October/November 1996 Volume 29, Number 7 Contents: Annual Banquet Celebrity Guests at Banquet 30th Anniversary Last Meeting Looking Back Did You Know? Birthdays for October

Annual Banquet Notice

It's here, the Annual Way Out West Celebrity Banquet. This year we are relaxing the banquet format and having a barbecue. We'll all meet on Sunday afternoon, October 27, 1996, at the Mayflower Club, located at 11110 Victory Boulevard (west of Vineland Avenue), in North Hollywood. The doors will open at 12:00 noon. On the menu will be chicken and ribs, coleslaw, barbecue beans, cornbread muffins, chocolate cake, and beverages. The Marvelous Mayflower Bar will also be at the ready. The film program will begin at approximately 2:00 PM. In addition, there will be a raffle, games, and presentations of the annual Way Out West Tent awards. You can dress western style or just plain casual. The cost is $15 per person. For those who wish to come for the movies only, $7.50 will be charged for all members and nonmembers (since this is not a regular meeting).

Celebrity Guests at Banquet

As of this writing, the invited celebrities for the Way Out West Barbecue are: Billy Benedict (Great Guns), Jay Dare (costumer for The Dancing Masters and The Bullfighters) Phillip Hurlic (Zenobia), June Lang (Bonnie Scotland), Lois Laurel and Tony Hawes, and Trudy Marshall (Dancing Masters). Plus, from Our Gang: Frank "Junior" Coghlan, Dorothy Deborba, Edith Fellows, Eugene "Pineapple" Jackson, Dick Jones, Leonard Landy, Jerry Maren, Monty O'Grady, and Darwood "Waldo" K. Smith. Don't miss your chance to meet these stars on Sunday, October 27, 1996. As always, celebrity attendance is contingent upon their health status and scheduling considerations.

Way Out West Tent's 30th Anniversary

Mark June 28th and 29th, 1997 on your calendars for the 30th Anniversary celebration of the Way Out West Tent. It also marks the 60th Anniversary of Laurel and Hardy's feature, Way Out West. Plans are in the works for a celebrity banquet, a Laurel and Hardy locations tour, plus some other surprises. More details will follow in upcoming newsletters.
Following our event, the Midnight Patrol and Our Relations tents will be celebrating the comedy of Laurel & Hardy, featuring Edgar Kennedy, from July 3-6 in Monterey, California. These back to back weekends will offer a great time for all. More details to follow.

Last Meeting

After the singing of the "Sons of the Desert" song and the toasts to the boys and company, the meeting of September 17, 1996, got underway with Charley Chase starring in Neighborhood House, also with Rosina Lawrence and Darla Hood. The boys followed in They Go Boom and Busy Bodies. After the break, Block-Heads, our feature for the evening, was screened. Joining us for the evening were L & H costumer, Jay Dare and T. Marvin Hatley's very good friend, Alice Jackson.

Looking Back

80 years ago

• October 1916 - While at Vim Comedies, Babe Hardy stars with Billy Ruge in the "Plump and Runt" series. This month's releases are Royal Blood, The Candy Trail, The Precious Parcel, and A Maid to Order (without Ruge).
  
  

75 years ago

• October 1921 - The Lucky Dog marks the first appearance of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in a film together.
  
  

70 years ago

• October 3, 1926 - Hal Roach Studios releases Wise Guys Prefer Brunettes, starring Jimmy Finlayson and directed by Stan Laurel.
  
• October 17, 1926 - Charley Chase stars in the two reeler, Tell 'Em Nothing with Vivien Oakland (Scram) and Gertrude Astor (Come Clean).
  
• October 31, 1926 - Stan Laurel co-directs, co-writes, and co-stars in the latest Hal Roach short, Get 'Em Young, released on this date.
  
  

65 years ago

• October 31, 1931 - Billy Gilbert makes his L & H debut in One Good Turn. He was signed up by Hal Roach, just twelve days earlier.
  
  

60 years ago

• October 24, 1936 - After a three year absence, Joe Cobb appears in Our Gang's latest short , Pay As You Exit.
  
  
• October 30, 1936 - The boys latest feature, Our Relations, hits the big screen. Its working title is "The Money Box."
  
  

55 years ago

• October 10, 1941 - The boys first 20th Century Fox film, Great Guns, debuts.
  
  

35 years ago

• October 29, 1961 - Stanley J. "Tiny" Sandford, who appeared in 23 films with Stan and Ollie, died in Los Angeles, at the age of 67.
  
  
  

Sources for Looking Back are:
Laurel or Hardy - The Solo Films of Stan Laurel & Oliver "Babe" Hardy, by Rob Stone
Laurel and Hardy - The Magic Behind the Movies, by Randy Skretvedt
The Little Rascals - The Life & Times of Our Gang, by Leonard Maltin & Richard Bann
The Charley Chase Filmography, by Joe Moore, Robert Farr, Richard Roberts & Steve Rydewski

Did You Know?

Patricia Gene O'Brien was born on May 20, 1916, in Birmingham, Michigan. The stepdaughter of film producer Alexander Leftwich, she spent three years on stage before she was chosen as a Wampas Baby star of 1932. The blonde beauty was a leading lady in the 1930's in several Warner Brothers "B" films. Her film debut in Mervyn Leroy's Three On a Match was followed by roles in Elmer the Great with Joe E. Brown, Picture Snatcher with James Cagney, The Case of the Lucky Legs (from the Perry Mason series of the 30's), and Step Lively, Jeeves! with Arthur Treacher. After her final movie, Fugitives at Large, in 1939, she retired from films at the age of 23. She married an industrialist and was living in Kansas City, Missouri when she died on March 26, 1970. Laurel and Hardy fans remember her best as Mrs. Gilbert in Block-Heads...Patricia Ellis.

Sources for Did You Know?
The Film Encyclopedia by Ephraim Katz
Who Was Who on Screen by Evelyn Mack Truitt
1996 Movie & Video Guide by Leonard Maltin

Birthdays for October

 1  Charles Rogers               A Chump at Oxford
 2  Spanky McFarland             Our Gang
 2  Lois Roberts                 Mrs. Thomas Benton Roberts
 2  LeRoy Shield                 L & H Music Composer
 3  Leo McCarey                  L & H Director
 3  Charles Middleton            Pack Up your Troubles, Flying Deuces
 4  Scottie Beckett              Our Gang
 4  Buster Keaton                The Stolen Jools
 9  Jim MacGeorge                Stan Laurel Impersonator
10  Arthur Housman               Scram, Live Ghost
11  Mickey Daniels               Our Gang
17  Art Lloyd                    L & H Cameraman
19  Daphne Pollard               Our Relations, Thicker Than Water
20  Charley Chase                On the Wrong Trek, Sons of the Desert
20  Margaret Dumont              The Dancing Masters
23  Jimmy Aubrey                 That's My Wife
25  Gordon "Porky" Lee           Our Gang