Henry Brandon Night -- Films and a Guest Speaker November 19thHenry Brandon Night - Films and a Guest Speaker November 19th
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 19th and we will be paying tribute to one of our favorite celebrity members, Henry Brandon. Henry is perhaps best known as the evil Silas Barnby in Babes in Toyland. My wife Kris and I have been members of the Way Out West Tent for over forty five years. How time flies! Kris and I first met Henry at the Sons' Third International Convention in Detroit. It was on a day trip to Detroit's Greek Town. Kris and I were seated at a four seat table with two open seats. Then along comes Henry and Anita Garvin. Henry politely asked us if he and Anita could sit with us. Kris and I nearly fell over. Of course we said "yes." We had a great conversation and a good meal with two Laurel & Hardy co-stars. How's that for a good day!
Our program will begin with a reel of clips highlighting Henry's long career, working not only with Laurel & Hardy but also with John Wayne, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Henry Fonda. Following the clips, we will have a brief discussion on Henry with Rick Greene, co-author of Henry Brandon: King of the Bogeymen.
Our next film will be Our Gang Follies of 1938 (actually released in 1937). The film stars Alfalfa, Spanky, Darla, Buckwheat, and Porky and features just about every "Our Gang" boy or girl in the Roach studios. In this two-reeler, Alfalfa bills himself as "The King of Crooners" and Henry Brandon is Alfalfa's new manager. However, when Alfalfa suddenly decides to only sing opera, everything goes south for him. Henry is at his evil best throughout the film. Also, you won't believe all of the young Roach talent showcased in the film.
Our feature film will be Babes In Toyland (1934) (also known as March of the Wooden Soldiers). The film follows the adventures of Stannie Dum (Stan) and Ollie Dee (Babe) who work in Santa's Toyland and live nearby every nursery rhyme character that you could ever imagine. As Silas Barnaby, Henry Brandon steals all the scenes he's in. Charlotte Henry and Felix Knight play Little Po-Peep and Tom-Tom. We will screen Babes in Toyland in color. (Note from Grand Sheik (me) - Someday, since Silas Barnaby spills the beans that the film takes place in July, WE WILL someday screen the film in July!)
The Mayflower Club is located at 11110 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Our meeting starts at 7:15 p.m. "Fisher Franks" (100% beef hot dogs) with your choice of chips will be sold at The Mayflower Club Kitchen. Refreshments will be sold at The Mayflower Club Bar. Free cake will be served at our second break. See you at The Mayflower Club on Tuesday, November 19th. Don't miss a great night! Don't forget to bring your canned goods donation for the needy (see below)
Click here for a map to the Mayflower Club...Food For the Needy at Next Meeting
The holidays are a time of the year to receive, but even more importantly, it is a time to give from the heart. This year again we will be donating to The Burbank Temporary Aid Center. They were founded in 1974 and are a Food Bank providing help to needy families. They "provide to individuals, families, the working poor, crime victims, senior citizens and the homeless with short term emergency assistance that they need to live with dignity. We once again are asking each of our members to bring at least two packaged or canned food items to our November 19th meeting. If you forget, we will ask that you donate at least $5.00 dollars per person. Some examples of food that you can bring: packaged potatoes, stuffing mix, mac and cheese mix, pancake mix, rice, pastas, canned vegetables, fruits, chicken or tuna.
2020 Dues Are Due
The annual dues for Way Out West Tent Memberships are due each January. We need your dues to be paid on time, so we can continue to cover our expenses for renting The Mayflower Club, purchasing hot dogs and condiments, cake, and postage to mail our newsletters. Your dues will cover admission to all five regular meetings. Rates are listed in the column to the right. Please make your checks out to "Way Out West Tent" and mail those checks to the address in the right column, or bring your checks to our December or January meetings. Mailing your check is preferred, so we can avoid long check-in lines at December or January meetings. Thanks for your continued support of our Tent.
Raffle For UCLA L&H Film Preservation Fund
During our November meeting we will have a raffle to raise money to donate to UCLA's Laurel & Hardy (Film) Preservation Fund. This year it will be a little different, as we will break up our raffle into three drawings during the evening. Our first drawing will be right after our first break, our second drawing will be right before our second break, and our last drawing will be right before our last film. All of our prizes will be displayed on stage during the evening. Single raffle tickets will be sold for $1.00, or $5.00 will get you seven tickets. Tickets will be sold through out the evening.
Notes From Our August Meeting
At our August meeting, we screened Hog Wild, Scram!, and Nothing But Trouble. Our Special Guest for the evening was the delightful Joan Del Mar. In Nothing But Trouble, young Joan played the football score-keeper. Before we screened Nothing But Trouble, Joan told us about her meetings with Jack Benny, and about some of her other films. Once again thanks to all our members who helped us with our toasts and singing our song.
From The Grand Sheik
As a lot of you know, my family couldn't come to the Special Event because of my niece's untimely death, whose remembrance was at the same time. Thanks for all the prayers and cards that you sent to us. All we can say is thank you! From all I've heard, after our video problems got solved, our Special Event went along pretty well. Thanks a lot to David Rodriguez, Randy Skretvedt, Rob Ray and my son Jimmy (over the phone) for getting our video to work. I've heard that the food from Yuca's Catering was excellent. Thanks to Tom and Debbie Hopkins and Dorothy Schneidmiller for serving the food. Also thanks to Lori & Colin McCaffrey, Bob Duncan, Laura Reuther, and Jayne Barnhart for seeing that everything ran smoothly.
One last Henry Brandon story. At another Convention, we crossed into Canada. When we returned a Customs Officer boarded our bus and asked "where were you born?" Everyone yelled "United States." That was everyone except Henry, who in his great baritone voice said "Berlin." Next thing we know, Henry was ordered to get off the bus. All of us waited in the bus for what seemed to be an awful long time. We never found out exactly what happened in the Customs Office, but knowing Henry, he probably was just telling some good stories to them.
Since this is the last meeting of the year, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
