Men O'War Tent 25th Anniversary

Sep 1st
(Manifest Theatre)

Congratulations to the Colchester branch of the Laurel & Hardy appreciation society, who honoured the occasion of their quarter century since being founded in 1987 with a fairly representative bunch of L&H films, beginning with one of their best, Helpmates followed by Laurel and Hardy's Musical Moments*, a pleasant mini-collection of their pleasant song and dance numbers, including their Top Ten hit (in 1975), "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine".

Towed in a Hole* (US 1932) finds the boys deciding to buy a boat to do their own fishing, with Ollie in unusually sadistic form in response to Stan's various mishaps. Some great moments, but the overall tone is just a little dark.

Finishing off the evening with the society's patron film - so named because of Colchester's connection with the military - Men O'War** (US 1929), where the boys are sailors on shore leave dating two winsome girls in the park (Hollenbeck Park in Los Angeles), and cause mayhem in the boating lake (the soda fountain sequence is one of their best), and Thicker Than Water, where Stan is once again the cause of marital strife for Ollie, in what was to be their final short film with an amusing an insightful last scene of the two boys playing each other when their blood transfusions get mixed up!