Laurel and Hardy Society Sons of the Desert Way Out West Tent Los Angeles
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The Brushwood Gulch Gazette is the newsletter of the Way Out West Tent. It is published six times a year, shortly before regular tent meetings. Members receive the complete printed edition in the mail. The online edition features most of the articles found in the printed version, minus photos.

A New Filming Location is Found -- Come See it at the March Meeting!

Have you ever studied an old photograph taken from the roof of a house and looked carefully at all the other houses in the background and reasoned that even after almost eighty years at least some of those houses should still be recognizable? My son Jimmy III and I have, and in doing so Jimmy III has found the location of the house seen in Dirty Work! Join us at The Mayflower Club on Tuesday, March 5th and we'll tell you how he did it and show then and now pictures of the location. We'll also tell you a little bit about the Roach Ranch, which was the filming location for two of our films. There will also be a Special Raffle.

Our film program will of course begin with Dirty Work (1933). In the film, chimney sweeps Stan and Ollie unknowingly go to a mad scientist's house to clean his chimney and soon find out what the scientist has discovered. Professor Noodle is played by Lucien Littlefield and his butler Jessup is played by Sam Adams.

In Towed in a Hole (1932), door to door fish salesmen Stan and Ollie decide to fix up an old rundown junk yard boat, so that they can catch their own fish. Billy Gilbert owns the junk yard.

Our film program will conclude with Laurel & Hardy's feature, Bonnie Scotland (1935). In the film, Stan and Ollie go to Scotland to claim Stan's inheritance from his grandfather's estate. When the inheritance turns out to be a bust, the Boys unwittingly join the Scottish Army. Though there is a lot of non-Laurel & Hardy subplot in the film, Stan & Babe's moments in the film are up to some of their best, especially their dance to the army stockade. Stan and Babe are joined in the film with June Lang, William Janney, James Finlayson, and Daphne Pollard.

The Mayflower Club is located at 11110 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood. We open the doors at 6:30 p.m. Our meeting starts at 7:15 p.m. Fisher Franks (100% beef hot dogs) and your choice of chips will be sold at The MayFlower Club Kitchen. Refreshments will be sold at The Mayflower Club Bar. Free cake will be served during our second break. Don't miss the fun, see you Tuesday, March 5th!

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


2014 International Convention in Hollywood

For anyone thinking about attending the upcoming convention, there's a new web site where you can find out a little information about the event and the hotel where it will be based. You may also sign up to receive email announcements, as additional information is made available. We will also keep you posted here, as news is announced. The convention web site is:
http://www.laurelandhardywood.com/


Don't Forget About Dues

In 2013, we again will have six regular meetings at The Mayflower Club and a Special Event in October (at a location to be announced). Our regular meetings are fully covered by your dues. Our Special Event will have a separate door charge. Our annual dues are unchanged from last year. 2013 meeting dates and dues rates are printed in the right-hand column. If you want to pay your 2013 dues by mail, after we receive your check, we will mail you a postcard for you to exchange for any style bumper sticker that we sell at our sales table. Make your checks out to Sons of the Desert and mail them to: Lori McCaffery, 4313 Woodland Avenue, Burbank CA 91505.


Special Raffle

Our Past Grand Sheik, Bob Satterfield, has donated some of his film books and other film memorabilia to put in a raffle at our March meeting. He hopes that the proceeds from the raffle will be a good start in helping him raise money to purchase a grave marker for Our Gang member, Mickey Daniels. Mickey appeared in over 50 Our Gang films and later in 15 films from The Boy Friends series, all of which were filmed at The Hal Roach Studios in the 20's and 30's. Mickey died in 1970 and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) in an "unmarked grave". If you don't want to participate in the raffle, cash donations will also be accepted.


Notes From Our January Meeting

At our January meeting, with a good sized and enthusiastic turnout despite the cold weather, we celebrated Oliver Hardy's 121st birthday by offering four films that centered around Babe's character. The films were: County Hospital, Chickens Come Home, Thicker Than Water, and Oliver the Eighth. Each of the films showed good examples of why Ollie should never ask Stan to help him and why Ollie should never take Stan's advice. Fortunately, though, for all of us Laurel & Hardy fans, Ollie always asks Stan to help him and always takes Stan's advice. It's at the heart of Stan and Ollie's relationship.

Right after we screened Chickens Come Home, we screened a clip from the Spanish version of Chickens Come Home, Politiquerias. The clip was the infamous Hadji Ali and his "regurgitation act", and it doesn't appear in the English version of Chickens. As it always seems to happen with Hadji Ali's act, first there was a lot of laughter, then slowly the laughter turns to complete silence. After the clip, we sang Happy Birthday to Babe and served birthday cake. As I'm writing these notes, it seems a little weird, but it all worked out fine.

Joining us at our meeting were Special Guests: Betty Goulding (the widow of Alfred Goulding), Betty's daughter Faith, and Betty's son Steven. Mr Goulding directed Stan and Babe in A Chump At Oxford (1940) and, at Stan and Babe's request, directed the Boys scenes in Utopia (1951). From the Founding Tent in New York, entertainer/singer and master of ceremonies Steve Ames joined us. From Massachusetts, while on his annual visit to Los Angeles, Steve Wichrowski Jr. also joined us.

Thanks to Dave Griem, Jayne Barnhart, Amy Condit, Kahilla Engel, Ken Runyan, Bob Duncan, and J.T. Tropper for helping me with the Toasts and the Song.

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