Strange Endings at the Mayflower Club on Tuesday March 20thStrange Endings at the Mayflower Club on Tuesday March 20th
In the mid-fifties, when my age was a single digit (a long, long time ago), I really was crazy about television. I still am, but that's another story. I watched everything I could on TV, and was lucky enough, in my youth, to see Laurel & Hardy short films almost every day on TV. I watched the Boys' films over and over. I'll admit now that I sometimes didn't quite understand all of the things that they did, but they always made me laugh. Then one Sunday night, with my parents, we all watched on TV Laurel & Hardy's The Bohemian Girl. It was the first Laurel & Hardy feature length film that I saw. I was happy that my parents laughed and liked the film. I have to admit the first time I saw the strange ending of the film, it stuck in my mind for awhile. So, to make a theme for our next meeting, all of our films will have strange endings.
If our film program isn't enough for you, Jim MacGeorge is also planning to come to our meeting to entertain us again! So join us at The Mayflower Club on Tuesday night, March 20th and make that little boy, I once was, very happy.
Our first two-reeler for the evening will be The Live Ghost (1934). When down and out, Stan & Ollie agree to help Captain Long (Walter Long) shanghai a new crew for his ship. The Boys don't know what they're getting into. The problem is the Captain's ship has a reputation as being "a ghost ship." Also in typical Laurel & Hardy fashion, the Boys end up being shanghaied themselves with the Captain's angry new crew. Mae Busch and Arthur Houseman also co-star in the film. In the film, Housman is exceptional.
Going Bye-Bye! (1934) will be our second two-reeler for the evening. The film opens in court where Butch (Walter Long) has just been convicted on evidence that came from the Boys. Butch swears that he will break out of jail and get even with Stan and Ollie. Stan and Ollie decide to get out of town fast. Unfortunately, when they decide that they need another person to share car expenses to leave town, they pick Mae Busch.
Our feature for the evening will be The Bohemian Girl (1936). In this period piece, loosely based on an 1853 opera, Stan and Ollie are gypsies. When gypsies camp near rich Count Arnheim's land, the Count orders his soldiers to torture and then run them off. The gypsies kidnap the Count's young daughter Arline (Darla Hood). Ollie's wife (Mae Busch) somehow convinces Ollie and Stan that the young girl is really Ollie's daughter. Ollie's wife eventually runs off with her lover (Antonio Moreno) and leaves Ollie and Stan to raise the young girl. Years later, on a snowy winter's night, the gypsies once again return near to Count Arnheim's land with Stan and Ollie and Ollie's grown daughter Arline (Jacqueline Wells). Although there's some opera singing in some of the film, the film is full of great Laurel & Hardy bits and scenes that any Laurel & Hardy fan will enjoy.
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 Mayflower Club Bar. Don't miss a fun meeting. See you March 20th.
Click here for a map to the Mayflower Club...
2018 Dues Are Due
In case you have not paid your dues for 2018, you still can. We need your dues to cover our expenses for renting The Mayflower Club, purchasing cakes, condiments, paper, and postage to mail out our newsletters. If you have not yet paid your 2018 dues, please pay us at our next meeting. If you can't make the meeting please send a check made out to Way Out West Tent and mail it to Lori McCaffery, 4313 Woodland Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505. Thanks for your continued support of our Tent.
Previous Meeting & Thank You
On a rainy night in January, we met at the Mayflower Club for the first time in 2018 to celebrate the birthday of Oliver Hardy. The program for the evening was Our Wife, Towed in a Hole, Them Thar Hills, and Saps at Sea. Despite the inclement weather, we hope a good time was had by all.
Also, for the last few years, member Frank Salzberg has donated rolls of stamps to cover some of our postage expenses. Thanks again, Frank.
Fund Raising to Restore Perfect Day
The UCLA Film & Television Archive has started a 40 day crowdfunding campaign to raise money to restore Laurel & Hardy's classic short Perfect Day. After about a week, the project is already over halfway funded! The Way Out West Tent has made a donation, and if you would like to personally contribute, more information can be found at: spark.ucla.edu/project/9366
2018 Convention in Cincinnati This Summer
The 2018 International Sons of the Desert Convention will take place in Cincinnati, Ohio this July, and we are encouraging a few more new faces from our tent to join about a dozen of your fellow tent members. The convention lasts three and a half days, from July 12-15. Activities range from a Laurel & Hardy trivia contest, a Pee-Wee game, and (of course) Laurel & Hardy films to local sight seeing and a costume banquet. Conventions have been held every two years since 1978, so if you have never attended, but have always wanted to go now is your chance. Registration information is available on the convention webstie at: www.laurelandhardy2018.com
L&H Film Program at Aero & Egyptian Theaters
The American Cinematheque will be running the series "Laurel & Hardy Restored," featuring films restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Way Out West, Flying Deuces and several shorts will be shown at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica on March 30-31, and Sons of the Desert and shorts will be shown in Hollywood at the Egyptian Theatre on April 1. See website for full schedule: www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/laurel-and-hardy-restored
