#419, August 7, 2006
COLUMBUS: This week I am starting with a commercial. And if you want to switch off your computer screen you’ll be justified. But if you ever look over the list of movies playing at your local theater and say, ‘They sure don’t make movies like they used to, ‘ then here’s one ad you’ll like.
Rupert Murdock, the man that runs 20th Century Fox and a whole lot more of our media companies, has released four films from 1935 for your viewing pleasure. They are on DVDs and the cost for all four is only around $50. The movies are: Steamboat Round the Bend, Doubting Thomas, In Old Kentucky, and Life Begins at Forty.
Now I could have been like those hucksters on television and told you that the first two were available for $50, and if you act immediately we’ll give you the other two absolutely free. Of course these four full length films are a real bargain, less than $15 a piece, and anyone over about 60 will get a thrill out of them. And if you’re over 75, these movies will remind you of the first time you saw them. I bet the young folks like them, too, even if they are in black and white. Great gift for Grandparents. Of course you may also have to buy them a DVD player. And show ’em how to run it.
Now that I have you all worked up and ready to buy, here’s where to call: the Will Rogers Museum at 1-800-828-9643, during normal business hours in Oklahoma. The DVDs are a package deal, you get all four.
On with our regularly scheduled program: I’ve been reading about this fellow that won the Tour de France. They say he had an extraordinary abundance of testosterone in his blood, and ought to give back the award. I sure ain’t defending him, and if he won it illegal he should rightly return the trophy. But if you asked the average American male to list ten things he might enjoy doing with extra testosterone, riding a bicycle in France would not make the list.
Oil found another reason to set a record price. Here we were all concerned about hurricanes in the Gulf, war in the Middle East, and prosperity in China and India… now it’s rust in Alaska. I don’t know how high these rusty pipes will drive gasoline prices, but I do have a suggestion: let those who don’t want us to use any oil from Alaska pay double, and the rest of us can maybe keep it under three dollars a gallon.
You know, riding a bicycle ain’t such a bad idea after all.
Historic note:
These were the last four movies starring Will Rogers, all shot in the first half of 1935.