The Story of Will Rogers

1952
U
1h 49m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Will Rogers Jr. and Jane Wyman in The Story of Will Rogers (1952)

The homespun humorist and social critic starts as a cowboy and goes on to vaudeville, movies, and radio.The homespun humorist and social critic starts as a cowboy and goes on to vaudeville, movies, and radio.The homespun humorist and social critic starts as a cowboy and goes on to vaudeville, movies, and radio.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

570

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The real Eddie Cantor appears as himself in support of Will Rogers, Jr. who portrays his father, a contemporary of Cantor's. The next year Rogers, Jr. would return the favor, again appearing as his father in The Eddie Cantor Story. Both films were made by Warner Brothers.

Goofs
When Will Rogers is addressing the bankers at 1:17:00 in, there are 2 old style microphones on the table in front of him. The one on the left of the screen, Rogers' right, is missing one of the suspension springs between the mic cartridge and the frame. It also has no wire attached to it, so it couldn't possibly function.

Quotes
Will Rogers: Well it looks like the women are finally gonna get the vote. A lot of men say they shouldn't be trusted with it. Seems kind of silly to stop trustin' them now after eatin' their cookin' for 4000 years.

Connections
Edited from Rhapsody in Blue (1945)

Soundtracks
Home on the Range
(uncredited)
Music by Daniel E. Kelley
Lyrics by Brewster M. Higley
Played at the beginning and during the opening credits
Sung at the Rogers party and used often in the score

User reviews19

Featured review

9/10

Surprisingly good.

Most biopics leave a lot to be desired...especially those made during the classic era in Hollywood. Too often the actual lives of these heroes have been changed in order to make them seem more cinematic....and lying and twisting the facts is pretty much par for the course. Some films don't even have much to do with the actual person they are portraying (such as "Night and Day" and "Words and Music").

In light of this, I was shocked that for the most part "The Story of Will Rogers" is mostly the actual life and career of the man! Now I am not saying it's perfect, as for example, Will's father had died long before and the film must have assumed the man was a zombie! But apart from that and a few small items, the film IS the life of Will Rogers.

To play the man, the studio did something unusual. First, they consulted with Rogers' widow (why they actually wanted to get the facts right is beyond me!). Second, they got Rogers' son, Will Jr., to play him. Now Will Jr. Didn't look exactly like his dad (I think he actually looked more like Chill Wills), but he was pretty close and captured the man pretty well.

Why do I think they got Rogers' life right? Well, I think two reason account for this. First, Rogers DID so many amazing things that there wasn't the same need to embellish it to 'spice it up'. Second, as Rogers was such a public figure, had they NOT stuck to the facts, folks would have noticed.

So, overall it's a very good film and an excellent overview of the actor/humorist's life. Well worth seeing.