The Story of Will Rogers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(adaptation by)
Stanley Roberts
Mrs. Will Rogers
| The Story of Will Rogers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Written by | Jack Moffitt (as John C. Moffitt) (adaptation by) |
| Screenplay by | Frank Davis Stanley Roberts |
| Based on | "Uncle Clem's Boy" by Mrs. Will Rogers |
| Produced by | Robert Arthur |
| Starring | Will Rogers Jr. Jane Wyman |
| Narrated by | J. Carroll Naish (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Wilfred M. Cline |
| Edited by | Folmar Blangsted |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million[2] |
| Box office | $2.65 million (US/Canada rentals)[3] |
The Story of Will Rogers (titled onscreen as The Story of Will Rogers as told by His Wife) is a 1952 American Western comedy biopic about humorist and movie star Will Rogers, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Will Rogers Jr. as his father. The supporting cast features Jane Wyman. The film's screenplay was based on the true short story "Uncle Clem's Boy" by Rogers' widow Betty Blake, which was published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1940.
Bing Crosby secretly made a screen test for the lead role in 1943 (available for viewing at the Paley Center for Media in New York City and Los Angeles), but Warner Bros. Pictures owned the rights to the Will Rogers story while Crosby was under contract to Paramount and, in 1941, he had given up the clause that had allowed him to make one independent movie per year. Because of these contractual complications, Crosby could not be cast.[4]
In the early 1900s, Will Rogers returns to his hometown in Oklahoma after two years of drifting. He meets and falls in love with Betty Blake, a friend of his sister's, but is unwilling to settle down on the ranch because he is happier meeting people and performing rope tricks. This easygoing attitude puts him at odds with his disappointed father, Senator Clement V. Rogers.
Will joins a Wild West show and tours the world, then meets up with Betty at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and proposes to her. After they are married, they combine their honeymoon with one of Will's rodeo tours, which ends in New York's Madison Square Garden. There he becomes a hero by lassoing a dangerous bull that gets loose during a performance. The newspaper coverage draws the attention of Bert Lynn, who runs a talent agency. He talks the reluctant Rogers into performing in vaudeville, but his rodeo act does not interest the audience. After six months of unemployment and with a baby due soon, Will goes on stage as a last-minute replacement and is forced to do his act alone, without his horse. After some rope tricks flop, he resorts to talking to the audience; his down-home comedy chatter is a big hit. This wins him a place in the Ziegfeld Follies; he becomes one of its star attractions. He adds political commentary to his act and becomes famous as a "cowboy philosopher" known for witty remarks about politicians and issues of the day.
Later, Will goes to Hollywood to work in films, meets and befriends aviator and fellow Oklahoman Wiley Post. He becomes a strong proponent of aviation. He goes on a European tour, meeting and amusing heads of state.
After the Great Depression strikes, Will works long hours flying around the country to perform benefit shows lifting the spirits of the American people and raising funds for the poor. At the 1932 Democratic National Convention, Will is nominated as a presidential candidate as a "favorite son."
Later, Will takes off with Wiley to Alaska. Will has the plane circle back over the airfield to wave goodbye to Betty one last time. (Both men were killed in an airplane crash in Alaska.)
Cast
- Will Rogers Jr. as Will Rogers
- Jane Wyman as Betty Rogers
- Carl Benton Reid as Sen. Clem Rogers
- Eve Miller as Cora Marshall
- James Gleason as Bert Lynn
- Slim Pickens as Dusty Donovan
- Noah Beery Jr. as Wiley Post
- Mary Wickes as Mrs. Foster
- Steve Brodie as Dave Marshall
- Pinky Tomlin as Orville James
- Margaret Field as Sally Rogers
- Eddie Cantor as himself
Inaccuracies
The film depicts Rogers' father, Clem Rogers, as being part of the Oklahoma delegation at the 1932 Democratic National Convention, despite the fact that Clem Rogers had died in 1911.