Hal LeRoy, Tap Dancer

I was watching one of my favorite things on Turner Classic Movies the other night, "TCM Extras." I sometimes find myself tuning in to TCM about 20 minutes before the next film is scheduled, just to watch for an Extra. I realize how much work it is to maintain a web site, but I do think Turner could do a better job of listing the wonderful short films they use as fillers between features.

They should also offer these great shorts in collections in their store. I searched the store for 'extras' and found E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982) and a series called "Extras" starring Ricky Gervais (b. 1961) that was on television a few years ago. No joy there either.

Back to my viewing experience. The short musical film I caught was The Knight is Young (1938) starring Hal Le Roy (1913 - 1985) and June Allyson (1917 - 2006). This was Allyson's eighth film, all of her work on screen was in shorts (short films, I mean) up until then.

June is trapped in her apartment because she doesn't have the rent money, and Hal is a sign painter she can see from the window. Hal shows June what tap dancing is all about, and later returns to rescue her through the window. Before he comes back, June has a fantasy day-dream about a Scotsman on the new sign Hal just painted, and we enjoy a dance routine by the Gae Foster Girls. June and Hal then go dancing at the Sign Painters' Ball...all in 19 minutes, including a surprise ending.

Two-reelers like this are a load of fun, requiring no thought at all. Just sit back and enjoy. They should be required viewing at every movie theater, taking the place of some of the ads.

When this short started on TV, I thought I remembered Hal Le Roy's name. Sure enough, I had the pleasure of meeting Hal at a Son's of the Desert event in 1982. Since he never became a big movie star, he fits in perfectly here as a Bit Actor.

Hal Le Roy was a vaudevillian, and he played all over. He started dancing on the stage at age 15 and was an instant hit. He was popular through the 1930s at music halls including Radio City, and would occasionally get a dancing role in a movie. His film career was not as good as his Broadway or vaudeville work.

Hal only appeared in 22 films, mostly shorts, and a few television shows. His first feature was Wonder Bar (1934) starring Al Jolson (1886 - 1950), Kay Francis (1905 - 1968), and Dolores del Rio (1904 - 1983). Hal was in black face, but Jolson appeared that way many times. This film was released just a few months before the Hays Code censored anything untoward on the screen. With Dick Powell, Guy Kibbee and Hugh Herbert also in the cast, this is a film I want to see.

Hal's next film gives him a starring role in a feature. Harold Teen (1934) also includes Clara Blandick (1880 - 1962) who would go on the become Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

In 1937 he worked with June Allyson in Swing for Sale. I guess it had some swing dancing. He would also work with June in Ups and Downs (1937), which was Phil Silvers' (1911 - 1985) first screen appearance, and The Prisoner of Swing (1938) which includes Eddie Foy, Jr.

Hal worked with Jimmy Durante (1893 - 1980) in Start Cheering (1938); danced with Betty Hutton (1921 - 2007) in her first film, Public Jitterbug No. 1 (1939); and his final film was Too Many Girls (1940) with Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Ann Miller and Frances Langford.

Le Roy's dancing style has been likened to Ray Bolger. Both were incredibly thin and seemed to be made of rubber. Hal did a great job of incorporating dance into the most unlikely stories. He was a washing machine salesman who excelled by dancing his sales pitch!

I don't remember much about my conversation with Hal or our time together. I did take his photo for you to enjoy. Hal passed away just three years after I met him.

This photo is free for non-profit use.
Please list my credit if your re-post it.
Higher quality is also available. Just e-mail.
Thanks!

A Busy Time and Stuff to Not Miss

Firstly, I would like to apologize for less frequently posting to Bit Actors than I would like. The past few weeks have been filled with family stuff and time has been short. I did get my income tax completed this week, so that's out of the way.

My new computer at home has been wonderful so far. I have moved to Windows 7 with a quad-core Intel processor, 16Gb of RAM and a 2Tb hard disk drive. Who would have thought computers would advance this fast. My first computer was a Mac 128 in 1986, with a single floppy drive and no hard drive. And I thought 128Kb of RAM was amazing. I was in Heaven when I bought a second floppy drive.

Here are some reminders of classic film related events in the Philadelphia, PA area. I will be at most of them, so look for me.

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A last reminder that our local Sons of the Desert tent is holding our Spring 2012 Banquet on Friday, April 20, 2012. Our guest for the evening will be Pretty, Perky, Peggy King, the star singer from "The George Gobel Show." Click on the link above or go to the link on the right to find more info on the event, and try to get in if you are in the area. If you do go, please look for me!

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Here is one I just found out about today. On Sunday, April 22, 2012, there will be a lecture with photos and film clips about the Betzwood Studio of Siegmund Lubin. Lubin was the first movie mogul in the USA, and Betzwood was the largest movie studio in the country at the time. It was located across the Schuylkill River from Valley Forge, which wasn't a national park back then.

The lecture in Phoenixville, PA is free and will be given by my friend Joseph Eckhardt of Montgomery County Community College. I am sure there will be info about The Toonerville Trolly for all you fans out there. Click on the flyer below to see a larger copy and get details.

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Prof. Eckhardt will next be hosting the Silent Film Festival at MCCC on May 12, 2012 at 8 p.m. This is a fun evening with very old films from Lubin, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the opening of his Betzwood Studios. Please buy Prof. Eckhardt's book, The King of the Movies: Film Pioneer Siegmund Lubin and bring it along for an autograph.

The movies will be accompanied on the organ by Don Kinnier who is also worth the trip to Bluebell, PA.

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If you missed Casablanca (1942) on the big screen in March, Turner Classic Films is having an Encore Event. You can see it (or see it again) on April 26, 2012 at a theater near you. Go to this Casablanca Link to get all the info and order your tickets.

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That's about all I have time for today. See you at the movies.

Me and The Sons of the Desert

It has been a rather busy week for me. As a card-carrying member of the Sons of the Desert, I was increasingly disturbed by the lack of a web site for my own local Tent. I spend a fair amount of time on the Internet researching Bit Actors, and I expect many other people do as well. We need a presence.

A word of explanation may be in order, if you are unfamiliar with the Sons. In 1933, Laurel and Hardy released what was probably their very best feature film, Sons of the Desert. It was about a fraternal organization The Boys belonged to, and they were having a convention in Chicago. All of the California members took a solemn oath to attend...without consulting their wives! You can imaging what they went through to make the trip (without their better halves) and the consequences they reaped upon their return.

Fast forward a few years to the 1960s. Writer and historian John McCabe was working on his biography Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy, and in speaking with Stan Laurel at his home, McCabe suggested creating a group of Laurel and Hardy admirers who would celebrate their films. The Sons of the Desert was born. Other founding members included Al Kilgore, Orson Bean and Chuck McCann.

The first meeting took place in New York City in 1965, a short time after Stan passed away. The SotD grew and each new city was to start what is called a Tent, and they would name it after one of the L&H films. I am in the Philadelphia, PA area and ours is the Two Tars Tent, named after a silent film from 1928.

Our Tent is now in its 41st year. We had a web site a few years ago, but since this is a completely volunteer organization (based on Laurel and Hardy!) the web site was not looked after properly. It was nobody's fault because people get busy. Then, I opened my BIIIG MOUTH (sorry for stealing your line, Jackie Gleason) and got the job! The important thing is that The Two Tars Tent now has a functioning web site, thanks to the ease of Google Sites. I was helped by two of our board members, Roger Gordon and Bob Rooney. Thanks, guys!

The address is a bit unwieldy, but Google Sites is free, so I won't complain.
https://sites.google.com/site/twotars14/home
Google Sites has a number of nifty features and it should be easy to maintain.

On the site you will find a calendar that I hope will fill with important events regarding old movies, especially in the Southeastern PA area. I am also adding the birthdays of many old stars. I am still posting photos from past events, and there are some links to other movie related web sites on the links page.

I hope you will stop by the new web site and let me know what you think. If you love to laugh, you may want to look for a Sons of the Desert Tent in your area and get to some meetings. You will find a welcoming atmosphere and a great bar where you can park your camel and have "one for the desert."

More Film Restoration and Richard W. Bann

I received a comment from film historian and writer, Richard W. Bann, about my last post requesting everyone to donate lots of money to film restoration.  Here is what he has to say:

"Richard W. Bann commented on your link.

"My comment:

"All of us want to believe we are doing something useful with our lives, something that matters, something that leaves lasting marks. Something that speaks to future generations, to show we were here, and made a difference.

"Time travel is an important component of my attraction to old films. Did all that talent realize they were communicating with millions of people not yet born at that time? Those of us who receive that communication today...how can we respond? We want to let these artists and technicians know they didn't do all that work for nothing. That we enjoy and honor the entertainment value, and that we treasure the living history they have unwittingly given us. And one meaningful thing we can do and one way we can respond is to support film preservation efforts. It is important to do so.


"Yes my essay will make some fans cringe. The story is painful; in fact it is worse than you know. I softened and concealed some of the worst incidents. And yes it is easy for us to look back and criticize the careless custodians of these treasures. We have some responsibility here too, however, because we have an opportunity now to be part of the film preservation effort at UCLA. If these films mean something to you, please get involved."


Pretty good thoughts, don't you think?  It shows his insight, as well as his love of movies.

I would like to add a few words about Dick Bann.  I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago at a Sons of the Desert meeting.  Dick is incredibly knowledgeable in all things film, and probably has one of the best jobs in the world. 

A quick search at Google Books for his name returns well over 800 hits.  He didn't write that many books, but his writing is easy to find.  He is also well known for his contribution to movie documentaries and other books about the film industry.

I have an autographed copy of his 1984 book, Our Gang: The Life and Times of The Little Rascals, which was co-authored by Leonard Maltin.  There is an updated version of that book, released in 1992, called The Little Rascals: The Life and Times of Our Gang.  Buy either one...they are very informative, including a section on where they are now.  (The Rascals...not Bann and Maltin.)

Bann has also co-authored several other books.  Here is a very short list -

• Laurel & Hardy, with text by John McCabe, compiled by Al Kilgore, and filmography by Richard W. Bann.  I have had the pleasure of meeting McCabe and Kilgore as well, but sadly, they are both gone.
• Lone Pine in the Movies, Celebrating Republic's 75th Anniversary, with Ed Hulse, Chris Langley, and Sam Sherman.  (I don't know them!)
• W. C. Fields: A Life on Film, with W. C.'s grandson, Ronald Fields.  (I met him, too.)

As you can see, his interest in movies reflects that of many classic film buffs by covering some of the top people and studios in all of classic filmdom.

Dick Bann is also tapped as a source of reliable information for other authors and filmmakers.  He has helped on many documentaries, and you can find him quoted on many web sites as well.

Courtesy Richard W. Bann

According to IMDb, Dick has appeared as himself in two documentaries, a video short about Hal Roach's Rascals, and on the Playboy TV series, "Kendra."  (Dick is also a regular at the Playboy Mansion.)  He will soon appear in a documentary about Bettie Page (1923 - 2008) sometime this year, and is currently making one about Laurel and Hardy.

It is interesting to search for his name on the 'net, and then follow the links to read his various interviews, references and stories.  Many of these can be found at http://www.laurel-and-hardy.com/ the official web site for The Boys, or on other L&H devoted web sites.

In addition to the UCLA film restoration project, there are other institutions that do their part.  The Library of Congress is one of the biggest, although with limited money at the present due to the economic dilemma in the USA.  You can search the Internet for Film Preservation or go to the Wikipedia site for that topic for more info and other organizations.

I am thankful as well, to have Dick answer my e-mail questions.  I have limited resources and time to write my little blog, and getting the full poop from him has been very helpful.  I am sure he can now be included in the (more or less) exclusive club called - Bit Actors.

Classic Film Restoration

Think about how many movies have been made since 1896 and the first public exhibition of motion pictures in New York City.  It must be hundreds of millions, at least.  Well, maybe not quite that many, but it would be impossible to screen everything ever filmed, for more than one reason.  Time constraint is a concern, but sadly, the great majority of movies have been lost.

It has been said that at least 80% of all the silent films ever made are gone forever.  That is a thought that makes any movie buff angry at the way these important negatives were treated by their creators.  But most of them were making a simple business decision.  Even Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were responsible.

Movies in the silent era were made, shown, and discarded.  The studio heads didn't think they would ever be needed again, once everyone had seen them.  The film stock was nitrate based, so it was flammable (Very flammable.  It would even burn underwater.), and it would deteriorate after a few years, turning into powder.  Because it was dangerous to keep in storage, requiring fire-proof buildings, it was much cheaper to get rid of it all.  One famous incident included using the old negatives as fuel for a new film that required a big fire scene.

Many films were lost in warehouse fires.  A fire destroyed most of the negatives of the Lubin Studios in 1914, the same year that Lubin had saved Samuel Goldwyn, Jesse Lasky and Cecil B. DeMille from technical problems they had with the film The Squaw Man (1914).  MGM and Warner Brothers may never have been created if it were not for the technical advances of Lubin Manufacturing.  By 1917 Siegmund Lubin had to dissolve his business, party due to the fire, and also to World War I. 

In 1927, Talkies started coming out.  The change took several years because theaters had to invest in more equipment, as did the studios, but everyone could see that from The Jazz Singer on, movies would talk.  Again, the studios that still had negatives in storage for their silent films could see no reason to retain them.  Surely, nobody would ever want to see a silent film again.  Wrong!

Film restoration efforts began after television started to become popular.  But that was a full 50 years after those first motion pictures flickered in small theaters.  Much had already been lost forever.  Early restoration attempts were spotty at best, with new titles added to many films, complete with mistakes made in the transformation.  Much of this was for television screening, and the network heads couldn't see any reason for doing the restoration job right.  All they needed was a 16mm print made from the 35mm negative.  It would be expensive to do more, and it would probably never be needed after the first showing.  Wrong again!

In a similar mindset, the movie studios that sold their work to television saw this as a last chance to make a few dollars on old films.  Surely this would be the end of the need to keep these old negatives.  No attempt was made to properly store them...it would be too expensive.  What wasn't duped for TV was left to turn to dust.  Not only wrong, but a tragedy as well.

I recently read an incredibly detailed account by Richard W. Bann about the restoration of the films of Hal Roach Studios.  Hal Roach made the films of Charley Chase, The Little Rascals, Laurel and Hardy, Thelma Todd, and many others.  Bann is a film historian and writer, and was personally involved with the process.  You can find him on Facebook. 

The article is not for the faint of heart.  It is long and somewhat technical.  But it is important to give it a shot if you love old movies.  If you get through all four pages, you will learn some new terminology, and I am sure the article will bring back some memories.  Plus, it has some great pictures.

You can find a link to the article on the home page of the official Laurel and Hardy web site. 
http://www.laurel-and-hardy.com/

The web site is also a font of information about the best comedy team to ever grace the big screen.  The Sons of the Desert are championing the restoration of these films at UCLA Film & Television Archive.
http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/support/laurel-and-hardy

If you love classic movies as much as I, please take a look at these links.  Spend some time there.  Donate some money if you can.  It is important to save these films for future generations, and as Dick Bann puts it, it is comforting to know that Laurel and Hardy will be around forever.  Our government is having some moderate to heavy financial trouble these days, so whatever we can do privately will help the project move along.  Thanks!

Sheila Ryan goes A-Haunting

Last night was the spring banquet for the local Sons of the Desert group, and I was there.  It's good to see old friends again.  Hopefully you remember that the SoD is the Laurel and Hardy appreciation club. and we have "tents" all over the world.  The Philadelphia, PA chapter is the Two Tars Tent, each city having a tent named after one of the films.

This time we had a magic theme to the evening.  We started out with a documentary on the later films, made at 20th Century Fox and MGM.  Then we toasted the boys and some friends and sang the SoD theme song.  Next came a wonderful buffet dinner, with a showing of a Three Stooges film that had nothing to do with magic.

A live magician was next, and he gave us a great show, astounding us with card tricks.  To end the meeting, we screened A-Haunting We Will Go (1942).  While not one of the boy's best film's, it was quite enjoyable.  The camera tricks were a bit over the top and took away from Laurel and Hardy to an extent, but the film still works.

Laurel and Hardy were still a big draw at the box office, some 21 years after they first appeared in The Lucky Dog (1921), although not as a team back then.  The film also featured Dante the Magician, as I mentioned a few days ago.  He was quite good and obviously felt at home on the stage or screen.

In smaller parts Elisha Cook Jr. (1903 - 1995) played a crook, as usual.  His career spanned 1930 to 1988, and this was only six films after The Maltese Falcon, which was released a year earlier.

Looking pretty as always was Sheila Ryan (1921 - 1975).  Ryan was married from 1951 to 1975 to Pat Buttram (1915 - 1994) who played his most famous part (to modern audiences) as Mr. Haney on "Green Acres."  To most of us older folk, he was Gene Autry's sidekick.

Sheila has 62 acting credits on IMDb, starting in 1939.  She was in The Gay Caballero (1940) with Cesar Romero, Dressed to Kill (1941) with Lloyd Nolan, and Sun Valley Serenade (1941) with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.  Her first work with Laurel and Hardy came in Great Guns (1941) and then A-Haunting We Will Go.

She made four movies with Gene Autry, I wonder if that's where she met Pat, and also appeared multiple times on his TV show.  Looking at the titles in her later movie career, she was mostly in B-movies.  Her last film was Street of Darkness (1958), starring Robert Keys (1921 - 2004).  (Who?)

As Dante's assistant in A-Haunting, she was perfect, and could not be any prettier.  You can be part of the Sons of the Desert.  Just send me a private e-mail and I'll get you in touch with your local Grand Sheik.  bitactors@gmail.com  It is a load of fun and very educational about these older films, and the Bit Actors as well as the stars.

Sim Sala Bim!

This coming Friday will be the next banquet for The Two Tars Tent of The Sons of the Desert.  The SoD is, of course, the Laurel and Hardy film appreciation society, formed in part by Stan Laurel himself.  Each city has a Tent named after one of the films, and the one in Philadelphia is Two Tars.

This week will include a screening of A-Haunting We Will Go (1942) starring The Boys.  This is one of their last films, and was made at Twentieth Century Fox, after they left Hal Roach.  It is not considered one of their best films, but it is worth seeing.

The film is about L&H getting involved with con men and a magician.  The magician is played by real life magician Dante.  Dante the Magician was considered one of the best.  He was born in Denmark as Harry August Jensen (1883 - 1955) (possibly spelled Jansen).  He was also the last of the large traveling magic shows in the USA.  He often said, "Sim Sala Bim" during his performance.

His career as an entertainer started when he was about 16 years old, and he was quickly recognized as talented.  He was given the stage name Dante by Howard Thurston (1869 - 1936) in 1925.  Thurston was, at the time, the premier magician in the world.  Thurston was more well known than Harry Houdini (1874 - 1926). 

In film, Dante first appeared as himself in a Swedish film called Dante Mysterier (1931).  Next came A-Haunting, and then two more films; Bunco Squad (1950) from RKO Radio Pictures, and The Golden Coach (1951) made in Italy.  Of his four performances on screen, A-Haunting would be the best choice to see a good movie, but my guess is Dante Mysterier would be the best to see Dante.  (If you can find it.)

Another great Bit Actor we will see in A-Haunting We Will Go is Elisha Cook Jr. (1903-1995) who made more than 200 titles in his career. 

At this banquet we will also partake of a sumptuous buffet dinner, and then be entertained by a real life magician, who performs in the style of Dante.  We will raise a glass to Dante, Stan and Ollie, and some other friends, and then park our camel and have one for the road.

Pups is Pups

What a fun evening we had last night.  During the Hal Roach marathon on Turner Classic Movies, I had stuck Pups is Pups (1930) on my DVR.  I thought that an Our Gang short about puppies would appeal to my wife who is a dog lover, and perhaps to our dog, Sadie, who sometimes glances at the TV.  I was right!!!  A friend was over, who is also a dog lover, and the three of us (four, including Sadie) laughed so much that we had to roll the movie back several times to catch some dialog.  Well, Sadie didn't laugh much.

This two-reeler was released in 1930 and was the first of that season.  It starred Bobby 'Wheezer' Huchins (1925 - 1945), Allen 'Farina' Hoskins (1920 - 1980), Jackie Cooper (b. 1922), Norman 'Chubby' Chaney (1914 - 1936), Dorothy ' Little Echo' DeBorba (1925 - 2010), and others.  As soon as I saw the first scene, I remembered the movie, even though it has been years since I had seen it last.

As the story starts, the gang is playing in their makeshift playground, which was probably a work area on the Roach Studio lot.  Five year old Dorothy comes out in a clean dress with her hair in lovely curls and heads straight for the mud puddle to jump in.  This was a running joke in a 20 minute film that was much more complex than you would think possible in such a short amount of time.  When I met Dorothy many years later at a Sons of the Desert banquet, she recanted her recollection of that movie for us!  Sadly we lost Dorothy in June last year at 85 years old.

There are two stories at work in Pups is Pups.  Wheezer has five puppies that he trained to come at the sound of a bell.  The rest of the gang are readying their pets to take them to a fancy dog and pet show in the city, where Farina has secured a job as a page (including a uniform with brass buttons).

We follow Wheezer who has let his puppies get away.  They are attracted to every bell they hear...an ambulance, an ice cream cart, a train crossing, whatever...and Wheezer can't keep up.  Meanwhile, the gang arrives at the pet show where they are not allowed in.  They sneak in anyway and wreak havoc, as you can imagine.

Wheezer is eventually reunited with his puppies in a scene that actually brought tears to my eyes!  He looks like he was genuinely attached to those little guys.  Of course he was only about five years old so that is not beyond a reasonable assumption.  And the gang is back at their play area, as Dorothy takes a final plunge in the puddle.

I decided to look up Pups is Pups in one of my books.  I bought Our Gang, The Life and Times of the Little Rascals many years ago.  It was written by Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann in 1977.  Even my books are getting old!

I had the pleasure of meeting Dick Bann in the 1980s, and he autographed my book.  It is interesting to note that this book, a paperback edition, has the price of $5.95 on the back.  You can't buy a paperback of this quality and content for anywhere near that as of this writing!  The 1984 printing of the book (with the red cover) is still available, and the newest version from 1992 is called The Little Rascals, The Life and Times of Our Gang.  If you love Hal Roach's Rascals as I do, it should be in your collection.  The film descriptions and biographies, as well as the well researched insight by the authors, make this a 'must have' book.

In the book, it is mentioned that Pups is Pups was the first Our Gang comedy to have a full musical score.  The music of Leroy Shield and Marvin Hatley has become synonymous with many Hal Roach comedies, including Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase films, and is instantly recognizable.

There is even mention in the book of something that struck me as quite progressive for the early depression years.  In the Our Gang comedies, we see children of several races, all playing together with total disregard for the color of their skin.  Maltin and Bann go into some detail in the book about this, including comments from Farina Hoskins to back them up.

Pups is Pups appears to be available on some Our Gang DVD collections, and it is usually better to have a collection than just one film from a series.  A word of warning, shy away from any colorized versions.  Adding color does absolutely nothing for these movies.  It should be against the law, actually.

Sunday, February 20, 2011 update:  I received the comment below from Richard Bann on Facebook yesterday.  Thanks again, Dick, for your knowledge and willingness to share.

If you are a member of Facebook, check out Dick's 'Notes' page for a very interesting piece on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), as mentioned below.  (And buy his books!!!)

Richard W. Bann -

"Very nice, Allen, thanks.  Vivendi is now re-releasing the Our Gang DVDs, a few at a time, until they are all for sale as individual DVDs.  Not a boxed set this time.  They are re-mastering the titles where they mistakenly worked from 16mm Blackhawk release prints....Whenever I drive to Paramount, I go right by the church where they filmed the closing scenes for PUPS IS PUPS...If you read the program notes for TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE which I posted on FB yesterday (written for that other Hefner) there is a pretty good story about Bad-Brained Bobby Blake, still making all the wrong kind of news."

Christmas Vacation

I know, it isn't really a classic.  But you have to admit, this Chevy Chase (b. 1943) film has some good lines, good slap-stick, and the most important thing, it has Mae Questel (1908 - 1998).

Christmas Vacation (1989) was Mae's last film, in a career that includes 382 titles starting in 1930.  Mae is best known as the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl in cartoons.  Her Betty Boop voice is a copy of the original Boop-Boop-A-Doop girl, Helen Kane (1904 - 1966). 

I had the pleasure of meeting Mae twice, while I was a bored member in The Sons of the Desert.  The first time was at a banquet in New York City, and then she came to the Philadelphia SoD convention in 1986.  She was fun, and always ready to tell a story about the old days.

Mae entertained us on banquet night, singing with Vince Giordano's Nighthawk Orchestra.  You can see some of her performance in the Emmy award winning TV documentary "The Revenge of the Sons of the Desert" filmed by Sandy Marshall at the convention.  (You'll see me in it as well!)

Mae's later films included a voice part in Bells Are Ringing (1960), Funny Girl (1968), Zelig (1983) a Woody Allen film where she did the voice of Helen Kane, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) again as Betty Boop. 

I'd also like to recognize Doris Roberts (b. 1930) who played the lush (used as a noun) mother-in-law.  Doris is a perfect Bit Actor.  She has 127 titles listed, starting in 1952.  She was in A New Leaf in 1971 and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three in 1974, among a lot of other work.  She also made a lot of TV remakes of famous movies, like "Bell, Book and Candle," "It Happened One Christmas" a remake of It's a Wonderful Life, and "The Diary of Anne Frank."

And we can't forget William Hickey (1927 - 1997).  I have written about him in my post on The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Check out my archives. 

The rest of the cast does a great job supporting this Chevy Chase showcase.  Beverly D'Angelo (b. 1951) is charming as always.  Juliette Lewis (b. 1973) plays Chase's daughter.  She is now making quite a name for herself as an actress with 56 titles.  Johnny Galecki (b. 1975) was the son, and he now has 46 titles.

Veteran actors, E. G. Marshall (1914 - 1998), John Randolph (1915 - 2004), Miriam Flynn (b. 1952), and the ever strange Randy Quaid (b. 1950) all add their magic to the film, without interfering with Chase's antics. 

As I said, for a real classic movie fan, this will probably never be a classic.  But if you are in the mood for something lighter than A Christmas Carol, this just might be perfect.

Ed Sullivan Starring Will Jordan

I have a busy day today and tomorrow, so here is a picture I took in 1984 of Will Jordan (b. 1927) at a Sons of the Desert banquet.

Copyright 1984 Allen Hefner

Will is the best impersonator of Ed Sullivan (1901 - 1974) who ever tried to do it.  In fact, in Will's seven movie credits, he played Ed Sullivan six times.  He is also played Sullivan in Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway, and in his early career, on "The Ed Sullivan Show" with the host himself.

Please respect the photographs I have taken.  If you want to use them, please ask first.  It's probably OK, I just want to know and maybe receive credit under the pic!

Al Kilgore (1927 - 1983)

While not technically a Bit Actor, Al Kilgore has been enshrined in the minds of all Laurel and Hardy fans.

Copyright 1981 Allen Hefner

Al has one acting credit listed on IMDb and one stint in the art department of a documentary.  In 1966 he appeared in Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates, a 49 min. B&W film made in NJ.

Here is the storyline from IMDb:
"Captain Celluloid battles the evil Master Duper and his criminal gang, the League of Film Pirates, who plan to hijack copies of classic films, copy them and sell them to desperate film collectors all over the world."

That doesn't sound like much of a movie, but I guess the creative juices of the cast and crew were running rampant, as Al often did.

Al was an artist and cartoonist.  He drew a comic strip called Rocky and Bullwinkle in 1962, starring Rocky and Bullwinkle from the TV series.  He was a gifted artist and won an award for his book, Elvis the Paper Doll Book.

He was a collaborator when The Sons of the Desert was founded, and he was called upon to design a crest for all to wear in the organization.

The crest bears the Latin motto: Duae Tabulae Rasae In Quibus Nihil Scriptum Est, which translates as "Two Minds Without a Single Thought."  This motto was suggested by Stan Laurel himself.

Al Kilgore also created one of the best Laurel and Hardy books in 1975, Laurel & Hardy. Compiled by Al Kilgore.  He worked with author Jack McCabe, founder of the Sons, and also with Dick Bann, another famous film historian.  Al wrote or worked on other books as well.

I met Al in 1981, at a Sons of the Desert banquet in Philadelphia.  As part of our entertainment, Al came out dressed as a WWI doughboy and sang some songs of that era for us.  Then he dressed up as Groucho Marx and did an entire routine as Groucho.

Copyright 1981 Allen Hefner

After he was finished, I went out to the bar (a frequent occurrence at SoD banquets).  There was a wedding in one of the other rooms, and I looked in.  There was Al, still dressed as Groucho, and he was dancing with the bride!  Cigar in hand!

I guess you don't have to be a great Bit Actor to influence the movie industry.  Al Kilgore certainly brought a lot of enjoyment to Sons all over the world.

Please respect the photographs I have taken.  If you want to use them, please ask first.  It's probably OK, I just want to know and maybe receive credit under the pic!

Ulverston, England 1984

I am busy scanning, and I just lost my external hard drive!!!  The file system went missing, so now I am looking for a recovery program to help me get my pics back.  Failing that, I have the originals and backups of what was on that disk, so I can start over.  :-(

I thought I would share some pics I took in Ulverston, England at the Fourth International Convention of the Sons of the Desert in 1984.  The convention started in London and then moved up to the Lake District where Stan Laurel was born.

People all over the small town of Ulverston were getting into the spirit of the convention.

The mayor of the town at that time was Bill Cubin.  He also ran the Laurel and Hardy Museum, which was a small shop-size place with pictures and memorabilia everywhere.  Pictures and letters were even on the ceiling.

The museum has since moved into an old movie theater, and continues to be run by Bill's family.  The Lake District is incredibly beautiful, so if you ever travel to Great Britain, be sure to stop in Ulverston.

This photo was taken in Blackpool, England where we were having a banquet.  We had visited the Blackpool Tower, famous for ballroom dancing.  The actual tower on the roof provided a great view up and down the coast.

I found the small bar outside the banquet room and stopped for a pint.  I was joined by Little Jimmy Murphy.  Jimmy was Stan Laurel's valet for many years.  He is from that area of England.

The tall chap is Henry Brandon (1912 - 1990), a star in over 100 movies.  He is here because he played Silas Barnaby in Babes in Toyland (1934) with Laurel and Hardy.  Also look for him in The Searchers (11956) with John Wayne.  Please click on Henry's name for a link to my previous post about him.

The other two in the pic are the musicians who were playing at our banquet.  We all wound up looking for refreshment, and I had a wonderful time trying to understand the English Jimmy Murphy and the two musicians were speaking.  They had quite a heavy local accent, but it is a memory I cherish.

If you click on the images you should see them at full size.  Please enjoy them, but also please respect my ownership.  All photos in this post are copyright 1984 by Allen Hefner.  Just ask for permission to use them.

Photo of Some Friends, Sons of the Desert

Below is a photo that I took at a 1979 banquet of the Two Tars Tent of The Sons of the Desert.  I have spoken of the Sons before, but if any readers are new, the SoD is the international organization dedicated to the films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

Each city has a local group called a tent.  The Two Tars meet in the Philadelphia, PA area.  At the banquets they always try to have guests who were involved in some way with L&H or at Hal Roach Studios, or were active in the era.  These days they are getting much older and hard to find.

Here is the pic -

Copyright 1979 Allen Hefner

In the picture (from left to right) we see Red Stanley (1900 - 1980), his wife Anita Garvin (1906 - 1994) and Rosina Lawrence (1912 - 1997).

Red Stanley was a musician and appeared in only nine movies.  He was a delight to talk with.  He worked in films with Betty Grable, Fred MacMurray, Harriet Hilliard (of Ozzie and Harriet), Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake in Blondie Goes Latin (1941), and was uncredited as a trombonist in The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) with Jack Benny.  He married Anita in 1930.


Anita Garvin was one of the most endearing supporting actors used by Laurel and Hardy.  She appeared in 94 films from 1924 to 1940, including about 11 with The Boys, plus some films with Laurel or Hardy, sans the other.  About a third of her films were made at Hal Roach Studios.  My favorite of hers with The Boys was Blotto, a 1930 short where Anita played Stan's wife.  Stan and Ollie thought they would put one over on her and take her hidden liquor to a club.  She had replaced it with cold tea before they left, but they got blotto anyway.  It is one very funny movie.

Rosina Lawrence was one of the nicest people you could ever meet!  Someone once said that she was so sweet, if she went out in the rain, she would melt.  Rosina made 30 films from 1924 to 1939, when she married and became a housewife.  She was popular in some Our Gang comedies as well as some of the best Laurel and Hardy movies.  She had a major role in Way Out West (1937), considered one of their finest feature films.

Rosina's first husband died in 1973.  She married John McCabe in 1987.  McCabe (another acquaintance of mine) was the founder of The Sons of the Desert.  Look for his books about Laurel and Hardy and also Charlie Chaplin.

I have fond memories of all these people, and I will continue to share them with you.  Back in those days I shot these pics on film.  I am in the process of scanning them, which is quite a project!  I just picked up a negative and slide scanner (Thanks, eBay!) and have loads more to go.

Please respect the photographs I have taken.  If you want to use them, please ask first.  It's probably OK, I just want to know and maybe receive credit under the pic!

Happy Labor Day and Ulverston

We have company for Labor Day so I will leave you with some old pictures of Ulverston, England.  Ulverston was the birthplace of Stan Laurel, one of the greatest comics of all time.

These are from a packet of postcards I received at the Sons of the Desert convention in London and Ulverston in 1984.  If you ever get the chance to visit beautiful Ulverston, in the Lake District just above Blackpoool, please do, and make sure you stop by the Laurel and Hardy Museum.  Enjoy the pics.

My Little Margie

For some reason, my post about Gale Storm (1922 - 2009) was deleted.  Well, I know the reason...I screwed it up.  I was adding labels to all of my posts, and this one looked kinda funny.  I tried to fix it, and got an HTML error.  Next thing I know, it was gone.


The post was about a guest at one of our Sons of the Desert banquets in Philadelphia.  The year, I believe, was 1998.  She was lovely, and spoke of her career to everyone.  Gale was joined by William Windom (b. 1923) at that banquet, another friendly, warm, easy to talk to person.


While going through some of my memorabilia from the Sons of the Desert, I came across the autographed picture below.  In a later post, I will try to recreate the missing info on Gale and her career.  Sorry!

Images from SoD

Just a quick post to finish up my "Mister Ed" blog.  I guess I didn't expect it to be three days, but it was certainly worth it.

Below is a scan of the banquet program from November 15, 1996 when Alan Young and Connie Hines, the stars of "Mister Ed", plus Will Hutchins, the star of "Sugarfoot" all came together at the Two Tars Tent (Philadelphia chapter) of the Sons of the Desert 25th anniversary banquet.

All three stars have autographed the program to me.  What a special night!

Whatever became of Dick Lamparski?

If you really want to talk about bit actors and actors of bygone days in general, you need to do the research.  With me, it is becoming an ongoing project, just to keep up with the blog. 

Starting back in the 1960s a fellow named Richard Lamparski wrote a series of books called, Whatever Became of...?  Each book contained a short biography of several actors and actresses with a vintage picture, and then an explanation of where they are plus a more current picture.  Of course, these books are now decades old, so most of the subjects are gone, as well as the books.

When I was actively involved with the Sons of the Desert, I was very privileged to meet Margaret Hamilton (1902 - 1985), who was a guest at our banquet.  We had a lovely lunch at the home of our Grand Sheik, and Ms. Hamilton was wonderful to talk with.  She told us about making The Wizard of Oz and all the stories about the Munchkins, which apparently were true.  She said that she was sickened by the green makeup she had to wear.  And she spoke about her other famous roles and the stars with whom she worked.  She commented that she always seemed to be cast as an older woman in the movies, even when she was very young.

I took her portrait at that lunch, and Dick Lamparski asked if he could use it in his ninth edition of the series.  Whatever Became of...? Ninth Series  My guess is that the entire series is probably out of print by now.  If you happen to see any of the books for sale at a garage sale, flea market or used book store, they are well worth having.  As often happens with those of us who collect old things, many of them can be had at a bargain because they are no longer popular with most people.  This usually works to our advantage!

My goal is now to see if I can find the negatives from the pics I took back then and post some of them here.  As the years have gone by, much of my stuff has ended up in storage, so I better start digging!

Use the Internet as well as books to do your own research into the world of classic film.  Don't miss the many blogs, as well as the well respected authorities such as IMDB and Turner Classic Movies.  Delve into the little known, too.  A search for "Bit Actors" would be a great place to start!

Anita Garvin

I was just reading The Silent Movie Blog and saw a recently posted production still of Anita Garvin with "Wheezer" Hutchins from Our Gang.  Anita started as a Ziegfeld Girl and appeared in 93 films from 1924 to 1940. 

My favorite role of hers was in the 1927 Laurel and Hardy silent, The Battle of the Century.  (Amazon has it on a DVD collection at The Lost Films of Laurel & Hardy: The Complete Collection, Vol. 9.)  The movie is basically a gigantic pie fight.  Every possible situation for getting hit by a pie was used, and I have been told that the entire day's baking from the pie supplier was used just for this film.  Near the end of the film, Anita has the misfortune to slip on a banana peel, landing her backside right in a pie that was on the sidewalk.  She gets up, and as she walks away from the camera, she lifts her leg and gives it a shake.  It must have been quite a shot to make.  As I remember, her dress flipped up when she went down, so the pie got her bottom under the dress. 

I had the pleasure of spending some time with Anita and her husband, Red Stanley.  Back in the 1980s, Anita was invited to several Sons of the Desert functions, including the 1986 international convention in Valley Forge, PA.  We all spoke with her at length, and she was always ready with stories about the film industry.

She told us that she was doing a silent part with Cecil B. DeMille.  The only C. B. DeMille movie she was in was in 1929 called Dynamite.  Anita told us that she played a waif, but I have never seen this one.  In one scene she was standing in the snow and DeMille told her to cry.  She didn't know how to cry on cue.  DeMille instructed the cameraman to keep rolling, and he walked up to Anita.  He looked her straight in the eye and said, "Cool as a cucumber."  At that moment, Anita KNEW her acting career was over, and she started crying!  She said the tears were rolling and just wouldn't stop!  C.B. got his shot, and everyone was happy in the end.

Anita stopped acting after 1940 and she was eventually tracked down by film buffs only to become popular again.  She passed away in 1994.  I will treasure my memory of meeting her.  I may have some pics at home.  When I get some time, I will dig them out, scan them, and try to post them here.

This is my Quest

About a year ago I was glancing through IMDB, as I do quite often, and I clicked on some bit actor's name to see what else he was in.  I wish I could remember who that was!  When I looked at his list of hundreds of movie parts, spanning decades, I thought to myself, this guy had quite a career!

As you know I was involved to a large degree in the Sons of the Desert.  That club is all about Laurel and Hardy and anything that is relevant to them.  There are probably hundreds of fan clubs out there for other actors, living and deceased.  You can even become a Trekker if you like "Star Trek."

There are probably classic film clubs, and silent film clubs that study and enjoy those films.  There may be dance groups who idolize Fred and Ginger, or Gene Kelly; and musicians who love the big Hollywood musicals; and they may have clubs.

As I looked at that list of movies, I thought that it would be fun to start a film club named after that actor.  His was a name that nobody would know, because he always played the cab driver or bartender, the man lighting a cigarette or ordering a drink, the elevator operator or the butler...the nameless part, played by an unknown actor or actress.  At our club meetings, every time that actor would come on the screen, even if it was only for 10 seconds...with no dialog, everyone would cheer!

BUT, he or she was in hundreds of movies.  Movies that appealed to all sorts of people who watch movies.  Maybe a club like that would attract a wide range of members who came to see their favorite kind of movie, but stayed to learn about what else was out there for their entertainment.  An interesting idea for a club, don't you think?

Here's an example, though maybe not the best.  My wife and I watched 1948's Easter Parade not too long ago, so I looked up the full cast.  A cab driver in the movie was played by Jimmy Dodd.  You probably remember that name from only 8 episodes of the Mickey Mouse Club from 1955 to 1957.  I sure do.

Dodd played in 89 parts from 1940 to 1955, when he went to work for Walt Disney.  He made all sorts of movies.  Westerns, mysteries, war movies, comedies, and he played cab drivers more than a few times.  I would love to see Hillbilly Blitzkrieg from 1942, complete with Snuffy Smith and Nazi spies.  He was also a composer, with hit tunes like the Mickey Mouse March.

Alas, Jimmy Dodd isn't the one I will name the club after.  His filmography is a bit short.  But it will be fun to continue my quest!  Write to me if you have a suggestion.

Laurel and Hardy

I knew I would have a lot to say about Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy when I started this blog.  (And so did my family!)  I was involved in the Sons of the Desert from the mid 1970s until about 1990.  I met some great people who were, and are still involved in the club. 

The SoD is not a fan club, rather it is described as a group of film buffs who get together to study all aspects of the films of Laurel and Hardy.  Of course, all of it is done with a half-assed dignity about it, as prescribed by Stan Laurel himself.

Laurel and Hardy worked together in films from 1917 until 1951.  Their earliest films did not include them as a team, just as two players who happened to be in the same film.  They also, each, made many films without the other.  I am not going to give you a complete history here, but there are quite a few good books on the subject.  Try to pick up Mr. Laurel and Mr. Hardy: An Affectionate Biography by John McCabe.  The most important thing is to watch the films and enjoy them.

Of course, L&H were very funny and creative, but just how far can all that talent go without the bit actors and supporting cast to bring variety to the story line?  Two of the most important supporting cast members in many of the L&H films were Mae Busch and Charlie Hall.  So important, in fact, that the SoD makes a toast to their popularity at the annual banquet.

In the 1933 film, Sons of the Desert (which is the inspiration for the Sons of the Desert organization), Mae Busch has an important role as Ollie's wife.  Charlie Hall appears in the film, but he only has a part as a waiter.  If you simply look at the cast members in these older films, you get important insight into the way the early studios worked.  These players were on a contract with Hal Roach, so they did whatever was needed.  A big part one week, an extra the next, but you still got paid.

A look at the rest of the cast in that movie turns up a few surprises.  I mentioned Billy Gilbert in a previous post, but only his voice (no sneezes!) made it into this film.  T. Marvin Hatley wrote much of the music at the Hal Roach Studios, including the Ku-Ku Song (L&H theme) and a lot of background music commonly used in Our Gang, L&H and other films.  Hatley can be seen as a pianist.

A 23 year old Bob Cummings is an extra in only his second film appearance.  Just a face in the crowd.  Other extras include Lillian DeBorba, who is the mother of Dorothy, who played Little Echo in the Our Gang comedies.  Even Hal Roach himself was in the film.

It is difficult to tie this up to a neat end, but if I keep writing, I will use up all my creativity!  Stay tuned!