Ripley: Believe it or Not

In the days before YouTube, Americans were diverted by Robert Ripley's (1890-1949) stranger than fiction cartoon panels. Directed by Cathleen O'Connell and narrated by Oliver Platt, this PBS-aired American Experience documentary charts the durable career of Ripley, portrayed here as both a world traveler and a hayseed. Ripley was a rather homely, awkward man, with an impressive set of buck teeth. Starting out as a local newspaper sports cartoonist, Ripley began filling the slack time between seasons with drawings of odd and little known sports facts and feats, in a regular feature he called "Champs and Chumps." A world tour exposed Ripley to the wonders of China, which would become a lifelong obsession, but it was India that provided him with a wealth of material—"the best of the weirdest"—to draw for a receptive audience. After securing a job with the Hearst newspaper chain, Ripley abandoned sports, aiming to provide a worldview of "curiosity mixed with education." Ripley used gimmicks, sponsoring contests and inviting reader submissions, and while he was a world traveler, much of his material was supplied by a researcher working out of the wilds of the New York Public Library. A born showman, Ripley quickly branched out to radio and motion pictures (once even broadcasting from underwater). As Ripley's career progressed, he gave Americans a chance to see his wonders up close in his museums (supplying nurses on call for the faint of heart), although he forbid his employees from referring to his subjects as freaks, preferring the term "oddities." An entertaining tribute, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)