A very funny set of curiosities in America. You see the smallest cow, a living portrait of Abraham Lincoln on a horse, a man who flew around the earth in half an hour (circling around the north pole), Columbia as the capitol of America (not Washington), the White House which is made of brown bricks, the Capitol which was mortgaged to a dutchman then 101 years ago and the smallest city in America on record (1 person with his dog) (also see the Plot Summary). The setting is in an airplain flying over America.
3 Reviews
Mr. Ripley Regrets He's Unable To Dine Today
boblipton11 May 2024
In the eleventh episode of Warner Brother's 'Believe It Or Not' series, Mr. Robert L. Ripley is a complete no-show. For the previous few, he has shown up to announce that he's about to go on one of his globe-hurdling expeditions to find astonishing facts on foreign shore. Americans seem to have run out of things they find astonishing hereabouts, despite the best efforts of the Texas Tall Tale Teller. Now, apparently, he has gone, so we are left with Leo Donnelly doing his Ripley imitation. He tells us about blacksmiths on automobiles, duck-billed platyuses, and men who can tow an auto.
Frankly, I'm disappointed. I'm usually disappointed with Mr. Ripley's facts on film, but these are neither interesting nor particularly novel. True, the platypus is an unlikely critter. It astonished European taxonomists when it first became known. They declared it an obvious hoax. That, however, was in the 18th century. Surely by the 1930s it was common knowledge among people who cared about such things.
The rest of the facts are even less interesting. How does Mr. Donnelly expect farriers -- the correct term for people who shoe horses -- to travel? By sedan chair? Ornithopter?
No, clearly Mr. Ripley's absence is telling on the staff, with their assortment of rather dull facts. They insists they don't care whether I believe them. Me, I'm not interested enough to put them to the test.
Frankly, I'm disappointed. I'm usually disappointed with Mr. Ripley's facts on film, but these are neither interesting nor particularly novel. True, the platypus is an unlikely critter. It astonished European taxonomists when it first became known. They declared it an obvious hoax. That, however, was in the 18th century. Surely by the 1930s it was common knowledge among people who cared about such things.
The rest of the facts are even less interesting. How does Mr. Donnelly expect farriers -- the correct term for people who shoe horses -- to travel? By sedan chair? Ornithopter?
No, clearly Mr. Ripley's absence is telling on the staff, with their assortment of rather dull facts. They insists they don't care whether I believe them. Me, I'm not interested enough to put them to the test.
A Step Back for the Series
Michael_Elliott31 March 2010
Believe It or Not #11 (1931)
** (out of 4)
Decent entry in the series has Robert L. Ripley boarding a plane where a group of people are gathered to hear his stories. The stories include the smallest cow in the world, a man who can lift a 600-lb. bull, the smallest city in America (located in Maryland and has one person living there) and how a man flew around the world in just thirty-minutes. This entry in the series is mildly entertaining as it at least features some video footage of some of the events we're told about but for some reason many of them don't have footage. The earlier entries in the series were usually without any video and these here are the most boring of the bunch. The last few thankfully featured video so it's a shame the producer's somewhat went backwards by doing the stories without video.
** (out of 4)
Decent entry in the series has Robert L. Ripley boarding a plane where a group of people are gathered to hear his stories. The stories include the smallest cow in the world, a man who can lift a 600-lb. bull, the smallest city in America (located in Maryland and has one person living there) and how a man flew around the world in just thirty-minutes. This entry in the series is mildly entertaining as it at least features some video footage of some of the events we're told about but for some reason many of them don't have footage. The earlier entries in the series were usually without any video and these here are the most boring of the bunch. The last few thankfully featured video so it's a shame the producer's somewhat went backwards by doing the stories without video.
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