Believe It or Not (Second Series) #12

Believe It or Not (Second Series) #12 (1932)

** (out of 4)

The final film in the series once again features no Ripley as he's apparently off looking for footage to upcoming episodes (which of course never came). We travel across the globe including Japan where we see chickens with tails that grow a foot a year. We also visit the Philippines where we see a house that is picked up and carried six miles away by some local workers. Also on hand this time out includes a one-armed man who builds boats as well as a trip to Grauman's Chinese Theater where we see several stars who have put their hand print and signatures down. This 24th episode is fair in terms of "believe it or not" footage but in the end it's obvious they were running out of material as this second group just aren't nearly as entertaining as some from the first. Fans of the weird will probably want to check out the entire series but this one here simply doesn't feature enough to make it worth viewing unless you really want to watch them all.

Once again Leo Donnelly offers the audience his narration of various unlikely and frequently boring facts in place of Robert L. Ripley. These include a rowboat for a one-armed rower, a collection of tiny books, and the footprints outside the Chinese Theater in Los Angeles.

Ripley is said to be absent because he is off on a world tour collecting more unbelievable facts. Given that this one is batting 500 on "too stupid to believe" this seems like a good thing to do. Otherwise he might have to explain what went wrong. Even so, he can be glimpsed holding the tail feathers of some Japanese chickens with very long tails. Believe it or not, the Japanese call them Onagadori.