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).

July Update

The next meeting of the Bonnie Scotland tent is at 7:30pm on Wednesday 27th July 2011, at the Tartan Rose, Paisley. This month's feature is Saps at Sea (click on the graphic for a video clip). The tent is also planning a trip on the Waverley on Sunday 31st July - if you're interested let Janice know by emailing her at chonziecats@yahoo.co.uk.

Saps at Sea
After working in the noisy horn factory, just the sound of one drives Oliver into a violent fit. Dr. Finlayson prescribes a long, restful sea voyage, so Stan and Oliver rent a boat and set sail, unaware that escaped killer Nick Grainger has stowed away onboard. To disable the crook, the boys prepare him a meal using string for spaghetti, sponges for meatballs and soap for cheese. But Grainger discovers their plan and decides to make them eat the stuff themselves.

Sons of the Desert Convention Paisley 2011

At last - some video from the 32nd Annual UK Sons of the Desert Convention in Paisley - click on the convention poster for the video clip.

This link takes you to one of the stories the local newspaper ran on the convention.

May Update

The next meeting of the Bonnie Scotland tent takes place on Wednesday 25th May at 7:30pm, in the Tartan Rose, Broomlands Street, Paisley. There will be a DVD with highlights of the recent UK Convention held in Paisley and the usual Laurel and Hardy movies, finishing off with Tom & Jerry.

April Update

Our next meeting takes place on Wednesday 27th April at the Tartan Rose, Broomlands Street, Paisley at 7:30pm. The main feature is Sons of the Desert -very apt as it is two days before the start of the 32nd Annual UK Sons of the Desert Convention in Paisley! Other films planned for that night include Them Thar Hills and Another Fine Mess.

Sons of the Desert (1933)
So that he and Stan can sneak away to Chicago and attend the annual "Sons of the Desert" lodge convention, Ollie pretends to be sick, and gets a doctor (who turns out to be a veterinarian) to prescribe a long ocean voyage to Hawaii. Decked out in leis and strumming ukeleles, they return home only to learn that the ship supposedly carrying them has sunk. Their hastily- contrived tale of "ship-hiking" their way back cuts no ice with their wives, who've been at the movies watching a newsreel of the lodge's convention parade, starring... guess who?

Trivia

Three decades after the movie's release, its motif inspired the creation of an "international Laurel and Hardy appreciation society," named after the movie and created by Stan Laurel and his biographer John McCabe.