Brushwood Gulch Gazette

January-February 2005

Volume 38, Number 1


NOTE: This is an old issue of the Brushwood Gulch Gazette, which has been archived for reference purposes. Although some links have been updated, the text of this archived newsletter remains unchanged. Please keep in mind that these articles have NOT been updated to reflect changes that may have occurred since they were originally printed. Return to the index of archived issues.

Contents:

Free Hot Dogs & Raffle Jan. 18th
Tribute to Billy Gilbert Next Meeting
L&H Voted to Top 50 Comedians List
New Book on Director George Stevens

Other News From Around the World
November 2004 Meeting Notes
Birthdays


Arrive Early for A Free Hot Dog & Raffle January 18th

As the January 18th meeting is the first meeting of the new year, everyone's dues will be due. To help give Lori time to process the dues, we will open the doors one half hour early at 6:00 pm. Everyone who pays their dues by 6:45 pm will receive a free hot dog and will be eligible for a free raffle at 6:50 pm. See next article for the film program.

For many years, the "Fabulous Fisher Franks" hot dogs have been served up by Sharron Fisher and Tom & Debbie Hopkins. Due to their busy schedules, the Hopkins will need to take a leave of absence. If anyone wishes to help Sharron in the kitchen, please let Bob Satterfield know at the next meeting. This is a great way to help out the club and to meet new people.

This jam-packed meeting will take place at the Mayflower Club, located at 11110 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood. Doors will open early at 6:00 pm and the meeting will begin as usual at 7:15 pm. Hot dogs will be on sale (for those who don't arrive in time for a free one) and the Mayflower Bar will be serving drinks. We'll see you January 18th.

Click here for a map to the Mayflower Club...

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Tribute to Billy Gilbert & Their First Mistake Co-Star at January Meeting

The Way Out West Tent will return to the Mayflower Club for our first meeting of 2005 on Tuesday, January 18. Not only does this date mark the 38th anniversary of out tent, but it is also the exact date of Oliver Hardy's birth in 1892. We will honor "Babe" Hardy with a birthday cake and a screening of the short film Fluttering Hearts (1927), featuring Charley Chase and a young Oliver Hardy before he teamed up with Stan Laurel. Joining us in person will be Marjorie Campbell, who was the baby in Their First Mistake.

The rest of the evening's program will feature Billy Gilbert in four classic L&H sound shorts. Billy appears with the Boys as a drunk in One Good Turn (1931), as a process server in Their First Mistake (1932), as a landlord in The Chimp (1932), and as a doctor in County Hospital (1932). Billy Gilbert attended early Way Out West Tent meetings and was a guest at our very first banquet. As a tribute to one of our best-known members, our tent is now raising money to buy a plaque for Billy at the Odd Fellow Cemetery (where his ashes were scattered but no marker placed). Those who wish to "buy a drink for Billy" may make a donation for the plaque at the Mayflower Bar. 

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L&H Voted to Top 50 Comedians List

The BBC recently polled British comedians to determine their top 50 comedians of all time. Laurel and Hardy placed 7th, behind Peter Cook (1), John Cleese (2), Woody Allen (3), Eric Morecambe (4), Groucho Marx (5), and Tommy Cooper (6). The list was released January 1st on a BBC television program.

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New Book on Director George Stevens

Before he directed Shane and Giant, George Stevens worked for Hal Roach as L&H's principal cameraman from 1927-1931. His career is documented in the new book, Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film, by Marilyn Ann Moss.

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Other News From Around the World

Asian News International reports on a new German book that claims Hitler watched Laurel & Hardy movies at the beginning of the war, from his Bavarian mountain retreat. After screening Swiss Miss, Martin Bormann wrote in his diary that "the Fuhrer [was] in a playful mood after the film."

* * *

A pair of armed bandits robbed over $65,000 in December from a bank in Okegawa, Japan. The Mainichi Daily News called the pair the Laurel & Hardy bandits, describing them as "a plump man and a thin man."

* * *

In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, the co-creator of the popular British sitcom The Office cites Laurel and Hardy as one of the inspirations for the program. Ricky Gervais says Laurel and Hardy influenced his program "because it's about relationships and being stuck with people."

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November 2004 Meeting Notes

In November, the Way Out West Tent co-sponsored a meeting at the Egyptian Theatre with the American Cinematheque. Babes in Toyland and The Music Box were presented on 35mm film. Author Richard Bann interviewed three members from the cast of Babes in Toyland; Dick Jones and Joy Lane played schoolchildren, and Payne Johnson was one of the Three Little Pigs. Author Randy Skretvedt also spoke of Babes in Toyland and showed one of the original small wooden soldiers used in the film.

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Birthdays

January

1

Matthew "Stymie" Beard

Our Gang

3

ZaSu Pitts

On the Loose

12

Patsy Kelly

Pick a Star

13

Harry Bernard

Two Tars

14

Hal Roach

14

Mary Ann Jackson

Our Gang

18

Oliver Hardy

18

Norman "Chubby" Chaney

Our Gang

20

Rolfe Sedan

Double Whoopee

23

Franklin Pangborn

Wild Poses

26

Alf Goulding

Director

30

Wilfred Lucas

Pardon Us, A Chump at Oxford

February

2

Noah Young

Sugar Daddies, Do Detectives Think?

10

Jimmy Durante

Hollywood Party

10

Alan Hale, Sr.

Our Relations

11

Anita Garvin

From Soup to Nuts, Blotto

11

Angelo Rossitto

Babes in Toyland

14

Trudy Marshall

The Dancing Masters

14

Jack Benny

Hollywood Revue of 1929

14

Jimmy Murphy

Stan's Valet

15

William Janney

Bonnie Scotland

25

Dick Jones

Our Gang

26

Tiny Sanford

Big Business, Their Purple Moment

27

Reginald Gardiner

Flying Deuces

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Updated January 11, 2005

Copyright ©2005 Way Out West. All rights reserved.


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