Harlem, Georgia is a sleepy little southern town. If you blinked, you’d miss it. On January 18, 1892 Oliver Norvell Hardy was born in this town and his success in Hollywood gave the town an eternal claim to fame. They are clearly very proud of this and it shows. The town seemed full of sincere people and great southern hospitality.
I found information about the Laurel & Hardy Museum online shortly before my Christmas trip home to Georgia to see my parents. I pleaded with them to take me there for a little day trip and they agreed. I really love these little “Mom and Pop” type museums, as they are always run by such devoted, passionate people. When we first arrived in Harlem, I noticed “The Columbia Theatre”. The marquee looked beautiful and there was a large Laurel & Hardy mural on the side of the building. Unfortunately the interior of the theatre was complete gutted and empty. I later found out this is a work in progress. The town is trying to raise money and get grants to re-open the theatre with an eye to showing Laurel & Hardy films along with other silents and talkies from Hollywood’s Golden Age. I wish I was wealthy, as I would have written a check for that on the spot. This would really be a great thing for this town and would provide them with a nice cultural and social hub.
The museum itself was small but filled with all sorts of memorabilia, displays and information. They had all sorts of books, resources, historical documents and photographs. Fans from around the world have generously donated items to the museum throughout the years. The docent was a very nice lady named Linda who volunteers for the museum and has an incredible passion for Laurel & Hardy. She has even been to the Laurel & Hardy museum in England where Stan Laurel was born and also runs the local Harlem Fan club called “BerthMarks”. She guided us around the museum and was very helpful.
In the back of the museum they had a screening room with several of their films on VHS and DVD…but the image was really bad. I have been so fortunate to see all of the Laurel & Hardy films on the big screen at various events. I had no idea that the home video offerings were that scant and that poor in quality. I promised the lady at the museum that I would do my best to locate cleaner copies. If ANY of you out there have nice, clean DVD recordings of any Laurel & Hardy films, please let me know. I want to donate it to the museum. Often times if someone’s first exposure to old movies is a bad one, then they will often assume that all old films looks that way. I’m always trying to dispel that notion. The museum hosts a huge Laurel & Hardy Festival every year and they also do many educational programs that teach children about film and local history. I was so pleased to hear that these films will keep being discovered by younger generations, thus assuring that the boy from Harlem GA will never be forgotten.
I’ve always been a Jean Harlow fan and I was thrilled to see they even had a little display at the museum featuring information about her appearances in Laurel & Hardy films. These films were a great springboard that helped to launch her legendary career.
I had such a great time at the museum and my enthusiasm ran wild . I even posed with several Laurel & Hardy statues. I had to!!!
On the way out of town I walked across the railroad tracks to a vacant lot filled with green grass and a plaque. It is the exact lot where Hardy was born.
The town as also painted their water tower in tribute to him as well.
So if you are a Laurel & Hardy fan, I highly recommend taking a trip to Harlem. I plan to keep tabs on how the theatre is progressing and hopefully I’ll get to come back and watch some films when it has been re-opened.
To see more of my pictures, check out my Flickr page.
