From the George Mann Archives: Laurel & Hardy on location, and kinky fun with a pre-fan Sally Rand

Today On Bunker Hill is proud to present a little something special from the archives of George Mann, an artifact that predates his astonishing color photographs of Bunker Hill by about twenty years.

George Mann’s son Brad Smith writes: “Long tucked away in closets, attics, garages and basements as I”™ve moved from the west coast to the east coast and 30 years ago back again to live in Berkeley, California are three storage containers with about 50 reels of film, each about 400”™ long. They were taken by my biological father, George Mann, a vaudeville headliner and half of the somewhat risqué comedic dance team of Barto and Mann. Many of the shots were of his fellow vaudevillians, most long forgotten, but some names are still known today.

One such act was The Three Stooges. The following never-before-seen, two-minute clip of The Three Stooges, taken in 1938 when they were on the same bill at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, includes George and my mother. It”™s quite a smile for me to master the steps involved to digitize, edit and post this clip. I hope watching it makes you smile too.

Author: Kim Cooper

Kim Cooper is the creator of 1947project, the crime-a-day time travel blog that spawned Esotouric’s popular crime bus tours, including The Real Black Dahlia. She is the author of The Kept Girl, the acclaimed historical mystery starring the young Raymond Chandler and the real-life Philip Marlowe, and of The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles. With husband Richard Schave, Kim curates the Salons and forensic science seminars of LAVA- The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. When the third generation Angeleno isn’t combing old newspapers for forgotten scandals, she is a passionate advocate for historic preservation of signage, vernacular architecture and writer’s homes. Kim was for many years the editrix of Scram, a journal of unpopular culture. Her books include Fall in Love For Life, Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth, Lost in the Grooves and an oral history of Neutral Milk Hotel.

2 thoughts on “From the George Mann Archives: Laurel & Hardy on location, and kinky fun with a pre-fan Sally Rand”

  1. Hi
    I lived on Clay Street near Pershing Square in the early 1950’s. I remember an ice skating ring in the park one winter. Any information on that?
    -Vic

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