Desert Messenger

8 www.DesertMessenger.com April 20, 2022 The Sons of the Desert Quartzsite Night Owls will meet again in April to present more of the early black and white fi lm comedies of Holly- wood's fi nest and funniest comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy. On FRIDAY, APRIL 27, the Sons of the Desert Quartzsite Night Owls tent will show the 1930 fi lm "Blotto," in which a Ollie, a carefree bachelor, invites his henpecked pal Stan out for a night on the town. Mrs. Laurel (played by Anita Garvin) eavesdrops and learns that Stan is planning to bring the precious bottle of liquor she's saved since Prohibition. She secretly empties the bottle and re- fi lls it with tea, pepper, mustard and other condiments, which Stan then "sneaks" out of the house. The boys, nonetheless, get riotously drunk on the non-alcoholic brew. One of the best scenes of the fi lm comes when Stan and Ollie go off on a beautifully paced drunken jag, punctuated with the subtle, blood boiling reactions of Mrs. Laurel (Garvin). The fi lm was released three years before the end of Prohibition and only months after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. The 14-piece band and more than 300 extras hired for the night club scene were surely grateful for the work and audienc- es were able to briefl y forget their troubles and join in the laughter. "Blotto" will be followed by the full- length feature fi lm "Swiss Miss," released in 1938. "Swiss Miss," is a musical with two concurrent plots. Laurel and Hardy are mousetrap salesmen who travel to Switzerland, where they sell their entire inven- tory to a cheese maker. They realize the cheese maker has swindled them only after consuming a large meal at a posh hotel and fi nding them- selves unable to pay for it. The pair become handymen at the hotel to pay off their debt. Ollie soon falls in love with the hotel "chambermaid," who turns out to be a famous opera singer. The second story revolves around the singer and her compos- er husband, who has secluded him- self at the hotel to write his greatest work, which he hopes will cause the public to notice his talents rather than his wife's. One of the highlights of the fi lm is when Stan attempts to get a cask of brandy from around the neck of a St. Bernard. Another bizarre bit fea- tures Laurel and Hardy attempting to move a piano across a swinging, narrow suspension bridge only to be met by a gorilla halfway across who decides to play with Ollie's hat. While most of "Swiss Miss" was fi lmed on the Hal Roach Studios soundstage, portions of the movie were fi lmed in the Southern Califor- nia mountain community of Lake Arrowhead. Sons of the Desert Quartzsite Night Owls meets from 3-4:30 P.M. ON THE LAST FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH at First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, 30 Church St., Quartzsite, AZ., off of West Cowell Street just east of the Quartzsite Se- nior Center. On MAY 27, the fi lms will include "The Hoosegow," (1929) and "Our Relations" (1936). On June 24, the fi lms will include "Brats," (1930) and "Blockheads," (1938). Cool off on July 29 with "Below Zero," (1930) followed by "Pack Up Your Troubles" (1932). Sons of the Desert Night Owls Light refreshments will be served and membership information for the club will be available. Quartzsite Night Owls is a registered offi cial tent of the Sons of the Desert Inter- national Laurel & Hardy Apprecia- tion Society. Everyone of any age is welcome to come enjoy the fi lms of Laurel & Hardy. Meetings are free, although donations are accepted gladly. Sons of the Desert is devoted to keeping the lives and works of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy before the public, and to have a good time while doing it. The group takes its name from a lodge that the comedi- ans belong to in the 1933 fi lm "Sons of the Desert." In keeping with the tongue-in-cheek "desert" theme, each local chapter of the society is called a "tent," and is named after a Laurel & Hardy fi lm. Worldwide, there are well over 100 active tents, whose members meet regularly to enjoy Laurel & Hardy movies in an informal atmosphere. "It is important, I think, to realize that Sons of the Desert is not a fan club," explained John McCabe, the team's biographer, who founded the Sons in 1965. "The word 'fan' derives from 'fanatic' and I hope we are none of us that. I consider us 'buffs,' people having a connois- seur-like affection for Laurel & Har- dy, and being discriminating in that affection, with fun as our goal and operative guide." For more information on the Sons of the Desert Night Owls tent, con- tact Carl Baker at (928) 550-3438 or email travelfulltime@yahoo.com. 585 N. Central Quartzsite Open Mon-Fri 8-5 928-927-8787 Johnny DelPino, Owner BEST AUTO RV & TRUCK REPAIR SERVICE YOU CAN DEPEND ON! CLUTCHES PRIMARY & SECONDARY

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