Lest We Forget

A short tribute to WILL ROGERS, homespun actor popular in the '30s who was a kind of statesman and "everyman" type of screen player noted for his kindly philosophy and status as a good American, which ends with a plea for audiences to contribute to the Will Rogers Memorial Fund.

GARY COOPER and HARRY CAREY talk about him in affectionate terms, Cooper calling him "a great American." We see a clip of the accident scene in a lake where the plane crashed with Rogers and Wiley Post aboard, both of them killed immediately.

A number of clips (all in poor condition) are shown from his films, none of which do more than show that he played country bumpkin types.

ALLAN JONES sings a cowboy song under open skies and then ROBERT TAYLOR faces the camera for a final talk to the audience, asking them to contribute to the Will Rogers Memorial Fund. The picture fades out and we hear "Old Lang Syne" on the soundtrack with a black screen.

End of a very uninspired short on Will Rogers. The film clips are totally underwhelming.

No I have not seen this particular film but have seen just about everything else Gary Cooper made. Anyone who could possibly say that the man was not a great actor, is someone who: 1. obviously is not a movie-lover. 2. has not seen such great films as "High Noon" or "Meet John Doe" or "Pride of the Yankees" etc, etc. 3. is someone who doesn't have enough intelligence to realize that the greatest actors on screen were the ones who were just being themselves (ie James Stewart, John Wayne etc, etc.) 4. definitely needs to broaden his horizons. Believe me, there are several more great actors in film history other than those with "Sir" or "Lord" before their names. Should the fellow who wrote the previous comment continue to critique? Nope. Was Gary Cooper among the finest actors in film history? Yep.

This was a promotional film that not only honored the passing of Will Rogers but announced to the theater audience about the TB Sanatorium in Saranac Lake, NY. It was now being renamed from the National Vaudeville Lodge to the Will Rpgers Memorial Hospital though not mentioned in this PSA. This PSA was played at theaters asking for donations so that the Hospital could continue.

Very well done.

I'm watching it now as a trailer on TCM. It was nice to find the year produced on IMDb.

PARDON THE CAPS< STUPID FILTER KEYS!>

IT"S WONDERFUL THAT THIS SORT OF INFO CAN BE FOUND HERE

The film starts with Cooper and Carey reminiscing at the corral, followed by newsreel footage of the crash that claimed Rogers and his friend Wiley Post.

Next is footage of Mr. Rogers in "State Fair", and concludes with Robert Taylor asking for contributions to a hospital wing named for Mr. Rogers. A classy, nostalgic look back at the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Lest We Forget (1937)

*** (out of 4)

MGM tribute to the late Will Rogers is also a promo piece for his hospital. The film starts off on the tribute side as Gary Cooper, Allan Jones and Harry Carey discuss the late star and how important he was. We then get Robert Taylor talking about the hospital and how any donations would be needed. This is another nice gem that pops up on Turner Classic Movies ever so often. The film runs a very short 6-minutes so there's not too much plot or anything like that. It works nice as a tribute and an interesting bit of history to see how stars would sell their pitch for certain organizations. The movie is good enough for what it is and it's nice seeing someone like Cooper talk about Rogers with such kind words.