Will Rogers Movies
As a boy, Rogers became an expert rider and rope-twirler; he first performed in a Johannesburg Wild West Show during the Boer War. In the U.S., he worked in fairs and vaudeville, gradually developing an act that included humor. He began appearing in musical comedy in 1912; five years later, he starred with the Ziegfeld Follies. Beginning in 1918, Rogers appeared in many feature and short films, but his appeal in the silent medium was limited; when he tried to produce and direct his own films, he lost a good deal of his own money. However, once the sound era began, he quickly became one of the nation's most popular performers -- his folksy wit and down-home philosophy making him an ambassador of rural America and spokesman for the common folk. Rogers also worked on radio and wrote newspaper columns. He turned down an offer to run for Governor of Oklahoma, but served as Mayor of Beverly Hills and campaigned actively (via his very influential columns) for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. He died in an airplane crash with aviator Wiley Post in 1935. He was portrayed in three films by his look-alike son, Will Rogers Jr. -- one was the biopic The Will Rogers Story (1952). He was also the central subject of the Broadway musical The Will Rogers Follies, in which he was portrayed by Keith Carradine and Mac Davis. ~ All Movie Guide- 1915
This video follows the escapades of Louise and Fatty in the 1915 "Fatty's Tin-Type Tangle." In the second half of this video, Will Rogers is featured in the 1924 "Our Congressman." ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1916
This anthology is comprised of several short chucklers from the King of Slapstick comedy Mack Sennett. These shorts feature the hilarious Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand. The titles include: Fatty and Mabel Adrift, Mabel, Fatty, and the Law, Fatty's Tin-Type Tangle, and Our Congressman. The latter features Will Rogers making fun of Capitol Hill. This is the second of two volumes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1919
This simple comedy drama was adapted from a serial in the Saturday Evening Post, but the film itself doesn't seem to have enough story to have run over several issues of a magazine. Jublio (Will Rogers) is happy with his lazy life as a hobo, but one day when he goes begging for food at a ranch, ranch-owner Jim Hardy (Charles French) insists that he work for his meal. This suggestion would normally have no appeal for Jublio, but when he sees the luscious pie being made by Hardy's pretty daughter Rose (Josie Sedgwick), he not only agrees to do manual labor for the first time in his life, he sticks around for more. After helping Hardy out of a fix or two, the former hobo marries Rose. It seems odd now that attempts were made to turn witty Will Rogers (at the time a Follies phenomenon) into a silent star -- his forte was the spoken word. But then, opera divas such as Geraldine Farrar became silent successes, so perhaps it wasn't so far-fetched. True worldwide fame for Rogers, however, would have to wait for radio and talking pictures. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
In this romantic comedy, a school teacher moves from his home in the country to a small town. He attends a party and becomes a hit when he suggests the partygoers stage a mock wedding with the loveliest girl in town. Much to his surprise, they are married by a bona fide reverend and the marriage is real. Later the town crook tries to make moves upon the beauteous bride and she begs her "husband" not to anull their union. As a result, the spurned bad guy decides to destroy the bank of the young wife's father. Lucky for her, the former school teacher has just sold his big novel. He uses his advance money to save her and then marry her for real. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1920
During the silent era, Will Rogers was generally on the losing end of a romantic triangle; this time his good-natured common sense wins out. Although trapper Jim Fenton (Rogers) loves Miss Butterworth (Irene Rich), he thinks that she really cares for inventor Paul Benedict (Raymond Hatton), who has been wrongly locked up in an insane asylum. He is determined to get Benedict out, especially when he discovers that Belcher, the town's most influential inhabitant, has stolen one of his inventions and made a killing off it. With the help of fellow trapper Mike Conlin (Nick Cogley), he makes Belcher confess to the crime. But instead of marrying Benedict, Miss Butterworth prefers to become Mrs. Fenton. This picture was based on the novel Seven Oaks by J.G. Holland. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1920
Even though he's a lazy, worthless bum, Hutch (Will Rogers) is a truly likable guy -- maybe that's why his wife Sary (Mary Alden) is willing to support him and their six kids. When he finds fifty thousand dollars, he knows he can't spend a cent of it without drawing suspicion (being permanently jobless, Hutch never has a cent on him). So he decides to go to work for the first time in his life. And since the money he found is in thousand dollar bills, he has to do something big, so he offers to turn around a failing farm. The money, of course, turns out to be from a bank robbery and the crook finally comes around and steals it back. But by then it doesn't matter because Hutch has become a productive member of society and found that he rather likes it that way. Will Rogers had great support in this earthy comedy -- others in the cast include the always-excellent Tully Marshall and Nick Cogley. It was based on a Saturday Evening Post story, "Old Hutch Lives Up to It," by Garret Smith. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1920
Although Billy Fortune (Will Rogers) has a hankering for Hope Beecher (Irene Rich), he acknowledges that her suitor, Ben Morgan (Wade Boteler) is the better man for her. Ben is the doctor of the Western town in which they all live, and to Hope's dismay, he loves his liquor a bit too much. A temperance society is successful in outlawing alcohol in the town, but Billy keeps the saloon in the black by hiring a bevy of beauties to dole out alcohol-free potables. When there is a mine explosion, Billy encourages Ben to prove himself to the dubious Hope by going up there with his black bag. Ben saves a number of lives, and Hope finally accepts his marriage proposal. Billy, meanwhile, optimistically figures that she's not the only girl he'll ever love. The story (adapted from a novel by William R. Lighton) gave former Zigfield Follies star Will Rogers a chance to show off some stunts, including a wild ride on a bronco. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1921
This video double feature consists of early silent short subjects starring those two old Ziegfeld Follies colleagues, W. C. Fields and Will Rogers. Made in 1915, Fields' Pool Sharks is a crude knockabout farce, making very little sense until the climactic pool game. Most of W.C.'s more remarkable shots are accomplished via very obvious stop-motion photography, though his skill with a cue is very apparent. Fields still sports the clip-on mustache that he wore on stage, so he looks more like a besotted, bulbous-nosed Chaplin than his normal screen persona. The Ropin' Fool, lensed in 1922, was produced independently by Will Rogers as a sort of pilot for a proposed short subjects series. There's very little plot to speak of, just scenes of Rogers showing off his astonishing rope tricks and riding prowess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1921
In spite of many attempts to bring Will Rogers superstardom in silent films (he was already one on Broadway), it wasn't until sound came in that he found his niche. Here, he and director Clarence G. Badger flounder as they try for pathos a la Charles Chaplin's The Kid. Rogers plays Noah Vale, a penniless inventor who is struggling along trying to support himself and a pair of cute orphans. He toils night and day on an invention that he hopes will make him enough money so that he will be worthy of Miss Fay (Sylvia Breamer, who is wasted here), the daughter of a wealthy man (George Williams). Vale has a relative who's well off, but won't have anything to do with him or his invention; the machine, however, is stolen by the relative's partner. It turns out that the invention is utterly worthless, but Vale winds up ahead anyhow -- he has a few stories, and his relation's secretary markets them. Thus Vale and the kids still manage to become financially solvent. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Sylvia Breamer, (more)
- 1921
It is said that every actor wants to play Shakespeare. Will Rogers would seem a likely exception to that rule, but here he is in this silent, taking a stab (albeit comic) at Romeo. Slim (Rogers), of course, begins as a cowpuncher but his boss switches from cattle to sheep, throwing him out of work. In addition his sweetheart, Lulu (Sylvia Breamer), says he should learn to be a real lover, like Douglas Fairbanks. So Slim decides to go work in motion pictures to discover how film folk make love. After he doubles for villains and heroes alike, Lulu changes her mind -- now she thinks Romeo and Juliet is the yardstick by which all lovers should be measured. So Slim obligingly gets his hands on a copy of the play and tries to read it. Naturally he falls asleep, but he dreams the story with himself and his girl in the title roles. When he awakes, however, he throws all technique out the window, grabs Lulu away from his rival (Raymond Hatton) and drags her off to the preache r. His show of force is what she wanted after all and the film ends happily. This was the final picture of Rogers' contract with the Goldwyn Studios. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Sylvia Breamer, (more)
- 1921
Because he was unable to give voice to his earthy wit, Will Rogers' on-film appeal was a bit limited during the silent era. Producers often didn't know what to do with him and, in fact, when Rogers began producing his own films, he didn't know what to do with himself, either. That's about the only explanation for this two-reel feature which is pretty much just a display of his lariat skills. Rogers' ropin' is shown every which way, including slow motion. He lassos a galloping horse. He lassos a rat with a piece of string. He lassos a caterwauling cat. Somewhere in the midst of all this ropin' there's the skimpiest of stories featuring Irene Rich as the girl, John Ince as the stranger, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as the inevitable foreman. But none of them get much screen time -- it's all Rogers' show. After losing quite a bit of money trying to produce and direct himself, Rogers eventually found his screen niche during the sound era. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Irene Rich, (more)
- 1921
Although he wouldn't find his true place in motion pictures until the talkie era, humorist Will Rogers certainly made a lot of films during the early '20s. Here he brings his down-to-earth persona to an O. Henry story, Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking. Whistling Dick is a hobo who loves life and classical music; in fact, he loves everything except work. He travels south to New Orleans for the winter and finds out that some of his fellow tramps are planning to rob a plantation on Christmas night. He is befriended by Nadine (Molly Malone), the daughter of Lovejoy, the plantation owner (Edward M. Kimball). Nadine has two suitors, Hunter, an overseer (John Bowers), and Richmond (Darrel Foss), who is broke and in league with the tramps, which Dick finds out. The tramps, afraid that Dick will give the plan away, capture him, but he manages to write a note and put it in a stocking with a rock. This he tosses through the Lovejoy's dining room window. The bad guys are captured and Dick becomes a guest at the Lovejoys'. They are more than happy to offer him steady employment on the plantation, which inspires him to leave at his earliest convenience. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Molly Malone, (more)
- 1921
Will Rogers plays the lead in this adaptation of a Saturday Evening Post story. While Rogers really needed talkies to bring him cinema superstardom, he could only have portrayed the character of Yal in silents -- after all, who ever heard of Will Rogers with a Swedish accent? Seduced by the promises of America, two sailors --Yal and his pal Skole (Bert Sprotte) -- travel from Sweden to San Francisco. Yal sends a thousand dollars to Hulda, his sweetheart (Mary Warren), so that she can join him, but he never hears from her again. He winds up falling in love with Annie (Doris Pawn) and investing in a delicatessen. But he loses the store and then finds Annie and Skole together. After a passage of several years Hulda finally arrives and she and Yal are married. Only after the wedding does she admit that she was adopted by wealthy Captain Larsen (Charles A. Smith), and that he left her a fortune -- she thought Yal wouldn't marry her if he knew she was a woman of wealth. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Mary Warren, (more)
- 1921
Peep O'Day (Will Rogers) is the illiterate pauper of a small Southern town. When he gets the news from Judge Priest (Edward Kimball) that he has inherited a fortune from a relative back in Ireland, Peep's life changes overnight. He decides to use his money to experience the childhood he never got to have, and spends all his time having fun with the boys of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, the widow Hunter (Cordelia Callahan) has him pegged as husband material and is trying to catch him. The scheming Cassius Sublette (Sydney Ainsworth) wants to get his hands on Peep's fortune, so he tries to have him declared incompetent. His accomplice is a girl from Cincinnati who poses as Peep's "niece," who will be more than happy to handle his money. Judge Priest sees through scam, the accomplice has a change of heart, and the case is dismissed. Peep returns to his young pals, leaving a broken-hearted widow Hunter in his wake. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Irene Rich, (more)
- 1922
Will Rogers as Ichabod Crane -- now, that's interesting casting! Opinions were mixed on whether he fit the role or not. While he wasn't quite the physical ideal for the gangling schoolmaster, his gawkiness was certainly in the right place. Sometimes, however, he was too gawky -- when the picture occasionally drags, Rogers seems a bit awkward. The Headless Horseman, of course, is an adaptation of Washington Irving's famed story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. When Crane comes to teach in Sleepy Hollow (a Dutch settlement in America circa 1790), he falls for pretty Katrina Van Tassel (Lois Meredith). This does not sit well with Katrina's suitor, Brom Bones (Ben Hendricks, Jr.). First he has Crane accused of practicing witchcraft, but old Van Tassel saves the schoolmaster from being tarred and feathered. Then Brom scares Crane with old ghost stories, and the headless horseman (actually Brom in disguise) chases him out of Sleepy Hollow. In case you're wondering, yes, this picture was a Halloween, 1922 release. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Lois Meredith, (more)
- 1922
This quirky comedy with its mystical overtones was a departure for the down-to-earth Will Rogers. The story opens up with a title card that announces there are spirits floating around waiting to be born into the material world. One spirit, the mischievous Ek (young John Fox), misses being born by a few seconds and wanders around earth, looking for a body to enter. He happens upon Ezra Botts (Rogers), a retiring professor of spiritualism who has gotten tangled up with some crooked politicians who think they can make him do their will. Botts, who is in love with Molly McIntyre, his landlady's daughter (Lila Lee), has been nominated for mayor. When Botts uses his psychic powers to send his spirit to a meeting, Ek takes over his temporarily spiritless body. Ek in Botts body battles with the politicians, drinks liquor -- much to the horror of his fellow spiritualists -- and beats up Wadley (Alan Hale), who has insulted Molly. On top of everything else, Botts' new persona is a hit with the voters. Finally, Botts' body faints, since it's unaccustomed to all this activity and the real Botts is able to get his body back from Ek. But he returns a changed man and overcomes his shyness enough to propose to Molly. Much credit went to cameraman Karl Brown, who accomplished quite a bit with double exposures in an era where special effects cinematography was still in its rudimentary stages. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Lila Lee, (more)
- 1924
The beloved humorist Will Rogers, whose own series of Hal Roach two-reelers was produced concurrently with the studio's Our Gang series, makes a guest appearance in the Gang comedy Jubilo Jr.. The film opens with Rogers, as wandering hobo Jubilo, befriending a group of fellow tramps and telling them all about his childhood adventures. The film then flashes back to the younger Jubilo, now played by Our Gang member Mickey Daniels. Determined to purchase a three-dollar hat for his hard-working mother, little Jubilo hatches all manner of moneymaking schemes, including his own neighborhood circus. Though the film ends on a jarringly Pirandellian note, the final image of the Our Gang kids suddenly materializing on the horizon is both poignant and unforgettable. Originally released on June 29, 1924, Jubilo Jr. was remade as the 1932 Our Gang talkie Birthday Blues. Curiously, the earlier film was not included in the first Our Gang TV package; instead, it made its video premiere as part of Paul Killiam's Movie Museum silent-film series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Mickey Daniels, (more)
- 1927
Though Will Rogers was still packing 'em in on Broadway, he was considered a Hollywood has-been when he starred in the independently produced A Texas Steer. Rogers also wrote the screenplay of this "topical comedy," in which he plays Texas rancher Maverick Brander, who is maneuvered into politics by his status-seeking wife Ma (Louise Fazenda). Unfortunately, Maverick finds himself at the mercy of a trio of corrupt political hacks who want our hero to use his influence to push through a piece of questionable legislation. The opponents of the bill contrive to abduct Maverick, but he escapes in time to strike a blow for honesty in Washington. The level of humor in the film can be gauged by such character names as "Bossy Brander," "Dixie Style" and "Fairleigh Bright." A Texas Steer had its moments, but Will Rogers would have to wait until talkies arrived to fully blossom as a film star. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Louise Fazenda, (more)
- 1927
Another of English producer-director Herbert Wilcox's collaborations with American star Dorothy Gish, Tiptoes was also one of the most successful of the batch. Gish plays one-third of a Yankee vaudeville act, who try out some new material in a Liverpool music hall. When their act bombs, our heroine casts about for another source of income. She concocts a scheme whereby she will pose as a wealthy aristocrat, the better to inveigle a nobleman into marriage. But none of this really matters: the real "selling angle" in Tiptoes was the presence of legendary American humorist Will Rogers, cast as Gish's down-to-earth vaude partner (the third member of the trio was Nelson Keays, a popular British song-and-dance man in his own right). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dorothy Gish, Will Rogers, (more)
- 1929
Will Rogers' first all-talking feature casts the beloved humorist as Pike Peters, owner of an auto repair shop in Claremore, OK (Rogers' real-life home town). Living in genteel but contented poverty, Pike and his family suddenly find themselves millionaires when an oil well in which he is part-owner comes in a gusher. Though Pike remains the same humble, down-to-earth fellow that he was before his good fortune, his social-climbing wife (Irene Rich) instantly begins taking on airs, insisting that the family spend a year in Paris. Reluctantly, Pike agrees, and before long he, his wife, his daughter, Opal (Marguerite Churchill), and son, Ross (Owen Davis Jr.) are seeing the sights in the City of Lights. Determined to crash Parisian high society and land a wealthy nobleman husband for daughter Opal, Mrs. Peters callously insists that her "embarrassing" husband keep his distance at all social gatherings. Not surprisingly, the Peters family unit begins to unravel, with Opal succumbing to the charms of silky gigolo Marquis de Brissac (Ivan Lebedeff), and Ross living a life of debauchery in the Latin Quarter with French floozy Fleury (Marcelle Corday). Though Pike manages to make a friend of exiled Russian grand duke Mikhail (Theodore Lodi), he simply cannot coordinate himself with his wife's incessant title-chasing, nor can he convince her that her new "friends" are only interested in her money. Cast out of the hotel suite he shares with his wife, the crestfallen Pike heads to a sidewalk café, where he renews his platonic friendship with vivacious cabaret entertainer Claudine (Fifi D'Orsay, whose saucy performance caused a bit of trouble with the local movie censors of the era). With her help, Pike cooks up a scheme to bring his family back together by pretending that he's "gone Parisian" and has taken Claudine as his mistress. Adapted from a 1926 novel by Homer Croy (and a subsequent stage version by May Savell Croy), They Had to See Paris remains one of Will Rogers' most entertaining talkies, with the star ad-libbing to his heart's content. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Irene Rich, (more)
- 1930
Lightnin' is based on the 1918 stage play by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon, in which Bacon (the father of director Lloyd Bacon) had starred for years on Broadway and "the road." Will Rogers steps into the leading role as "Lightnin'" Bill Jones, the slow-moving husband of Mary Jones (Louise Dresser). Mr. and Mrs. Jones are co-owners of a hotel built right on the borderline between California and Nevada, used as the temporary home of divorcing wives so that they may pretend to be in the "California" half of the hotel while establishing residency in the "Nevada" half. Lightnin' befriends lawyer John Marvin (Joel McCrea), at present residing in the California half to avoid arrest on a trumped-charge. When Lightnin' refuses to sell his share of the hotel to a gang of stock crooks headed by Raymond Thomas (Jason Robards Sr.), Mary is coerced into divorcing her husband so that she can sign over the deed herself. In the semi-serious courtroom finale, Lightnin' not only convinces Mary that she's still in love with him but also manages to clear John Marvin's name. Director Henry King clearly exercised no control over Will Rogers, whose incessant ad-libbing, amusing though it is, slows the film to a crawl. Still, Lightnin' proved to be just as successful as any other Rogers talkie vehicle, proving that audiences came to see the star and not the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Louise Dresser, (more)
- 1930
Filmed in "Fox Grandeur," an early widescreen process, Happy Days was the immediate follow-up to Fox Studios' Movietone Follies of 1929. Most of the film takes place on the showboat of Mississippi entrepreneur Colonel Billy Batcher (Charles E. Evans). When the Colonel faces foreclosure after several failing seasons, soubrette Margie (Marjorie White) stages a fund-raising revue on the boat, enlisting the aid of all the big stars who got their start with Batcher. By an amazing coincidence, virtually all of the showboat alumni are under contract to Fox Studios! Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell perform "We'll Build a Little World of Our Own," Victor McLaglen and Edmund Lowe kid their roughneck screen images in the novelty number "Vic and Eddie," Sharon Lynn and Ann Pennington offer the "hot" dance routine "Snake Hips," and "Whispering" Jack Smith offers a rendition of the title tune. Also on hand are Will Rogers, El Brendel, Walter Catlett (who also staged the musical numbers), Lew Brice (Fanny's brother), Dixie Lee (Mrs. Bing Crosby) and Georgie Jessel -- not to mention an uncredited 14-year-old chorus girl named Betty Grable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1930
Will Rogers' second starring talkie feature was a spiritual twin of the first, They Had to See Paris, albeit with a significant change of locale. Although newly rich Texas mill owner Hiram Draper (Rogers) intensely despises all things British (dismissing the country as the land of "marmalade eaters"), he is forced by business considerations to journey to London. Going along for the ride are his wife (Irene Rich, who had costarred with Rogers in They Had to See Paris), and his son Hiram Junior (Frank Albertson). Upon the family's arrival, Junior falls in love with Elinor (Maureen O'Sullivan), daughter of aristocratic Lord Percy Worthing (Lumsden Hare), whose opinion of "Yankees" is about as low and disdainful as is Hiram's attitude towards "Limeys." Through a series of amusing incidents, not least of which is a zany hunting expedition, Hiram and Lord Percy become friends, consoling themselves to the marriage of their children. Highlights in this episodic star vehicle include the famous early sequence in which Hiram, who was born in Oklahoma while it was still "Indian Territory", tries to get a passport without the necessary U.S. birth certificate; and the finale, in which the two proud fathers perform a "singing duel" of their respective national anthems. Based on the successful stage play by Arthur F. Goodrich (which had originally starred George M. Cohan), So This is London was remade eight years later as one of 20th Century-Fox's "Jones Family" B-pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Rogers, Irene Rich, (more)
