Customer Reviews

Will Rogers Collection, Vol. One (Life Begins at 40 / In Old Kentucky / Doubting Thomas / Steamboat 'Round the Bend)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Will Rogers died in 1935, he was the biggest star in Hollywood. The films captured in this collection show him as a somewhat wise elder to a nation eager for a little direction.

Life Begins at Forty is an oddly titled film. I was imagining a light comedy. Instead it's about a power struggle between a newspaper publisher (Rogers) and Col. Joseph Abercrombie, the town's banker and political boss. T

Doubting Thomas has Rogers as a husband dealing with his wife wanting to get into showbiz. His wife, Billie Burke, has the lead in a small town play and the female director think she's got star potential.
Steamboat 'Round the Bend was the last film Rogers made. The film starts with him as a medicine man moving his health tonic on the Mississippi River. But gets out of the fake pharmaceutical business and uses his medical profits to fix up a steamboat.
While In Old Kentucky was Rogers' penultimate production, it was his final film released to theaters. Rogers plays a race horse trainer who quits his employers' farm in order to train a single horse for the big race.
The best of the bonus material is the A&E Biography which gives you a great insight as to what Rogers did and how a country cared about his homespun wisdom.

In Old Kentucky was released shortly after Rogers's death, and is his last-released film, though not the last film he starred in. Steamboat Round the Bend was filmed earlier, but released first, as it was thought to be the stronger work. Fox Films and 20th Century Fox produced this warm Americana, set in the 1920s.

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, known for a similar dance performance with Shirley Temple in "The Little Colonel," appears throughout. His role in was intended for Stepin Fetchit, but that actor was working on another film and his role was rewritten to allow Robinson to show off his famous dancing.

Critical commentary by Anthony Slide is worthwhile, despite his lisp--"I have a bwidge in Bwooklyn," reminiscent of "Life of Brian." Slide is more critical than warranted-- for example: "another weak sight gag, and equally weak as the first sight gag at the beginning of the film." Charlie Chaplin this isn't - if you want brilliant sight gags rent Chaplin or Keaton instead.

Slide's pointing out stunt doubles didn't add to my appreciation of the film, but his commentary on the careers of the players, many from vaudeville, was valuable. More annoying is Slide's obsession with every instance of perceived racism. It is difficult to review a film released 72 years ago and not apply today's standards. Slide gives a good discussion on blackface during the blackface dance scene.

Choose Language Selection > English Stereo as the program defaults to Mono.

Rogers's fly medicine monologue was a high point in the film, as were all the scenes with Rogers dancing. The second half of the film picks up speed until the end, which had me laughing out loud. While this may not be Rogers's best work, you will be delighted by his warm wit and wry humor.

Will Rogers has been compared to Mark Twain for his humor. After Rogers's tragic death in 1935, people in 12,000 theaters observed two minutes of silence.


Steamboat Round the Bend is one of 3 collaborations between director John Ford and actor Will Rogers, and was shot in 6 weeks in the Sacramento River Delta.

The commentary by Scott Eyman, on the 2006 DVD, is worth having apart from the film. Eyman is author of two books on director John Ford: Print the Legend, and John Ford: The Complete Films. His commentary is among the very best I have ever heard.

Standout scenes: An exquisite wedding ceremony brings tears even to Will Rogers's eyes, and he is not acting. Anne Shirley as Fleety Belle is stunning in her delicate beauty throughout. The "New Moses," Berton Churchill, is memorable in his role as a full-of-himself blowhard, as he was playing the prosecuting attorney in the 1934 "Judge Priest," another Ford-Rogers collaboration. Another reprise from Judge Priest is John Ford's brother Francis, again playing a drunk with amazing aim when he spits. A final highlight is supercharging the Claremore Queen firebox with the Pocahontas Remedy.

Some viewers are disturbed by Lincoln Perry's (Stepin Fetchit) character, but more disturbing to me was the lassoing of Moses! Scott Eyman gives a superb analysis of the dull and slow character played by Stepin Fetchit--transcending the kneejerk politically-correct reaction of today, and placing Fetchit's characterization (and that of Hattie McDaniel in other films) in a larger context. He says "might I offer a modest proposal: Is it not now time to look past the stereotypes these actors portrayed-- and look at the art, and the warmth, with which they played them."

Two other films with Rogers have the same charm and image of 19th Century american values; one is the Ford- Rogers collaboration Judge Priest, and the other, also released in 1935, is In Old Kentucky.

Commentator Eyman says "taken together, the 3 Ford-Rogers films (Judge Priest, Dr. Boles, and Steamboat) rank with Ford's finest achievements."

Will Rogers was an actor before his time. His easy underplaying could give lessons to an Actor's Studio graduate. A fine collection

Will Rogers is finally getting his due after years of very little other than a short-lived VHS series in the early '90s and years of public domain odds and ends, most of it from very faint duped masters.
Apart from his status as a pundit, Rogers was among the greatest of the movie comedians of the '30s, in the same company as Fields, Dressler, Laurel & Hardy, and the Marx Bros. Even in his weaker movies, his performance and personality stand out.
The four comedies will raise some eyebrows: "Doubting Thomas" is very sexist, and "Steamboat 'Round the Bend" has Stepin Fetchit. But if there's any viciousness in these movies, it's aimed squarely at hypocrisy, petty societal maneuvering, and the status quo. Rogers' movies had some of the most barbed and cynical scripts of the day (as did Marie Dressler's), and it's Rogers' performances that make them watchable, funny, and to a great degree, fascinating. Miss this collection and you're missing the best dollop of humor this side of Mark Twain.

Beautifully restored and full of laughs.

David James

I BELIEVE THE NEW MOSES! ... Get this set for this Movie! Ann Shirley (as cute little FLEETY BELLE), Steppin Fetchit ... (who we finally see in the 21st century), Will Rogers ... (The American Icon closest to Mark Twain), all at their classic best. In the early 60's this movie regularly played on the independent TV channels in Los Angeles, (then, suddenly pulled due to stereotyping). This is the jewel of the Collection for sure! Other movies are really cool too, just see STEAMBOAT ROUND THE BEND and you'll be amazed!
I'm told the actual race was filmed in Sacramento! (REAL STEAMBOATS!)

Todays generation has mostly forgotten one of the 20th Centuries greatest humorists and greatest human. What a tragedy. These remastered movie DVDs give a brief and welcome glance at what humor was in pre WWII America. Will was probably the second most important figure, after FDR, in America surviving the depression. His role was wit and compassion. Both are in evidense in these four films. More of the same, please. After all, will ran for President more than 50 years prior to Pat Paulson!

This is a great set of Will Rogers films with very good DVD quality. There is a good commentary on "Steamboat" by Scott Eyman. The other 3 films have commentaries by Anthony Slide which are more annoying than informative. Perhaps because I love these films so much, I can't listen to someone who keeps talking about how weak a plot or scene is and just being overly critical of the films. Not to mention having to listen to his PC garbage. Otherwise, I give this 5 stars.

I can't vouch for two of the films in this set (just ordered it) but Steamboat is worth the money alone. Absolutely hilarious. This film is dated obviously, but the humor and sarcasim are spot-on.

I'm thrilled to find Steamboat finally released on DVD. The others I may have seen years ago also, but they don't ring a bell right off. I will say that Will Rogers was a very funny comedian and took great strides at knocking the edge off of what today would be the "Politically Correct" crowd and social elite.

Update: 2010; I've watched these classic movies and they are excellent. The transfer to DVD is good and they are very watchable considering their age. It's a good set for sure, but worth it completely for Steamboat... my favorite.