NOTES FROM THE CLUBS
Updated July 17th, 2010
A DOZEN YEARS ON THE WEB AS OF FEB. 1ST, 2010!
It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Jimmy Olsen, L&H Fan! Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here (new section at LHC) The Unofficial Way Out West Page New Museum Item LHC on Facebook Last Footage of Stan Found Release Charley Chase L&H Statue Unveiled
More Stories
IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S JIMMY OLSEN, L&H FAN!
"We didn't have a standing street scene at RKO, so they used the Hal Roach Studio street scene. I was haunted and excited by the ghosts of Laurel and Hardy." - actor Jack Larson, who played Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen for seven seasons (1952-1958) on television's Adventures of Superman. Quoted from Jack Rossen's book Superman Vs. Hollywood, Chicago Review Press, 2008. According to the book, Larsen adored Laurel and Hardy.
HAIL, HAIL, THE GANG'S ALL HERE!
We have been breaking our sister site, The Stuff You Gotta Watch, into several different sites. In the process, we've moved the Our Gang/Little Rascals section of The Stuff You Gotta Watch to a place where it really belongs - right here at Laurel and Hardy Central! A year by year look at the series in the sound era from 1929 through 1938, with reviews of every Our Gang short. Check it out!
http://ourgang.laurelandhardycentral.com
THE UNOFFICIAL WAY OUT WEST PAGE
Our buddy Steve Bailey, who runs the Leave 'Em Laughing Tent of Jacksonville, Floriida, has created a small but informative page devoted to one of The Boys' greatest films, Way Out West. Check it out - it's chock full of background info and trivia about the film.
NEW MUSEUM ITEM
We have added picture of a lobby card for Laurel and Hardy's live act Birds of a Feather. The picture comes from our fellow L&H fan Paul E. Gierucki, who kindly allowed us to display this photo in our Virtual Museum. Thanks! The link to the photo is on the bottom of our Virtual Museum table.
LAUREL AND HARDY CENTRAL ON FACEBOOK (Update)
Over 500 fans of Laurel and Hardy
Central have become official "fans"
of this site on Facebook over the past two months, and it's
been
very exciting to watch. If
you like The Boys and this page, and are a Facebook member,
you too can become an official "fan" of Laurel and Hardy Central.
You
can upload
photos, share videos, write on our wall, have discussions with other
fans, and look at some unused photos and
graphics from this site's archives and our personal collection.
So check it out. (The Fan Page is for
Facebook members only, so you must make the decision whether that
service is worth joining if you are not already a Facebook member.)The Facebook Laurel and Hardy Central Fan Page can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laurel-and-Hardy-Central/112604662810
LAST FOOTAGE OF STAN FOUND
"LOS ANGELES, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- An amateur home movie has been discovered recently which apparently contains the last known film images of comedy legend Stan Laurel, once celebrated as half of the most famous comedy duo in the world: Laurel & Hardy... "(Read the rest of this story)
RELEASE CHARLEY CHASE!
Our old friend Yair Solan, resident expert on all things concerning comedian Charley Chase, has alerted us to a petition to get Sony to release a 20-short set of Charley Chase at Columbia, similar to the Buster Keaton collection they released a few years ago. Unfortunately, times being what they are economically, Sony has postponed their release of this set. If you wish for this set to be released, you can check out the online petition at:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/charleychasecolumbiashorts
THE BOYS HONORED IN ULVERSTON
As reported by The Telegraph in the UK, Stan and Ollie were honored on April 19, 2009 with a new statue of them located in Stan Laurel's home town of Ulverston, Cumbria. We could provide details here, but there are many good links that could tell the story better:
The Telegraph Story
Laurel and Hardy Forum YouTube channel coverage
Local News Coverage, YouTube
"CUCKOO' DOCUMENTARY FROM 1976 - LAUREL AND HARDY FORUM PETITION
In case you don't know, The Laurel and Hardy Forum (http://laurelandhardyforum.com) is not only an excellent place to discuss The Boys, but they also have a wonderful YouTube channel that carries many intriguing clips and videos. Currently, the Forum is trying to get together a petition for the BBC to release a TV documentary, OMNIBUS IN HOLLYWOOD - "CUCKOO" on DVD. They have a ten minute preview on their channel, featuring such L&H friends and family as Lucille Hary Price, Babe London, Jerry Lewis, Dick Van Dyke and more. It was last aired in 1976. If you wish to help, go to their YouTube channel for more details.
HELP GET ONE OF STAN LAUREL'S FAVORITE SHOWS
RELEASED ON DVD
Does anybody remember the television show I'm Dickens, He's Fenster? It aired for one season (1962-63) on ABC before being canceled. A slapstick sitcom starring John Astin and Marty Ingels as two lovable construction workers, it was a favorite of the critics, and also of Stan Laurel, who used to write to producer Leonard Stern to say how much he liked the show. The pair's antics owe something to Laurel and Hardy, and probably even more to Jackie Gleason and Art Carney of The Honeymooners. Both Astin and Ingels are remarkably appealing and funny, with Astin especially showing a superb capacity for pratfalls and taking a door to the face. The show also starred Emmaline Henry, who would become more well-known as Amanda Bellows on I Dream of Jeannie, and bandleader, composer and actor Frank DeVol, who may be remembered by some as Happy Kyne, the bandleader on the talk show parody Fernwood Tonight.
Both Johns of this site have watched the featured episode included on the I'm Dickens, He's Fenster site as well as several episodes uploaded to YouTube and we agree that it would be a wonderful thing to have all 32 episodes of this funny yet forgotten seruies released on DVD. If you wish to find out about the show, go to http://imdickenshesfenster.com/ and check out all the details.
OLDER NEWS
HEY! A NEW REVIEW!
It's been a long time since we've had a new review at this site, so we are happy to report that we have seen the 2006 BBC drama Stan, based on Neil Brand's radio play about Stan Laurel's last visit to Oliver "Babe" Hardy in 1957, and we have written a joint review. This is the first ever review written for both this site and our sister site The Stuff You Gotta Watch.
Habeas Corpus
Visit Our Other Movie Related Sites
Reviews of classic films in different genres
Reviews of animated, fantasy, sci-fi and horror films
Reviews and articles about the classic movie comedians
"I am so excited to see this movie. Dustoff Varnya is such a brilliant director. Did you see his last film, The Flower that Drank the Moon? It was simply glorious!"
"I guess I must have missed that one. But then what do I know? I like Laurel and Hardy movies. "
---- Ghost World (2001)
"Well, I'm a jitterbug boy, by the shoe-shine, resting on my laurels and my hardys too."
--- Tom Waits, "Jitterbug Boy"
Email us at lhcntrl (at) aol.com.
This site was created February 1998.
Laurel and Hardy Central is written by John Larrabee and John V. Brennan.
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I never knew such a deplorable situation existed in your household.
Mr. Laurel says that after reviewing the situation from all sides, he is thoroughly reconciled to the fact that the moving picture industry is still in its infancy.