Stan Laurel Letters

OCEANA LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    APRIL 1st.'63.
Dear Lloyd Trewin:
          Thanks yours, 23rd.ult.
Appreciate your giving me the address of the Movie Star News, this will be very helpful - Thanks again. As soon as I receive the pictures from you, I'll autograph & return right away, Note you are the First Canadian to become a member of Robt. Hall's L&H Club - looks like you'll be the LAST one too.! I think this chap is some enterprising young kid, making some pocket money for himself.! I understand he charges 30¢ a year for membership, you get a card & a Club paper once every three months which is a carbon copy affair giving information on L&H which he gathers from the news articles & magazine interview stories, etc. ??? - don't bother with it is my advice. No I do'nt know of any legitimate L&H Fan Clubs - frankly do'nt know why there should be one, L&H are No More, so whats the purpose?
          Nice to hear from you again.
          My regards & best,
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

STAN LAUREL LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    APRIL 8th.'63.
Dear Richard [Sloan]:
          Thanks your interesting letter recd. this AM.
Wish you a pleasant holiday in Fallsburgh, I assume this is an Easter vacation & you wo'nt he there too long - anyway, have a good time & go easy on the Hot Cross Buns.!
          Yes I heard about the Jack Benny program next Tuesday Evening - am looking forward to seeing this combination, it does seem to be a trend to impersonate L&H, everybody wants to take a crack at it - its fantastic.
          Note you are going to visit with 'RAZZ' Barry on the 19th. am sure you find him very entertaining, he's quite a Boy.!
          I knew of this Leon Lee you mention you read about in "Variety" but never did meet him - I believe he was a sort of manager for Larry Semon who Hardy worked with for some time at the old Vitagraph Studio in Hollywood - after Larry left Vitagraph he made two or three shorts on his own also a feature length - "The Wizard of OZ" (silent) I think Hardy played the TIN MAN in that one. These independent films were released through Chadwick, I believe Leon Lee was connected with this deal.
          Not having seen any of the Theatre films, I have'nt any idea who will win the Academy Awards - I naturally have no particular choice, so let the best man WIN.! what could be fairer or squarer than that.??!!
          No have'nt heard any more about the L&H placque - probably has been thrown out by now, the Studio is being remodeled & will be used only for Rental Space with all facilities, a "DO IT YOURSELF" STUDIO.
          Not much else of interest Richard, so "adios mi amigo" Cheerio!! Skip the Gutter!
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

Leon Lee (1895-1963) is credited as one of the screenwriters who, along with Larry Semon, adapted L. Frank Baum's "The Wizard of Oz" in 1925, which also happened to star Oliver Hardy as the Tin Man. —Editor

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

APRIL 11th.'63.

Thanks Bob [Hatfield], Marie & Mother for the nice card, Eda joins in wishing you all a very Happy Easter - go easy on the Hot Cream Milk.!
          Pleased to know you're out of Hospital Bob & back in circulation & raising hell again.!!
          Bestest to you all,
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

APRIL 12th.'63.

Thanks Edmund [Tester] for the nice card - much appreciate the kind thought & remembrance. We here too wish you & yours a very Happy Easter, continued good health & success.
          Trust alls going well.
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

APRIL 13th.'63.

Dear Friends [Mr. & Mrs. Short]:
          Many thanks for the nice card, the kind thought & remembrance is much appreciated - we here too wish you both a very Happy Easter, continued good health & happiness. pleased to know you are happy in your new surroundings -
          Take care - God Bless.
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

STAN LAUREL LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    APRIL 20th. 1963
My Dear Frank [Buxton]:
          Thanks your welcome letter 15th.inst.
Indeed nice to hear from you again & to know alls well. I saw you on the TV Guide Awards Show - I felt sure you would win the Kids category, your program is so fully deserving - I do'nt think it right to give the honors to Disney so many times - he's had too many already, we all agree he is TOPS in his field, but after all they should let someone else take a bow once in a while, its very discouraging & kills all incentive. Anyway, you looked good Frank, have'nt changed a bit - but how you have altered.!
          Note you have a car & taking some trips out in the Countryside, am sure you & Elizabeth & getting a lot of pleasure out of that - especially now in the spring of the year - does you good to get away from that City Life once in a while.
          Too bad 'Discovery' has been dropped as a daily program next season, its certainly strange why these things are being done.
          I had a letter from Jack McCabe sometime ago telling me of the "Sons of the Desert" idea, he sounded very enthused, its quite a big project I understand. I wish him lots of success in his venture.
          Not much exciting to tell you Frank. Eda joins in kindest & best to Elizabeth & self.
          Take care - God Bless.
                    As always:

In 1964, author John (Jack) McCabe, along with TV personalities Orson Bean and Chuck McCann, artist Al Kilgore, and Laurel and Hardy buff, John Municino, founded "The Sons Of The Desert," a Laurel & Hardy film appreciation club that screened and honored the work of the beloved movie comedy team. —Editor

STAN LAUREL LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN EXCERPT

                    APRIL 20th. 1963
Dear Elmer [Westover]:
          Yes I saw the Dick Van Dyke Show also Dennis Day and Don Wilson on The Jack Benny Program doing a L&H skit - I enjoyed them. The L&H film version of 'Fra Diavalo' is still shown every year in Italy, it was showing in Milan when Hardy and I were there in 1950, the English was 'dubbed' in Italian language, I got a big kick out of L&H speaking Italian just like the natives! - I am a Chevy owner ('57).
                    As always:

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    APRIL 22nd.'63.
Dear Johnnie [Municino]:
          Wondering if you recd. the picture I sent you a few weeks ago?
          Trust alls well?
          As always to Mary, self & Sir Albert.
                    Cheerio!

SNAPSHOT PHOTO - APRIL 1963

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

APRIL 23rd.'63.

Thanks Dean [Kaner], yours, 19th.inst. I too have been having quite a big respond re your article, including the student you mention from India, its been very interesting - No I have'nt seen or heard from Charlie [Chaplin] since 1948.
          I imagine by now you are enjoying warmer weather - trust alls well & happy with you & yours.
          Take care - good luck,
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    APRIL 29th.'63.
Dear Richard [Sloan]:
          Just to advise you - just mailing you the photos & caricatures - autographed per your instructions without forethought or malice, they will probably slow in transit (3rd.class mail - printed matter.) Also enclosed a copy of 'Mr Clean'.!
          Bye Richard.
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

OCEANA LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    MAY 3rd.'63.
Dear Bob & Marie [Hatfield]:
          Thanks your welcome letter, conveying May Day Greetings (Never heard of it.!)
          Pleased to know you're back in shape Bob & in condition to return to work soon - am sure Post Master General Day will welcome you back with a 21 gun Salute, may possibly present you with a solid gold 1 cent Stamp in honor of the progress made during your ABSENCE.!
          That must have been quite a trip you all made in the station wagon - sounds like you were all drunk driving around the tops of mountains & under the Golden gate Bridge, then ending up at Sally Stanford's joint in Sausilito , her name is very familiar, a notorious character around the S.F. area. tough as a 2x4 & as charming as a Mickey Finn.!!
Re Loretta the parrot - sure had you fooled - the piano player is a ventriloquist. Boy, you must have been loaded.!!
          Eda joins in many thanks for the lovely anniversary card - appreciate your kind remembrance.
          Our kind thoughts & bestest to your Mother & Selves.
                    As ever:

                    STAN LAUREL.

OCEANA LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    MAY 12th.'63.
Dear Richard [Sloan]:
          Many thanks for the cute Anniversary Card - got quite a kick out of it - appreciate your kind remembrance.
          I had a letter recently from from Sir Ron Barry (The Duke of Springfield.) told me enjoyed meeting you very much. Had a letter too from Jack McCabe (author of the L&H hook) he is forming some kind of a L&H club which is to be named "Sons of the Desert" - I understand it is hoped to [be a] Nation Wide organization (a tent in every key City) - tent One would he N.Y. Jack was enquiring about the Cuckoo music - am wondering if he would be interested in the Lyrics you wrote?, its possible he would, if you want to contact him on the matter, address him to N.Y.University (Professor John McCabe) Washington Square,N.Y.3. N.Y. Dramatic Art dept. Not much else Richard, so adios mi amigo.
          Trust alls well.
          Thanks again Dick.
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

P.S. Have you heard from Chuck [McCann] lately?

The first meeting of The Sons of The Desert took place on May 14, 1965 at the Three Lions pub in New York City. Today, there is virtually "a tent in every key city" as Stan had so wisely predicted. —Editor

OCEANA LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    MAY 21st.'63.
Dear Jennie & Jack [Racey]:
          Thanks yours,18th.inst.
Fully understand your delay in writing - hope this new Gal will prove satisfactory & take some of that responsibility off your shoulders.
          Sorry I missed seeing your nephew Sherwood in the "Untouchables" last week - I used to watch that program every week, but it finally began to get a bit monotonous, frankly, I was never too impressed with Robt. Stack as Ness - felt he was badly miscast.
          Note Dave has returned home from Gardenia a sadder but wiser man, but generally a Loser will continue to try his luck again - gambling is just in his blood - its a sickness.
          Another joke: A guy told his Dr: I'm terribly worried Doc - every once in a while I blow smoke rings out of my nose -?!
DR. That's nothing to worry about, many people do that -
GUY. I know, but this is different - I DO'NT SMOKE.!
          Enclosed a recent snapshot - thought you'd like to have it.
          Nothing new, so will hang up. Eda joins in kind thoughts to Jack & your kind Self & convey my best to Goldie, Bill & Freddy.
          Take care - God Bless.
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

Jennie and Jack Racey's nephew, Sherwood Price appeared in an episode of "The Untouchables," which aired on May 14, 1963. He played Herbie Pulaski, a sniper who shoots people without provocation. Elliott Ness, of course, catches up with him and sends him packing for 8 years to the Northern Illinois State Mental Hospital. —Editor

SNAPSHOT PHOTO ENCLOSURE- May 21, 1963

OCEANA LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    MAY 29th.'63.
Dear Richard [Sloan]:
          Thanks yours, 27th.inst. enclosed with photograph which I autographed & returned under seperate cover via underground grape vine.
          I copied the letter you requested for the Lake L&H placque business (enclosed) I did'nt seal or affix any stamp for postage, as I was'nt sure how you wished to handle this - mail it direct to Senor Lesser or to have it delivered with the piece of old IRON.!
          Dick Van Dyke called me a few days ago, said he was going over to the Roach Studio to pack up the plique - to plock up the Plinque - plink up the plonk.! to hell with it.!
          I understand the old Studio is going to be demolished entirely, sorry to hear that.
          Lincoln's dying words gag is very funny - did you hear this one - 2 Englishmen: "Heard you buried your wife last week" Oh yes, Had to -- dead you know.!
          Pleased to know Chuck McCann is much better - give him my love & best when you see or hear from him again.
          Glad you got in touch with Jack McCabe & gave him the low down on the copyright situation re "Dance of the Cuckoos".
          Not much else Richard, so bye for now trust alls well & happy.
          Again my bestest.
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

Regarding the Lake Laurel & Hardy plaque: "The plaque was technically offered to Stan, but he didnt want it as he had no room for it. The Hollywood Motion Picture Museum (not the one currently in existence, but rather one that never even got built) got it. A ceremony was held, by which Dick Van Dyke gave it to the museum on Stan's behalf. FIlm historian Arthur Knight was the driving force for museum acquisitions, and drafted a letter for Stan to type on his stationery, thanking the Museum for offering the plaque, and saying that Dick would act
on his behalf and turn it over to the museum." —Richard Sloan

OCEANA LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    JUNE.3rd.'63.
Dear Dean Kaner:
          Thanks yours,27th.ult. nice to hear from you again & to know alls well.
          Frankly, I do'nt care for any of the L&H 20th Century Fox films, it was a very unhappy experience for us - anyway thats water under the bridge now.
          Note you finished school & will now take a typing course - have you made your vacation plans?
          I have no postcard of the hotel here, but am enclosing a brochure which will give you a rough idea of the place, I have an apt. on the front, directly facing the Ocean - very pleasant view - on the brochure picture I marked an X denoting this Apt.
          Not much new to tell you Dean.
          Again my best to yourself & Family.
                    Good luck - As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

BROCHURE ENCLOSURE - June 3, 1963

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

JUNE 10th.'63.

Thanks Johnny [Municino] for Birthday greetings - appreciate your kind remembrance & good wishes. I celebrate my 73rd. on the 16th. for no reason at all - you know Johnny, this World is made up of all kinds of people - am sure glad I'm not one of 'em.! Hope you're making improvement - love & bestest to Mary, Self & Sir Albert the Lionhearted from us both here. Take care - God Bless.
As always:

STAN LAUREL.

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

JUNE 10th.'63.

Thanks your letter, 3rd.inst. Yes I knew Mr John McCabe before he wrote the book, we met in England. Sorry to tell you Jimmy Finlayson died in 1953. Yes, I know Groucho Marx also Spanky McFarlane.
          Note you got another L&H comic book, I think that's the 3rd.issue to date (the one riding the motorcycle & side car)
          Nice to hear from you again Tim [Dalton]. Have a good vacation.
          My best wishes,
                    Sincerely:

                    STAN LAUREL.

LAUREL AND HARDY COMIC BOOK - JUNE 1963

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

JUNE 15th.'63.

Thanks Dean [Kaner] for your nice B'day greetings - appreciate your kind remembrance & good wishes.
          Trust alls well & happy with you & yours,
          Take care - God Bless.
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

OCEANA LETTERHEAD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

                    JUNE 20th.'63.
Dear Mike [Polacek],
          Thanks yours,17th.inst.
So sorry I missed your call last Sunday - we did go out for dinner that evening, the little French restaurant a couple of blocks from here on Ocean Ave. & Santa Monica Blvd. - wish I'd known that you were going to call, could have easily waited.
          Anyway, hope the friends & fans were'nt too disappointed - appreciate very much the kind thought & gesture. Well I turned 73. (I turned the wrong way I guess.!).
          I had a letter & card from Ed Kobus, told me you had sent him a snapshot, he mentioned too he was unable to get a copy of "This is Your Life" film for you for some reason or other - I told him not to bother as I was sending you my print as you found a firm in K.C. who would do the reprint for you - incidently , Walter Eccles called me last Sunday, said he had recd. the film & would ship it to you the first part of this week, hope by now you recd. it okay - I suggest Mike you look at the film first before you decide on getting a copy, I have no idea what the cost is, but frankly I think its a waste of money, its not worth while , however whatever you wish is okay with me.
          Pleased you got the stills I autographed for you - no I do'nt need the letter I sent you from Mr Riemens of Holland, if you're through with it, you can destroy or keep.
          I'll convey your best to Joe when I see him again, I assume he returned your prints of "Two Tars" & "Big Business" - I enjoyed seeing them again. Note you ordered "Love & Hisses" (silent) & "Love 'em & Weep" (silent) from an outfit in Hollywood - whats their name & address? I often get requests for dealers addresses. I scratched my ankle (instep) about a week ago on the shower door, it developed an infection - Dr is treating it - special ointment, penecilin tablets etc. trying to heal the dam thing )the sugar situation makes it difficult) thats the trouble being a Diabolic!!!
          Bye Mike, bestest from us both here to your kind self & family - trust you are all well in health.
          God Bless.
                    as always:

Mike Polacek of Huntington, WV, was Laurel and Hardy's self proclaimed " No. 1 Fan." In 1963, he spent five days visiting with Stan. He also recorded some of their telephone conversations, and one of them was highlighted in an issue of CLASSIC IMAGES magazine. —Editor

SNAPSHOT PHOTOS - MIKE POLACEK AND STAN (LEFT) / STAN'S MEDIA CABINET (RIGHT)

POSTCARD - 849 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA - TYPEWRITTEN

JUNE 28th.'63.

Thanks Clifford for the belated B'day greeting - appreciate very much your kind thought & good wishes. Trust alls well & happy with you -
          My regards & best -
                    As always:

                    STAN LAUREL.

THE STAN LAUREL
CORRESPONDENCE ARCHIVE PROJECT
HOPES TO COLLECT AND CATALOG
LETTERS FROM STAN TO BETTER
UNDERSTAND HIS LIFE AND CELEBRATE
HIS COMEDIC GENIUS.

IF YOU HAVE AN ORIGINAL
LETTER FROM STAN OR HAVE A COPY
NOT INCLUDED IN THESE ARCHIVES,
PLEASE ADD A COPY OF YOUR LETTER
BY CONTACTING US VIA E-MAIL AT:
INFO@LETTERSFROMSTAN.COM

For Stan Laurel, the resurgence of his 200 old movies on television is just another one of the ironic tricks of life.
     At 71 years, he gets little kick out of watching them, and is more than considerably saddened by the fact that his phenomenal career as a comedian brought him almost everything a man could want—except money.
     Laurel, surviving half of she famed Laurel and Hardy slapstick team that hit the silver screen like a bombshell in 1927, lines quietly is a Santa Monica beachfront apartment. Fairly well recovered from a stroke four years ago, he suffers from diabetes, and rarely leaves his three-room apartment.
     He shuns the limelight, has refused offers in television, and frankly regards himself as:
     "An old man, all washed up...I don't see why anybody would be interested in me any more..."
     This aging, quiet man first appeared on the stage in England when he was seven years old. He came to the United States in 1910 in a cattle boat, and was, for a time, teamed with Charlie Chaplin in vaudeville.
     His comic genius, based largely on wistful pantomime, went unnoticed and unrewarded for many years. He made two brief passes at motion pictures, in 1917 and 1922, and "gave up the whole project. I didn't think I was getting anywhere."
     In 1926, employed by Hal Roach Studies as a writer and director, he was pressed into a bit part as a comic butler, when the actor assigned to the role took sick. In that movie, he met and teamed with rotund Oliver (Babe) Hardy.
     From then on, the movies rolled out almost as fast as the developers could process the film. Hardy was the fat, frustrated clown. Laurel his silent, gentle partner in a series of slapstick movies that still play—on television.
     Hardy died in 1957, following a paralytic stroke. The death of Hardy brought a sadness to Laurel that has not left him, for the two men were close friends.
     Despite the enormous popularity of their comedies, Laurel and Hardy never were among the high-paid stars of Hollywood. And they received only flat sums for each picture. Laurel has no rights now in the movies being shown on television.
     Laurel married four women a total of eight times, causing one wife to comment:
     "Stan's a good boy, realty, but he's got a marrying complex."
     That wife was Virginia Ruth Rogers, who was Laurel's second, third and seventh bride. He married Ida Kitaeva in 1946, and theirs has been a quiet and happy marriage.
     Of the marriages, he now quips:
     "You know my hobby—I married them all."
     During this costly fling at matrimony, Laurel managed to save enough money for an annuity, that now supports him in modest style. His frail health prevents him from appearing in public, and he has few visitors. But he has mail—enormous quantities of it.
     Laurel and Hardy movies still are playing all over the world. Not long ago they were shown for the first time in Ghana, and a whole new series of fan letters began to arrive.
     "Laurel and Hardy were always more popular overseas than in the United States," Laurel Says. "At one time there was a fan club in Europe that was supposed to have a million members.
     "After our movie-making days were over, Babe and I toured Europe. It was a wonderful experience."
     The sad-faced comedian becomes even sadder when he thinks of the opportunities that were kicked away.
     "We came together almost by accident, Babe and I, and we never had an agent. Manufacturers made Laurel and Hardy dolls, Laurel and Hardy ashtrays, and Laurel and Hardy flowerpots, even—but we never got a cent for them.
     "I have a Laurel and Hardy ashtray—see. I had to pay full price for it at the souvenir shop in Shannon."
     However, Laurel would like the world to know that he is not living in poverty.
     "I have more than enough for my needs," he says.
      Some years ago, when he had his stroke, word was passed around that Laurel was broke. Not so.
     "One little girl even mailed me a dollar," he recalls. "I sent her back $2—she made a good investment."
     Of the Laurel and Hardy movies that crowd television screens, Laurel says, "I can't like them, because they're so cut up.
     "I wish I could have edited them. They seem so slow, nowadays. That was because we had to leave time between the gags for the audience to laugh. You, don't need that spread in television.
     Of his relationship with Oliver Hardy:
     "It's a strange thing, but we realty got to know each ether better in the later years of life.
     "When we were making pictures together. we never saw each other off the set. As soon as a picture was finished, he'd go his way and I'd go mine.
     "We both had our own circle of friends and interests. Babe liked golf and the horses. I liked to fish. He left me to work with the writers; whatever I did was all right with him."

—Independent Press-Telegram (May 27, 1963)

KID FAN AMAZED

Children scarcely can realize that this is the REAL Stan Laurel.
     One day recently, Laurel was getting a haircut. The barber nonchalantly introduced a boy to him. The boy left, and shortly after the shop's phone rang with a call for Stan.
     "Is this the real Mr. Laurel?" a boyish voice inquired.
     "It is," Stan replied.
     "Golly, I just couldn't believe that barber."

—Independent Press-Telegram (May 27, 1963)

THE BEST COMEDY
By Hal Humphrey

The best comedy on television these days is bootlegged to us late at night or in the afternoons via reruns of old Laurel and Hardy comedies, Jackie Gleason's "Honeymooners", and the W. C. Fields feature films.
When a bronze plaque honoring Laurel and Hardy was removed from the about to be demolished Hal Roach lot last week and donated to the Hollywood Museum, Stan Laurel was moved to thank museum president Sol Lesser "for your efforts to preserve the best of our rapidly-disappearing past."
Paradoxically, Laurel and Hardy's past is being preserved on television. It's the present and future of comedy that need saving.

—Beckley Post-Herald (June 19, 1963)

HAL ROACH LAUGH FACTORY PUT ON AUCTIONEER'S BLOCK
By Christian Clausen

Hal Roach sat in the breezeway at the studio named after him—the weight of 40 years and a million laughs behind him—and talked in spurs about all that had come to pass.
      Occasionally, as he described particular funny episode, he would smile vaguely, but it was clear that he would infinitely prefer to cry. He looked like a melancholy Alfred Hitchcock.
      He described the days of youth and glory—his eyes staring into the middle distances—of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, of Harold Lloyd, Will Rogers Bebe Daniels, Theda BAra, Lupe Valez. Those were the days when Hal Roach Studios were known as the laugh factory.
      Roach, a native of Elmira, N.Y., started motion picture work as a dollar-a-day man at the old Universal Studios, rose rapidly from extra to assistant director and then director. In 1911, with savings of little more than $100, he started his own company. The parks of Los Angeles served as his studio, the cast was hastily assembled and the story generally was written on the way to the location.
      In 1917, Roach was successful enough to buy six acres of land in Culver City and established what was to become the oldest continuously-operated movie and television production studio on the West Coast.
      In August the Hal Roach Studios, the birthplace of comedy in the United Slates, the laugh factory, the consumer of countless creamed custard pies, will go under the auctioneer's gavel.
      Haunted by TV, and a seemingly steady drop in motion picture theater attendance, other major studios have managed to survive by retrenching or by lopping off huge segments of themselves.
      Roach told how the studio met the threat of television by rapidly converting from a motion picture basis to a large producer of TV films.
      "Why," he said with pride and indignation, "at one time we had 11 TV shows being made here. We were turning out twice as much film as all the other major studios combined."
      Then in bewilderment and shock he described the complicated financial maneuvering that led to bankruptcy proceedings, the impending auction and the ultimate disaster—the complete obliteration by next October of all the buildings on the 14-acre lot.
      "They say they want the earth bare by October," he snorted. "I don't know what they're going to put up here. Why even they don't know."
      Behind him busy, efficient workmen, carrying radio sets in their pockets for rapid communication, swarmed like ants through the yawning sound stages and even through the stately white-pillared colonial main building which fronts the main street and which stands out incongruously in its setting of flat-roofed one story commercial buildings.
      The workmen, on the staff of well known West Coast Auctioneer Milton J. Wershow, were collecting the debris of almost half a century, dusting and polishing in preparation for the four-day public auction.
      One of the men preparing the studio for the auction is Byron "Bones" Vreeland who started with Roach in 1923 delivering mail on a bike and is now studio manager.
      A worker dropped by to tell Vreeland with some incredulity that he had just unearthed a large safe filled with machine guns.
      "They're in operating condition, too," he said with a slight note of histeria in his voice.
      Placidly, Vreeland accepted the news. "We never threw anything away," he said pridefully. "Why we got stuff here that goes back to the early '20s.''
      The vast stages, closets, attics and hiding places on the lot are crammed with props, cameras and sound equipment and memorabilia of almost half a century.
      "We had to make most of the stuff ourselves," Vreeland said. "If the director asked me for a bottle that smokes, or, a cane that squirts water, where could I go to buy it? I had to have it made right here, and then after it was used, we saved it.''
      A walk through the lot recalls memories of time faintly flicking silent movies to a visitor lucky enough to have lived in the era of the Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang movies.
      There is the now green and murky pool in which Laurel and Hardy alternatingly took pratfalls, the breakaway bottles and furniture, the old ocean liner, the Our Gang cafe, the ancient touring cars and fire trucks used in impossible chase scenes.
      Vreeland spotted the door to a huge closet that held the toys used in the Our Gang comedies. It teas a tangled, musty snarl of horns, guns, dolls, drums, hobby-horses—the closet of any small boy, multiplied 100 times.
      Auctioneer Wershow has separated the objects into 10,000 lots but he has no way of knowing how many separate items are involved. He will conduct the auction from a portable stand, rolling from one place to another in front of his audience.
      One of the few performers who bridges the gap between the old days and the present is actor Chill Wills.
      "Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were two of the funniest men in the world," he said. "And they were always on—always working out another gag.
      "I remember one day I was workng in a picture and I got a telegram from my children, wishing me happy birthday. About 40 minutes after I got the wire, I got a birthday cake from Laurel and Hardy with candles and everything.
      "Well, cousin I'm here to tell you that you never saw, a bigger mess when I stuck that knife into the cake. It just exploded custard cream all over the lot, right up to the ceiling,
      "Those rascals went to all the trouble to build a birthday cake around a big inflated balloon. When I punched the knife in there, powee!"
      Wills, who is a large tumultuous man with an engaging cowboy accent, agrees with Vreeland's contention that practical jokes played on fellow performers on the lot were ideas polished off-stage for possible use in the next film.
      "Most of them were sight gags," he said. "They relied for their effect on the audience being able to see them, A man had to be terribly careful working on that lot. You never knew when somebody would sneak up behind you and put a lighted candle under your chair, or set fire to the newspaper you were reading.
      "I claim that the hotfoot was probably originated here at this studio. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd like to think it was, anyway."
      Phony telegrams and telephone calls abounded on the lot, Wills recalls. He remembers the time he got an urgent telegram from his agent, asking him to immediately get in touch by telephone.
      "Not a single phone on that lot was in working order," Wills said. "They turned them all off, so I had to go down the street. I should have known by then, of course, that my agent knew nothing about the wire."
      Every once in a while, somebody would get a telegram with the chilling instructions, "Disregard last telegram," signed by an agent or friend. Of course, there was no "last telegram," but it always took a long time to establish this as fact."
      Wills recalls how, motion pictures were slapped together in the old days, revised on the spot with plot worked out as the action went along.
      "Why," he said, "Laurel and Hardy used to work out their routines and turn out the funniest pictures you ever saw. And they'd only run 15 or 18 minutes. Remember those? They used to be called "selected short subjects," and they were a lot funnier than the big expensive pictures being made today.
      "I wish we'd get back to selected short subjects. but motion picture exhibitors now won't buy a film unless it runs for an hour and a half.
      "I was watching an old Laurel and Hardy movie on TV the other night with my kids." Wills said.
      "It just broke them up, they were screaming with laughter. But I know if I tried to do one of those routines, my son would think I was out of my head."
      Roach was known for his willingness to disregard costs in favor of getting comedy into his pictures. Many times, after a film was completed an idea would occur to the director or one of the comedians that might have brightened up the film had it been used. But it would cost $500 to go into the completed film and install the idea.
      "Roach used to say a good laugh was worth $500 any time," Wills said.
      Wills looked reflectve1y around the huge sound stage, fingers of sunlight poking into its dark corners, the auctioneer's workmen busily labeling and tagging the props neatly laid out on the table.
      From one corner loomed a richly rococo nude, glowing in glorious technicolor as the sun struck the canvas.
      "Who painted that" was the awed question.
      "A Frenchman who was never heard from again," was the answer.
      A workman went by, his pocket radio peevishly summoning him to "Report to stage two."
      The metallic squawk of the radio seemed to hang on the words in the air.
      "You know," Wills said, "I reckon if you could package all the laughs that came out of this place and let them go all at once, it'd be a lot bigger than the biggest hydrogen bomb. I just reckon it would."

—Chronical Telegram (July 27, 1963)