Hello Laurel & Hardy friends,
Our next film show is this Wednesday, 18th Octember at the usual location, THE WHITE LION….24, Middle Street, BEESTON, NG9 1FX commencing at the usual time of 7.30pm in the upstairs function room – in the “Beeston cinema”.
All are welcome and entry is free as per usual.
This month, by special request by one of our tent members, we have themed our meeting “Dizzy spells and Drunken Ghosties”……yes, because its Halloween! Indeed, the all clues are there…..we hope to show the Laurel & Hardy feature film “A Chump at Oxford”….Stan has quite a few dizzy spells, including an a-mazing encounter with a Ghostie. We will also be showing 3 Hal Roach two-reeler shorts…..two that will feature resident studio drunk, Arthur “Hic-cup” Housman, whose university of his birth it is this month…128 years ago on October 10th. Indeed, one of those films….he is a live drunken ghostie….in the other one he’s a ghostie faced drunk!
As time allows….we will also try and catch up ,a little bit, with the 1947 tour; which exactly 70 years on, has now left these shores for Denmark! If time permits…we’ll also show the Driver Licence sketch as performed by the Lucky Dog theatre company at the pre-international convention in Southend last year…and we’ll also play a 5 min audio clip of the sketch actually performed by the Boys, October 4/5th 1947 in Copenhagen.
Our own Danny Lawrence has been busy writing a new book entitled Arthur Jefferson – Man of the theatre and Father of Stan Laurel. This has been 6 years in the making…and I know will be a very interesting read….Arthur Jefferson Senior was a very colourful person….not the least of it, his birth! Most people know that Stan’s real name is not Laurel but Jefferson……but not many know that AJ’s father was probably not a Jefferson….but very probably a Gough! Well it is Halloween! AJ ran a string of theatres and was a major influence on his son’s life and artistry. Of course, there’s also the strong link to our tent via Barkston. I’ve only read one chapter…and I know that alone is worth the purchase price.
The book is to be launched in North Shields next week so Danny can’t make our Octember meeting, but he has kindly agreed to give us a little talk on Arthur Jefferson next month at our Nowonder meeting (ie Weds, November 15th). He will also have some books available to sell and personally sign……which I know will make an ideal Christmas present for any Laurel & Hardy fan that doesn’t want to receive socks again from their nearest and dearest!
Our Christmas meeting has also been provisionally set for the usual 3rd Wednesday….December 20th . We intend to show the usual traditional films and to have another mini-buffet….just like the one we had last year. All are welcome.
Talking about Christmas and Christmas presents, I will be at The Helpmates UK Laurel & Hardy Convention on Saturday 4th November at the Holiday Inn in Chatham. No doubt Rob Lewis will be selling next years calendars…if you want one, let me know and I’ll try and get you one. They are presently selling at £13 each on the L&H website, but if I buy in bulk, I maybe able to get them a little cheaper from Rob. Roger Robinson/Dave Wyatt are also launching their “It Sure Is – Laurel & Hardy at the London Palladium” booklet – this covers not only the Palladium engagements but also other events during their stay in London in 1947….including the Boys trip up to Barkston in March 1947. This is a also a recommended buy. The price is £15, but again on the day, I might just be able to ask Roger/Dave for a discount on a bulk order …just let us know if you want one.
The Helpmates UK Laurel & Hardy Convention is always a great Laurel & Hardy day out and tickets are still available… Information can be found on the Laurel & Hardy Magazine website http://www.laurelandhardy.org/convention.html The latest news is that Laurel & Hardy experts, Randy Skredvedt and Richard Bann will be video-calling LIVE from Los Angeles.
Other great news this month is that Talking Pictures TV is presently in negotiation for screening a number of short film subjects. L&H back on TV soungs very good.
So, hopefully,we’ll see you this Wednesday.
Fraternally Yours,
Dave T
(Grand Sheikh – Nottingham Beau Hunks tent)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.