SPECIAL BIG SCREEN CINEMA SHOWING OF LAUREL & HARDY

A Special Evening Of LAUREL AND HARDY

TO BE HELD IN THE LAST ORIGINAL ART DECO SINGLE SCREEN CINEMA IN SCOTLAND

A Newly Discovered Laurel & Hardy Landmark

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THE REGAL CINEMA

Bannatyne street, Lanark, Scotland, ML11 7JS

Sunday 5th August 2007

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Doors open at 4.30PM.

Audience must be seated by 6.00PM

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CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR TICKETS NOW

Lanark's Regal Cinema in Bannatyne street opened on the 31st August 1936. The opening ceremony was performed by Lord Dunglass, a title held at the time by Alec Douglas-Home, who would later briefly serve as British Prime Minister from 1964-65. On the opening night at the Regal, the main attraction was 'The Bohemian Girl' starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Also on the bill that night was a rare little treasure called 'Manhattan Monkey Business' starring Charley Chase and James Finlayson.

In collaboration with the current regal management, we have arranged 'A Special Evening of Laurel and Hardy' on Sunday 5th August. The highlight of the event will be 'big screen' showings of 'The Bohemian Girl' and 'Manhattan Monkey Business'.

As pre entertainment while the theatre fills, starting at 5.00pm we will be showing two classic Laurel and Hardy silents. 'Battle Of The Century' followed by 'Big Business'. Also on the bill for the evening is the hilarious 'Towed In A Hole'.

PREVIEW TRAILER BELOW

(Thanks to author of the Laurel and Hardy Encyclopedia, Glenn Mitchell and www.silentcomedians.com for helping me locate Manhattan Monkey Business)

We also have some special guests lined up and there will be a memorabilia stall and a star prize raffle.

please note this is a ticket only event, you cannot pay at the door

Click here for full program of events

Adults - £2.00

Children (under 16) - FREE

ONLY 200 SEATS AVAILABLE

CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR TICKETS NOW

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Watch Preview Trailer

Stan Laurel

'THE BOHEMIAN GIRL'

Starring Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy

A band of Gypsies are camped outside the walls of Count Arnheim's palace. Oliver's wife kidnaps the Count's daughter Arline, then leaves the child and runs off with her lover, Devilshoof. Not knowing her true identity, Oliver, with the help of "Uncle" Stanley, raises the girl as his own. Years later, Arline, still unaware of her noble birth, is caught trespassing on the Count's grounds and is thrown into the dungeon. Meanwhile, Stanley and Oliver pass the time playing "fingers" and bumblingly ply their trade picking pockets. Finally, just when Oliver needs his help to rescue Arline, Stanley gets drunk while siphoning wine into bottles.

Oliver Hardy

Charley Chase

'MANHATTAN MONKEY BUSINESS'

with Charley Chase and James Finlayson

Like a typical Laurel and Hardy situation, when Charley can't pay his bill at a restaurant, he is forced to become a waiter.

James Finlayson

Stan

'TOWED IN A HOLE'

Stan and Ollie at their best!

Making a living selling fish turns out to be difficult, so Stan has a brilliant idea: they should buy a boat, go out fishing themselves and make far more money that way. An old boat is purchased, and the boys proceed to do it up, but not without many problems

Ollie

Laurel & Hardy

'BIG BUSINESS'

Classic Laurel & Hardy Silent

with Tiny Sanderson and James Finlayson

Laurel and Hardy are selling Christmas trees door-to-door in southern California with little success, not even to getting advance orders for the next year. They decide to use all their salesmanship skills with James Finlayson, who proves to be adamant in his refusal. A few simple mistakes quickly develop into a ritual of mutual destruction that ruins their business, Fin's home and the boys' car.

Sanderson & Finlayson

Laurel & Hardy

'BATTLE OF THE CENTURY'

Classic Laurel & Hardy silent

with Anita Garvin

Fight manager (Ollie) takes out an insurance policy on his puny pugilist (Stan) and then proceeds to try to arrange for an accident so that he can collect. When a pie delivery man (Charlie Hall) slips on a banana peel, meant for the fighter, a classic pie throwing scene results. Lou Costello makes one of his earliest screen appearances as an extra in the boxing match sequence. He is visible standing close to the ring.

Anita Garvin

This photo of the Regal was taken on the opening night

(photo courtesy of Mike Lee)

click on image to enlarge to supersize version

Scottishcinemas.org write...

Despite the inevitable takeover by bingo in the 1970s, the Vogue, as it was then known, retained its rather elderly projection equipment, and still showed occasional films right up until the late 1980s. The last film is said to have been Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in 1987, and this is borne out by the fact that much of the decaying print still sits in a jumbled pile on the projection booth floor – perhaps evidence of the antiquity of the (still in situ) projection equipment by that stage! The alterations for bingo were minor, with the front stalls seating being replaced with tables, and a new office and sales kiosk erected in the rear stalls.

Bingo has continued in the Regal/Vogue, with manager Martin Carroll taking over a few years ago. When the smoking ban was introduced to all enclosed public places in Scotland in March 2006, the bingo business appeared to be the worst affected of all licensed premises, and many halls, some only a few years old, closed.

Rather than just accept the downturn in trade, Martin Carroll decided to explore other options, and came up with the idea of returning film to the Regal on a part time basis, a neat reversal of the process of cinemas becoming bingo halls in the 60s and 70s.

With the balcony still retaining its original cinema seating, all that was required was a thorough spring clean and some maintenance to the lighting troughs, many of which amazingly required only some new bulbs to return them to operation.

Sadly the film shows did not prove a resounding success, and as of April 2007, they have been reduced to the cinema being available to hiring for private showings.

Images and information from http://www.scottishcinemas.org.uk/scotland/lanark/index.html

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