The Story of Will Rogers

This one is now out on DVD in the Warner Archives Collection. I saw this picture when it first came out - I was 11 at the time and I wanted to see if it held up in the ensuing 58 years, and I'm pleased to report it is just as entertaining and absorbing the second time around.

Such is not always the case. I did the same thing with "The High And The Mighty", and was disappointed at how trite and stagey the picture seemed when I saw it recently. But "Will Rogers" holds up, probably because it is a biography of a very famous American from the early part of the last century. Then as now, I was fascinated by what a dead ringer for his dad Will Rogers, Jr. was. I also think the movie benefited from a superior direction job.

Can I make one criticism? I didn't think Jane Wyman fit the part of a girlfriend/ wife from Oologah, Okla. She was too sophisticated, like a society chick from Riverside Drive who wouldn't bother with a bumpkin from Oologah. But that's just me.

In any case, this is worth buying and watching. I don't think it will be on TV any time soon as there are two scenes of Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson performing in blackface. Can't upset the PC crowd, you know.

Both Michael Curtiz and his longtime employer, Warner Brothers, showed a flair for biographies, and this one has been somewhat underrated. The story is the familiar one of the rise of a young man from obscurity to worldwide fame, and there are really no surprises here. Audiences at the time the movie came out (1952) probably knew much about Rogers' life anyway, though he is nowadays an almost forgotten figure. This movie is solid entertainment, nicely photographed in color, and Will Rogers, Jr. gives an excellent, engaging performance as his father. It is basically a series of cliches, which, once once accepts the premise, one can thoroughly delight in, as I did, as the skill with which such material is handled constitutes the pleasure of watching such a predictable movie as this.

Rogers was a huge star in vaudeville on Broadway and in the movies. He was also a newspaper columnist and radio commentator, and hugely popular in his day. His homespun humor has dated badly, but the rough and tumble world he came out of is fascinating to see recreated on screen. There are nice ironies in the movie, among them, Rogers' move from the "real west" (Oklahoma) to the "false west" (Hollywood). I also like the casting of the refined, almost patrician actor, Carl Benton Reid, as Rogers' father. The arrival of barnstorming aviator who lands literally in Rogers' backyard, is stunningly filmed, and one can't help get a lump in one's throat as soon as one learns his name: Wiley Post.

If The Story Of Will Rogers did not exactly stick close to the facts it certainly captured the spirit of the man who in his time was America's beloved entertainer. Will Rogers was in fact more than an entertainer, he was a shrewd and trenchant observer of the political and social scene. We could use a dose of his wisdom today.

Will Rogers, Jr., who as a dutiful son was the custodian of his father's legacy plays the role of his father and you'll swear it was the real Will. Of course one can see the real Will Rogers in any number of fine films he made for Fox. The film is based on his widow's memoirs and she is played by Jane Wyman so the Rogers family had a tight control on this one.

It was quite true that Rogers took a long time to find himself, he was something of a rebellious kid who did not take to school. Clem Rogers, his father is played by Carl Benton Reid and he was a power in the Cherokee Indian councils. All Will wanted to do was be a cowboy, but he had a knack for saying some real funny things off the cuff and eventually parlayed that into a vaudeville act and after that the Ziegfeld Follies and movies. And of course a newspaper column that a collection of will be a really shrewd observation of his times.

One thing that was a glaring error, Will Rogers was never put in nomination for president even as a favorite son. Governor William H. Murray of Oklahoma was in fact a presidential hopeful in 1932 and he would have been surprised at that turn of events.

Not to say that he wouldn't have made a good president. There is an underside to the Rogers legacy. The dark mirror image of Will Rogers who never met a man he didn't like is portrayed quite ably on the screen by Andy Griffith in A Face In The Crowd. Lonesome Rhodes would have said he never met a man he couldn't take.

One of the things that Rogers said that was quoted in this film was that this was the greatest country in the world, but taxes are the privilege you pay for living in it. I wish a lot more people would remember that today.

The Story Of Will Rogers and the films of Will Rogers provide an enduring legacy to a man who was a national treasure in his day and now.

It's early 20th century. Humble cowboy Will Rogers (Will Rogers Jr.) returns to Oologah, Oklahoma. Betty (Jane Wyman) takes little notice of another cowboy's arrival but soon the two become a couple. Eventually, he becomes one of the most popular American humorist and home-spun political commentator.

This is an autobiography of Will Rogers as told by his widow. Will Rogers is well before my time. He comes from another era. I don't know any specifics from his work but I do understand his general tone. It's a call to the old west and America's promise. He's a nice little guy and the little guy can be great in America. This movie taps into that. He's the regular Joe. I have no nostalgia for the man or the era. I do find this movie to give a sense of both. One thing I didn't know is that so much of his work is topical and political. There isn't much drama with this movie but it does what it's supposed to do.

I agree with the previous commenter about how good this movie is and would love to see it available on video. This movie was made in 1952 and starred Will Rogers Jr. It showed Will Rogers Jr, as his father, doing some performance on Broadway as well as some of the fund-raisers he did during the depression and more of the movies he made in Hollywood. However this website is showing a picture of a movie made in 1961, narrated by Bob Hope, and it is NOT the same movie that they are describing. The one narrated by Bob Hope, is available on video (dvd), and although it is a good biographical movie of Will Rogers, it is NOT the one starring Will Rogers Jr, or any of the other stars listed on this web site. They need to remove that picture as it can cause some confusion for some people.