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DULUTH — We’re about five years away from the 100th anniversary of famous comedy duo Laurel and Hardy’s first two-person movie, Duck Soup, in 1927. However, earlier this month their film was screened at the Superior Moose Lodge.
Adelie Bergstrom/Duluth News-Tribune
Thanks for everyone’s enthusiasm
Son of the Desert Busy Body Tent #60
, the official international association for lovers of Laurel and Hardy films. The International Society was founded in 1965, the last year of Stan Laurel’s life.
“He approved of the name,” said Dave Kirwan, the chief of Busy Body. “It’s derived from one of their films called ‘Children of the Desert,’ which is a feature film. That’s the name of a brother organization they’re part of in the film, so there’s a big connection between the two.”
“Because of this, some of us sometimes wear felt hats—not many, but we do,” he continued. “I would.”
Contribute / Jean Kirwan
Duluth’s Kirwan and Superior’s Roger Krobb have been with local clubs almost since 1985.
“A young gentleman actually started the club,” Krobb said. “He was 18 or 19 and he was running for a few months. Then he kind of got bored and wanted to do something else, so he asked me if I’d take it. He’d give me all the material. I thought, I don’t know Where to start, but I said “yes. “
Kathy Strauss / 1998 File / Duluth News-Tribune
Before long, the group began meeting regularly. The first is at the NorShor Theatre, followed by a series of restaurants, where the club will place a large white screen in a separate restaurant. Eventually, the club found its home at West Duluth American Legion Post 71 and Superior Moose Lodge, and continued to alternate between the two.
The group meets at either location approximately once a month. They also did some outreach at various other locations and participated in the Fourth of July parade in Superior.
“We get together and spend too much time on announcements, then show old movies, take a break, and raffle some fun stuff,” Kirwan said. “Our annual membership fee is $13 for individuals and $16 for families. This is mostly to pay for the newsletter.”
The newsletter is the creation of Kirwan’s passion. Members can read a ton of stuff about Laurel and Hardy; their rare trip to Twin Harbors; when and where movies are showing locally; member birthdays; crossword puzzles; previews of this month’s screenings; and more.
Contribute / Jean Kirwan
“Did you know that Stan Laurel actually came to Double Harbor a few times when he was juggling?” Kirwan asked. “This was before he and Ollie were partners. But he was part of a firm, and he was Charlie Chaplin’s understudy.”
Contribution / Busy Body Tent #60
Just a sample of the tidbits people can get in the monthly newsletter; a “busy signal,” though Kirwan is quick to point to the international community’s newsletter as a source of inspiration. There, one can find information about the Society’s efforts to keep the work of Laurel and Hardy alive. Subscribing to the newsletter is one of the few requirements of the Sons of the Desert club, or “tent.”
But what is it about Laurel and Hardy’s films that has attracted such an enthusiastic community?
For some, part of it is nostalgia. Club officials Dan and Adele Krusz remember watching Laurel and Hardy movies and TV clips as kids.
Kathy Strauss / 1998 File / Duluth News-Tribune
“It’s Captain Q,” Adele said. “Jack McKenna, a local weatherman who played Captain Q in the ’60s, would introduce the movie. So if you were born in the ’50s, you’d always see Laurie after school Al and Hardy. I can’t wait to get home.”
McKenna would also introduce Kruszes to The Little Rascals, Casper, Popeye and Little Lulu. He played a pirate captain on a mystery ship on WDSM. Some of these cartoons and TV shorts were also screened by the club, along with shorts by Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
Kirwan didn’t grow up in the Twin Ports, but he also remembers seeing movies and shorts on TV. It was their silliness and relationship that attracted him.
Contribute / Jean Kirwan
“It’s usually about two people who shouldn’t be together, on a practical level. That’s how you get one stupid person with another stupid person and then the end result is far greater than the sum of the two stupid people ,” Kirwan said. “But that was on a practical level. On a personal level, of course you know, these two are one. No one else would put up with each other. There was a warmth there, even though they didn’t directly express that emotion.”
The Kruszes found their comedy to be “timeless”.
“And it’s also prevalent,” Krobb said. “There were a lot of tents all over Europe, and I remember meeting a guy from Indonesia who would come to an international convention.”
Every two years, Sons of the Desert conventions are held everywhere from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Marquette, Michigan, to Hollywood. Krob, Kruszes and Kirwan visited several of them and had the opportunity to meet the actors and actresses of “Little Bad Guys,” which was filmed on the same set as Laurel and Hardy.
“I met one of the hooligans who lived in Cloquet,” Krob said. “I was at Thelma Todd’s convention, and when he (Jerry Tucker) heard I was from Minnesota, he told me he married a Cloquet girl. Apparently, he applied for a newspaper job there, but didn’t get got hired, so they left.”
These conventions also provide an opportunity to meet members from all over the globe and learn how they do things in their own groups.
Dave Ballard/File/Duluth News-Tribune
“They have all these traditions at the convention,” Adele said. “You have to be ready for that. They have a costume contest and something in the conversation that everybody picks up.”
Local meetings are more accessible, Adele said. Welcome to the Belly Laugh Classic.
“I’m going to say one thing,” Adele said. “Because we’re showing these movies to a group of people, they’re more fun. You can laugh together.”
This was missed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the group has resumed regular meetings. The next date is January 7 at 7pm at West Duluth American Legion Post 71, 5814 Grand Ave.
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