BRADFORD will be playing host to an annual convention celebrating two of cinema’s best-loved comedians.
The Bradford branch of the Sons of the Desert – the official Laurel and Hardy appreciation society – will be welcoming fellow groups from across the country and abroad.
More than 120 people are expected to attend the Sons of the Desert convention, the 37th of its kind to be held in the UK.
Named after Laurel and Hardy’s 1933 film Sons of the Desert, the club was set up to keep the work of the duo alive after their deaths.
In keeping with the desert theme, each branch of the society is called a tent, and is named after a Laurel and Hardy film; Bradford’s is called the County Hospital tent.
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The convention will run from Friday, April 28, until Monday, May 1, and will be based at the Midland Hotel.
The convention has been supported by Bradford UNESCO City of Film to ensure that a packed and varied programme awaits delegates.
Finding a screening license to show the films ‘Way Out West’ and ‘County Hospital’ was proofing quite elusive, even for the cinema experts at Picture House at the National Science and Media Museum. The City of Film team stepped in and following a series of emails and telephone calls to L.A. and Germany, permission was finally granted.
You can watch a special screening of Way out West and County Hospital at Picturehouse at the National Science and Media Museum on Sunday 30th April at 12.30 – Adults £5, Children £1 – pay on the door. Any profits made by the screening will be donated to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.
David Wilson, Director of Bradford UNESCO City of Film will be speaking at the conference dinner where he will give a presentation on Bradford’s rich film heritage spanning over 100 years.
