As I write this review, some of these 'Believe It or Not' stories are making the rounds on Turner Classic Movies. I thought they would be more interesting than what this one proved to be, but you have to keep in mind they were made in the early 1930's and documentary film making was in its infancy. This one started out with a young boy named Billy whose mom made him study instead of reading about Ripley's adventures, but after she left the room, he ran right back to a bookshelf to pick up where he left off. Falling asleep, he meets Ripley and they take off on a review of oddities like a German baby, a child prodigy who could speak at eight weeks, and knew German, French and Latin at three. The story also looked at a few weird fish and dancing mice from Japan that lost their sense of direction and simply ran around in circles. A two headed snapping turtle and a cat who smoked rounded out the offerings, but that cat was only shown with a cigarette in its mouth and not puffing away, so that could have been staged. I don't know how to take any of these stories credibility wise. Of course, being so old, some may not even be verifiable.
3 Reviews
A Fish Story
boblipton16 March 2024
Billy Hayes falls asleep and dreams he is visiting his hero, Robert L. Ripley, who tells him mostly about fish with a side about dancing mice and two-headed turtles.
Ripley's mechanical droning of facts demonstrates how mad people were to actually see (and hear) the celebrities of their day, even if their fame was due to something having little with how they presented themselves in public. Certainly, he appeared in this series for Warner Brothers' Vitaphone division. Who was going to turn down good money during the Depression.
If Ripley is dull and droning, Hayes isn't much of an improvement.
Ripley's mechanical droning of facts demonstrates how mad people were to actually see (and hear) the celebrities of their day, even if their fame was due to something having little with how they presented themselves in public. Certainly, he appeared in this series for Warner Brothers' Vitaphone division. Who was going to turn down good money during the Depression.
If Ripley is dull and droning, Hayes isn't much of an improvement.
Another Good Entry
Michael_Elliott5 April 2010
Believe It or Not (Second Series) #4
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A young boy falls asleep reading one of Ripley's book and dreams that the man himself takes him on a tour of various strange stories. It's here that we learn about a man who built a rocking chair made of cans of beans. We also see a two-headed turtle and a cat who prefers to smoke cigarettes over drinking milk. Also on hand are a couple drawings from Ripley. This is another entry worth watching even if the stories here get a tad bit more strange than what we've previously seen. Watching a cat smoke a cigarette is pretty strange to see and especially here where the owner is holding it's head. We also get to hear and see various fish subjects including the blowfish as well as see a couple different sharks. Once again the video footage is mixed at best but at least the stories are entertaining.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A young boy falls asleep reading one of Ripley's book and dreams that the man himself takes him on a tour of various strange stories. It's here that we learn about a man who built a rocking chair made of cans of beans. We also see a two-headed turtle and a cat who prefers to smoke cigarettes over drinking milk. Also on hand are a couple drawings from Ripley. This is another entry worth watching even if the stories here get a tad bit more strange than what we've previously seen. Watching a cat smoke a cigarette is pretty strange to see and especially here where the owner is holding it's head. We also get to hear and see various fish subjects including the blowfish as well as see a couple different sharks. Once again the video footage is mixed at best but at least the stories are entertaining.
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