March Meeting 2026 March 13, 2026

Our next film show is next week on Wednesday March 18th  in our NEW time slot 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 paying a very special tribute to our favourite L&H film villain….Walter “Mugsy/Tiger/Butch”  Long whose birthday it was on March 5th (1879).  For someone so recognised and revered by the Sons of Desert, it is quite unbelievable to tell you that Walter only appeared in 5 films with the Boys;  two feature films, Pardon us (1931) and Pick a Star (1937), and, 3 talkie shorts, Any Old port (1932), The Live Ghost (1934) and Going Bye Bye (1934).  Unfortunately, we won’t have time to show all of these films….but we do intend to show not one but all three of the talkie shorts.

We are also going to take the opportunity to show the 30 min Hats Off documentary to Walter Long  which was produced by the Dirty Work tent, principally the talented Gary Winstanley.  This was ably supported by a number of eminent Sons of the Desert from the UK…one or two of them you may well recognise from the Stoke tent (Antony and Jo Mitchell-Waite).  The documentary was premiered last year at the Laurel & Harday in Wigan to much acclaim.  The documentary presents many Laurel & Hardy film clips including clips from the two films we won’t be able to show, Pardon Us and Pick a Star.

This month we’ll also be paying a small tribute to Jean “Jeannie Weenie” Harlow who was also born this month;  March 3rd back in 1911.  So, we will begin the evening (at 7pm!) with a tent premiere showing of the recently restored version of the Laurel & Hardy silent Double Whoopee from the 1929 silents restoration HD US boxset.  This we will show  with another fine commentary by Richard Bann who eloquently describes( or I should say, exposes) the goings on (or I should say, off) during Jean Harlow’s scene with the Boys.

We’ll also show another Larry Harmon L&H cartoon “Ups and Downs” from 1967 where the Boys are employed to fix an elevator/lift which has a tenuous connection to Double Whoppee.  We’ll also have another quick look at what was happening at the Hal Roach studios exactly 100 years ago…this time during March 1926, with a screening of a small 5mins clip from Thundering Fleas (1926).  This was an Our gang film supported by Oliver Hardy as a policeman.   There’ll be the usual raffle – all donations gratefully accepted….and of course we will have the loyal toasts….with a target of finishing at 10pm.

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