July 2013 Meeting and Planning for the Waverley

The next meeting of the Bonnie Scotland tent will take place on Wednesday 31st July at 7:30pm.

It will also allow us to finalise the details ofthe annual Waverley Trip.  This is due to take place on  Saturday 17th august.  More details will be confirmed at the meeting.

August 2012 Meeting

The next meeting of the Bonnie Scotland branch of the Sons of the Desert is on Wednesday 29^th August, at 7:30pm in the Tartan Rose in Broomlands Street, Paisley.

The main feature will be Bonnie Scotland – where Stan and Olly seek out Stan’s inheritance.

Bonnie Scotland
Mclaurel and Hardy travel to Scotland in this comedy classic. But much of the action takes place in British India. The film is from the Hal Roach studio and produced by Hal Roach and directed by James W. Horne. Laurel and Hardy were best in their short comedy films but this is one of the best longer adventures. There are plenty of laughs and a funny dance routine (click on the Bonnie Scotland poster on the right hand side of this webpage for an example). The film also stars the familiar face of James Finlayson as the Sergeant Major.

Bonnie Scotland at Sea (again)                          

The tent went on a trip on the Waverley on 16^th June to celebrate what would have been Stan’s 122^nd birthday.  Everyone made it on time for the boat, and we were not involved in any fights.  The band played "Lonesome Pine", which as ever, was a cue for us to sign "our song". Amanda from the pub says she has lots of photos – we’ll put them online as soon as they are available.

Glasgow meeting

The Call of the Cuckoos next meeting will be on 5 September at the Panoptican: doors open 6.30, show time at 7.00

Ulverston Dickensian Weekend

There will be a contingent of Bonnies in Ulverston for the Dickensian weekend at the end of November, open invitation for anyone who wants to go along - sort out your own accommodation, we'll be meeting other Sons for a meal on the Saturday, if anyone is interested.

March 2012 Update

The next meeting is on Wednesday 28th March 2012 at 7:30pm in the Tartan Rose, Paisley.

November Update

The next meeting of the Bonnie Scotland tent is on Wednesday 30th November where the main feature will be Blockheads.

Blockheads

It's 1938, but Stan doesn't know the war is over; he's still patrolling the trenches in France, and shoots down a French aviator. Oliver sees his old chum's picture in the paper and goes to visit Stan at the Soldier's Home. Thinking Stan is disabled (it's just that he's sitting on his leg), Oliver takes pity on him and takes him home for a nice home-cooked meal. But Oliver's wife has other ideas and leaves him to fend for himself. After blowing up the kitchen, Oliver is helped by his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Gilbert... until the big-game hunting Mr. Gilbert comes home unexpectedly, carrying a shotgun.

Trivia

Stan: [to 901 guy] There's going to be a fight.
Stan: [to bypassers] There's going to be a fight.
Stan: [to guy going into apartment] Hey, there's going to be a fight.
Stan: [to desk guy] You better call an ambulance. It's going to be terrible. There's going to be a fight.

Stan: No, you see, everybody thought I was dead. Didn't they?
Oliver: Um, hmm.
Lulu: How did you find out you weren't?

Composer Marvin Hatley was nominated for an Oscar for Block-heads for the best Original Score of 193 but unfortunately didn’t win it.

September Update

The next meeting of the Bonnie Scotland tent is at the Tartan Rose on Wednesday 28th September, where the main feature will be Pardon Us.


Pardon Us

It's Prohibition, and the boys wind up behind bars after Stan sells some of their home-brew beer to a policeman. In prison, Stan's loose tooth keeps getting him in trouble, because it sounds like he's giving everybody a rasp- berry. But it earns him the respect of The Tiger, a rough prisoner, and the boys manage to slip away during The Tiger's escape attempt. They disguise themselves and hide on a cotton plantation, but are recaptured when the warden happens by. Back in the big house, they find themselves in a hail of bullets, caught between the state militia and gun-toting prisoners, when The Tiger tries another escape.


Trivia

Four foreign language versions were also shot: Sous les verrous (French), Hinter Schloss und Riegel (German), Muraglie (Italian) and Los presidiarios or "De Bote en Bote" (Spanish) . Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy spoke their lines phonetically, and many supporting roles were recast, including Boris Karloff playing "The Tiger" in the French version.

Several scenes were shot but deleted from the final theatrical print, which ran 56 minutes. The first ending showed the boys in gray-bearded old age reminiscing about their misadventures.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's first feature-length film. Producer Hal Roach had wanted to use some of the sets left over from MGM's big-budget prison picture The Big House to do a prison-movie spoof, but discovered that it would be too expensive to make as a short subject.


Schoolteacher: You spell "Needle"!
Oliver: [pause] N-E-I-D-L-E.
Schoolteacher: There is no "I" in needle!
Stanley: Then it's a rotten needle.

August Update

The next meeting of the Bonnie Scotland tent is at the Tartan Rose on Wednesday 31st August, where the main feature will be Way Out West – famous for the dance routine (see link) and, of course, the Trail of the Lonesome Pine.


Way Out West

Stan and Ollie are headed for the western town of Brushwood Gulch. Their mission is to find a woman named Mary Roberts in order to deliver her a deed to a valuable gold mine left to her by her father. Unfortunately, their problems start as soon as they arrive in town when they realize they upset the wife of the town's Sheriff while on the coach they hitch a ride on, and they must catch the next coach out of town...or else. Their problems continue when Mickey Finn, Mary's guardian, learns why they're here, and has his wife, Lola Marcel, play Mary in order to hijack the deed from them. However, before leaving town, they encounter the real Mary Roberts and are forced to get the deed back. What ensues from there is more hilarity then you could ever imagine.


Trivia

Hal Roach had to come up with four different titles for the film, before finding a title that wasn't already owned by another studio. The three discarded titles were: "You'd Be Surprised", "Tonight's the Night", and "In the Money".

Lola Marcel: Tell me - is my dear, dear Daddy really dead?
Stan: I hope so; they buried him.

Sons of the Desert at Sea!

The Bonnie Scotland tent took a trip doon the watter on the Waverley to catch up with one of our members who had emigrated from Erskine to Rothesay.

Despite a limited time ashore we managed to visit a number of local hostelries and even sang the traditional song as our food was being served. The song was later heard resonating from the lower bar of the Waverley much to the amusement/ concern of other passengers.


The Waverely is currently having funding problems, so the Bonnie Scotland tent decided to make a donation of £300 to help keep the Waverley afloat.

It was a great day out, with almost 20 members of the tent coming along. However, not all got off at Rothesay to wonder exactly what else they do with slippers!( see photo).