May Meeting 2023 May 15, 2023

Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,

Our next film show will be next Wednesday, May 17th,  7.30pm till 10.30pm at the THE BRIDGE INN on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5LW –  in the outside function room as per usual.

All are welcome and entry is free.

This month is our  “Nothing but Mae” film show in tribute to the eternally ever-popular Mae Busch.  Though her birthday is next month (June 18th), its always over-shadowed by Stan’s birthday just two days before – so it has now become our annual fixture to pay tribute to one of our favourite supporting actresses a month earlier – in Mae….indeed, the month that was named after her wasn’t it?   Though she was a major silent film star, infact a million dollar babe of the 1920s where many of the films she appeared in grossed a million dollars, she was actually a year younger than Stan, born June 18th 1891.  I intend to show nothing but a series of Laurel & Hardy short films in which the eternally ever-popular Mae Busch provides a supporting, and in one film, a top billing role!

We will also continue our history of L&H cartoons with a short cartoon from 1939 entitled “Art Gallery” , where a statue of Nero comes to life and sets fire to a painting of Rome.  In a panic a lot of the other paintings come to life – including one of a tearful Stan Laurel…watch out for the Marx Brothers and another Mae…Mae West.

We will have the usual raffle and toasts, all donations are gratefully accepted.

Our June film show will be on the usual third Wednesday in the month..June 21st when we will be celebrating Stan’s 133rd birthday and showing one of his finest feature films with Ollie, as Lord Paddington in the “A Chump at Oxford” from 1940. Due to circumstances beyond my control, our July film show will have to be delayed by a week from July 19th to Wednesday July 26th – but I will confirm that nearer the time.

As mentioned last month we won’t be holding a “formal”, fully planned out film show at the Bull Inn in June. However, instead, you are all invited to an”informal”, unplanned and possibly chaotic, social gathering on the afternoon of Saturday June 10th at the Bull Inn.  If I can get the appropriate permissions from the pub, I’ll put together an improvised film show of film shorts in the pub’s L&H lounge. In the morning, we will however be conducting our usual walkabout of Barkston village. This is to lay flowers on AJs grave and to visit the Plough Inn, Olgas first pub….first visited by the Boys in March 1947.

So, provisionally timings for June 10th are..

11am at the Stag inn, Barkston– for a walk around the village from the Stag Inn to the Barkston & Syston cemetery where AJ is buried then onto 22, West street where the Plough inn is located. I will probably be in the village a little bit earlier (about 10am) to tidy up the grave. We’ll probably leave Barkston at 12.30pm to go to Bottesford.

1pm, Bottesford for free time, sandwich lunch and a walkabout for an hour…I’ve always wanted to visit St Mary’s church and its tall spire.

2pm at the Bull Inn –chance to enjoy a relaxing time in Olga’s 2nd pub, the pub that the Boys visited a number of times during their 1950s tours. We will hopefully get a film show running.  We’ll probably conclude about 5pm.

All are welcome – i’ll write to remind/finalise everything nearer the time.

Finally,”Another Fine Fest” is on Saturday and Sunday June 17th/18th in Ulverston.This is a 2-day free public street festival with street theatre, carnival acts, bands, artists, and other entertainmentloosely celebtating the life/comedy of Ulverston’s most famous son…Stan Laurel.I suspect the L&H Museum will be open.A few of us are going – you are welcome to join us.

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