SILENTS PLEASE: WILL ROGERS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of tributes to silent motion pictures, featuring footage from classic films. In this installment, host Ernie Kovacs uses comic films as well as documentary footage and stills to discuss the early movie career of humorist, philosopher, and American folk hero Will Rogers (1879-1935). Kovacs opens by praising Rogers's courage in the face of what the host describes as the racist ultra-patriotism of the 1910s, noting that the humorist always exhibited a generous character. Kovacs briefly describes Rogers's upbringing in what would soon be Oklahoma, then moves on to the silent films of the man known as "the Cherokee kid" because of his Native-American blood. The first film excerpted, the 1924 Hal Roach picture "Don't Park There," is a tale of the clash between rural and urban America. Sent to the city by his ranch family to procure lineament for his grandfather's bad back, cowboy Rogers must learn to navigate around -- and eventually in -- a new mode of transportation, the automobile. Next, the program offers an aside about Rogers's political satire, including sound footage of the humorist's introduction of presidential candidate Franklin Roosevelt to an admiring crowd. Kovacs goes on to show scenes from "The Truthful Liar," a film in which Rogers regales his western buddies with a fictitious account of his adventures with England's King George V. Next, short clips of films in which Rogers lampoons Hollywood colleagues such as Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, and Tom Mix are aired. The program briefly touches on the humorist's success in sound films and ends with an account of his death in 1935 while attempting an around-the-world flight with aviator Wiley Post. Kovacs returns to the screen to extol Rogers's largeness of spirit and to say goodnight. Includes commercials.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: April 13, 1961 10:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:29:12
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T:50983
- GENRE: Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; Films, silent; Humorists, American
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1960-1961
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Campbell's Barbecue Beans
- TV - Commercials - Dutch Masters Panetela [sic] cigars
- TV - Commercials - Quaker Oats and Mother's Oats cereals
CREDITS
- Saul J. Turrell … Supervising Producer
- Paul Killiam … Producer, Director, Writer
- William K. Everson … Researcher
- Angelo Ross … Music by
- Ernie Kovacs … Host
- Paul Killiam … Narrator
- Allen Swift … Narrator
- Douglas Fairbanks
- George V, King of Great Britain
- Tom Mix
- Wiley Post
- Hal Roach
- Will Rogers
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Rudolph Valentino