Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,Our next film show is next Wednesday Nowonder 18th 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. All are welcome – entry is free.
Animal Magic is the theme of this months Laurel & Hardy show with an array of animals that strangely only very rarely get a mention in our monthly roll call of animal toasts at the end of our meeting.
Our main feature of the evening, as promised, is a blu-ray colorised version of “Babes in Toyland (1934)” aka “March of the Wooden Soldiers”. As you know, to Paul’s disdain, we rarely show colorised films, but this film certainly lends itself to colorisation and was one of the few colorisations that has been applied to an already restored black/white film. Furthermore, Stan Laurel has been quoted as saying that his only regret about the original Toyland film was that it was shot in black and white and not in technicolor which would have been possible at the time though very expensive! So this one we will show in color.
In this 80 mins film, L&H play Ollie Dee and Stannie Dum are employees at the Toyland’s toy factory making toys in preparation for Christmas. The film predominantly uses a children’s theme in an effective attempt to appeal to all ages. In the “Laurel & Hardy encyclopedia”, Glenn Mitchell writes that this is one of the most charming films ever made and it retains a timeless appeal. In fact, it still remains a popular family film that is shown every year on US TV at Christmas. According to Randy Skredvedt, Stan Laurel thought it had the fewest imperfections and the greatest entertainment value of all his films. Babe Hardy also counted it amongst his favourites. Also, watch out for the 3 little pigs…Jiggs, little Elmer, Willie, and an early Mickey Mouse!
However, we will start the show with the Boys last silent comedy “Angora Love (1929)”, where the Boys are followed and befriend an Angorian goat….Penelope. The film will feel familiar, as key scenes were later reused in “Laughing Gravy (1931)”, which we will show at Christmas. This film has only recently been restored and released on Blu-ray. I intend to show it with a commentary by L&H historian Randy Skredvedt.
After the break, we will pay a small tribute to actress Dorothy Granger, born November 21, 1921. She appears in 4 L&H films. We will show the 2 reeler “Hog Wild (1930)” where she actually appears twice! There are no hogs but plenty of monkeys trying to fix an aerial up on the roof.
We will also be showing the chimney sweeping 2 reeler “Dirty Work (1933)”, with some more antics on the roof. In this film, the Boys discover d-evolution … Ollie the chimp is played by Mr Jiggs. We will be showing Hog Wild and Dirty Work from the Definitive restorations Blu-rays.
We will also be taking another brief look at was happening this month, exactly 100 years ago at the Hal Roach studio…Stan & Ollie were together but still not being partnered. Theres no film clips this month. However, I will also take the opportunity to show the one and only complete and original colour film we have of the Boys, a wartime public information film….”The Tree in a Test Tube(1943)”
There will be an animal related L&H cartoon entitled “Animal Shelter” from the 1960s Larry Harmon series of cartoons, the usual raffle and of course the toasts in accordance with the Sons of the Desert constitution.
Our Christmas film show will be on the usual third Wednesday in the month..December 16th. we plan to show the usual Christmas L&H short films served with plenty of mince pies and table snacks.
Before then, hopefully, we’ll see you on Wednesday. Please bring friends and family – all are very welcome.
Fraternally Yours,
Dave T
(Grand Sheikh – Nottingham Beau Hunks tent)
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