Our next film show will be on Wednesday, No-wonder 8th, 7.30pm till 10.30 pm at the usual place…THE BRIDGE INN on Longmoor Lane, Sandiacre NG10 5LW – in the outside function room.
Animal Magic is the theme of this months show where a number of animals feature in our films…and quite oddly they are never or rarely mentioned in our round of animal toasts at the end of the evening…so after this evenings show I think our animal roll-call will be a lot longer!!
Our main feature of the evening will be, as promised, the colorised version of Babes in Toyland (aka March of the Wooden Soldiers) from 1934. This is an 80min film that we haven’t seen since December 2004….so, it’s well well overdue a viewing. We don’t usually show “colorised” films but this film certainly lends itself to being colourised and Stan himself has been quoted as saying that his only regret about the original Toyland film that it was made in black and white! In the film, L&H play Ollie Dee and Stannie Dum, employees at the Toyland’s toy factory making toys in preparation for Christmas. The film uses a predominantly children’s theme in an effective attempt to appeal to all ages…so expect their usual L&H antics! In the “L&H Encyclopaedia”, Glen Mitchell writes that this is one of the most charming films ever made and retains a timeless appeal and he recognises that Toyland remains a Christmas perennial on US TV. In “Laurel & Hardy – the Magic Behind the Movies”, Randy Skredvedt identifies that Stan Laurel thought that it had the fewest imperfections and the greatest entertainment value of all his films. Babe Hardy, also counted it amongst his favourites.
In support, I will be showing three 2-reel L&H comedies. With one of these, “Hog Wild (1930)” we will be paying tribute to Dorothy Granger, although a minor supporting actress to Stan & Ollie, she appeared in many comedies for Hal Roach studios. She was born 21st November 1912.
There will be the usual raffle, toasts….and yes I’ll show yet another fine L&H based cartoon in the intermission, this one is entitled “Mother Goose in Swingtime” from December 1939. In this cartoon a girl dreams she is in Mother Goose Land which is filled with many Hollywood stars including Stan & Ollie appearing as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. This was released only 5 years after Babes in Toyland.
Our Christmas meeting has been set for December 13th…we plan to show our usual Christmas fayre of delicious Laurel & Hardy films and to serve a mini-buffet for those who haven’t eaten for three whole days…
Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday.
Fraternally Yours,
Dave T
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