lays on her over- precocious mannerisms with a trowel. On the other hand, Ian Hunter is his usual stuffy self. Alan Mowbray, however, has to be content with only a small part as a helpful driver.As for Master Rooney/Maguire/Yule, he does his best with a rather odd script that doesn't always present the character in a favorable light. The assault on Alan Napier, for example, whilst it makes for plenty of scuffling action, becomes rather violent. It's also rather dubiously motivated and even morally irresponsible. Even if we apply the old adage that boys will be boys, it still loses a deal of sympathy for the title character. Nonetheless, "A Yank at Eton" has been realized on a grand scale, with top location and studio photography, nice second unit work and a wonderfully appropriate Etonian score (deftly recorded too). Although the main unit worked entirely in Hollywood, both exterior locations on the MGM back lot and interiors within the sound stages, all look solidly authentic.

Fun Mickey Rooney picture with Mickey as an American teenager who's a big shot and football star at his high school before his mom marries a stuffy Brit and forces Mickey and his little sister to move to England. Cue the expected clichés that come with fish out of water stories like this. Despite its formulaic plot, it's pretty solid entertainment thanks to that great old MGM gloss and a wonderful cast. Mickey is enjoyable as always, of course. The rest of the cast includes Ian Hunter, Edmund Gwenn, Alan Mowbry, Freddie Bartholomew, and a young Peter Lawford. Not too shabby. The scene stealers are the younger actors, Juanita Quigley and Raymond Severn. Quigley reminds me a little of Virginia Weidler. It's a good movie, though not a great one, that will likely entertain most classic film fans on a rainy Saturday afternoon. It's got heart and humor and feel-good patriotism like they excelled at in the old days. Give it a look if you're a Mickey Rooney fan. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Although A Yank At Eton is supposed to put you in mind of MGM's classic A Yank At Oxford, in fact this film is a reworking of the plot of Boys Town. Please note that Norman Taurog directed star Mickey Rooney in Boys Town and Men Of Boys Town.After the death of her husband, Marta Linden takes a trip to Europe and returns with a new husband in Ian Hunter to the distress of her children, Rooney and Juanita Quigley. She says they're moving to England and Rooney doesn't like the idea because he wants to play football for Notre Dame.Hunter gets the Mick into his old alma mater Eton and Rooney takes to it much like his character of Whitey Marsh took to Boystown. But the Mick's got a heart of gold which soon comes out. If you have seen Boys Town and remember the plot situations that's roughly what happens here.There were some criticisms of A Yank At Eton one of which was the mistake of showing folks using left hand drive in cars instead of right hand which is what they have in the UK. Most of the time the negative was just reversed like they did for Gary Cooper to show a left handed batting Lou Gehrig in Pride Of The Yankees. In crowd scenes that couldn't be helped and unlike A Yank At Oxford, this film was done on the MGM back lot. However having Rooney as a track star was a bit much. Face it folks, Mickey's size and short legs would never have made him any kind of star in running. And here they have Mickey doing hurdles and doing it in street shoes. Track coaches around the world probably laughed their heads off.Although this was a wartime film with the obligatory reminder to buy bonds at the end of the film, there's not a mention of war or impending war in the film. Just a reminder of how Eton trains some of the future leaders in Great Britain who have never let the country down in peril. They might well have quoted the Duke of Wellington's aphorism of how the Battle Of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.It's not Boystown, but A Yank At Eton is an entertaining film if one can overlook some flaws. They should have had Mickey stick to football, he would have been interesting playing rugby in the climax.

The old prep school is set on its ear when A YANK AT ETON tries to defy the established rules & regulations.Mickey Rooney, MGM's human dynamo, is in all his glory in this pleasant film obviously fashioned to his particular talents. Although a mite old to be playing a high school boy (he turned 22 in 1942), Rooney pulls out all the stops, and shows considerable athletic ability, as an American kid who's angry about having to attend Eton, rather than his beloved Notre Dame. It's hard to fault all of his behavior today, as some of the conventions he rebels against, especially the physical brutality inflicted upon the lower boys at Eton, needed to be changed.However, the film's purpose is not to deliver a social message. It's aim was to provide a money maker for MGM, as well as a salute to our British allies. The Second World War and our common enemies are never mentioned, but the affectionate comradeship between our two nations is certainly underlined.Mickey is given excellent support from a fine cast of costars. Puckish Edmund Gwenn plays Rooney's house master, his whimsicality marred somewhat by his casual allowance of the older boys beating of the younger. Earnest Ian Hunter gives a thoughtful performance as Mickey's new English stepfather. Gangling Freddie Bartholomew plays Hunter's well-bred son; this tall, skinny youth bares scant resemblance to the small boy who charmed audiences in David COPPERFIELD and CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS back in the 1930's.Marta Linden & Juanita Quigley appear as Mickey's supportive Mom and badly behaved younger sister. Little Raymond Severn plays a tiny earl who becomes Rooney's best pal at school. Peter Lawford is convincingly nasty as a bullying upper boy. Genial Alan Mowbray enlivens his brief appearance as a befuddled old Etonian trying to remember a particular steeplechase race from decades past.Movie mavens will recognize several uncredited performers: Minna Phillips as a slightly silly Eton school matron; Billy Bevan as a tour guide; former child star Terry Kilburn as one of Bartholomew's student friends; cheery Aubrey Mather as a butler who learns an important bit of American vernacular; and Alan Napier as a restaurant club owner with a profound dislike for Eton boys in his establishment.********************The song sung over the opening credits is the first verse of the famous Eton Boating Song (1863, William Johnson & Capt. Algernon Drummond); the second verse is heard later on in the film. The words are as follows:Jolly boating weather, And a hay harvest breeze, Blade on the feather, Shade off the trees, Let us swing, swing together, With your bodies between your knees, Swing, swing together, With your bodies between your knees.Skirting past the rushes, Ruffling o'er the weeds, Where the lock stream gushes, Where the cygnet feeds, Let us see how the wine-glass flushes At Supper on Boveney meads, Let us see how the wine-glass flushes At Supper on Boveney meads.Interestingly, those are American, not British, voices singing. And the film never shows Rooney or the other boys doing any boating whatsoever.Eton College, the largest of England's great public (independent secondary) schools, was founded by Henry VI in 1440-1441, and is located across the River Thames from Windsor Castle. Its student body is made up of over a thousand Oppidans, generally drawn from Britain's wealthiest or aristocratic families and who live in boardinghouses under the care of house masters; and the King's Scholars, of which 70 are named each year by means of a special examination, who dwell in elite quarters. Generally, lads attend Eton from age 13 until they are ready to enter university.