April Meeting 2026 April 11, 2026

Our next film show is next week on Wednesday April 15th  in our NEW time slot of 7.00pm till 10.00pm at the usual venue, THE BARGE INN,  at 177 Tamworth Rd, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 1DH.  We are up on the upper deck.

This month we will be celebrating the birth of our favourite cop….Edgar Livingstone Kennedy born April 26th 1890…indeed, who was only a couple months older than Stan.  Edgar appeared in 11 films with the Boys, mostly between 1928 and 1930.  We are hoping to show 4 of these films, beginning with his first with Laurel & Hardy…and infact his first at the  Hal Roach studios, the silent “Leave em Laughing (1928)” .  In a tent first, we will be showing the recently restored version in full HD with a Randy Skredvedt commentary.  In the film the Boys pay a visit to the  dentist and become seriously intoxicated with Laughing Gas…Edgar Kennedy plays a disgruntled cop.

This month, we are also daring to show a 1940s feature that we’ve not seen for 10 years…it’s the MGM wartime feature “Air Raid Wardens (1943)“.  As I’ve mentioned before, the 1940s films are not to everyone’s taste as they tend to lack the playfulness and spontaneity that we are used to seeing on the Hal Roach lot.  This is a result of Stan losing a lot of creative control through tight scripting and filming schedules and also of poor editing.  But it is a Laurel & Hardy film and there are many good scenes with many good gags with echoes back to some familiar Hal Roach films…I promise you it’s worth a look.   In the film Stan & Ollie become heroes as they foil a Nazi plot to sabotage a Magnesium plant.  It’s Edgars last film with the Boys and he plays a tough guy, Joe Bledsoe.

After the break we plan to show a HD restored version of the talkie short “Perfect Day (1929)” with “gouty” uncle Edgar.  This will be  followed by the talkie short “Night Owls (1930)” with Edgar playing a failed cop….but will Kennedy fix it?

We’ll also show another Larry Harmon L&H cartoon “Always Leave ’em Giggling (1966)”  which has ties with the films we’re showing.  in this, the Boys, Zatman and Zatboy, foil a plot  to sabotage a water plant by the Giggler.  This is indeed a parody of the TV series with Batman and Robin foiling the exploits of the Joker.

We’ll also have another quick look at what was happening at the Hal Roach studios exactly 100 years ago…this time during April 1926, with a screening of the extant 3mins fragment of  Madame Mystery (1926) which was released  on April 18th 1926.  This was an All star comedy co-written and co-directed by Stan principally guesting the fading silent superstar Theda Bara as a spy, in her last ever film.  This was supported by Oliver Hardy and Jimmy Finlayson.

There’ll be the usual raffle – all donations gratefully accepted….and of course we will have the loyal toasts, including a toast to our friend and fellow tent member, Brian, who passed away last month and of course a toast to all our absent friends.   Again, we shall target to finish at 10pm.

So, hopefully, we’ll see you next Wednesday….at 7pm!.  Please bring friends and family – all are very welcome.