Robert L. Ripley

A documentary examining the life of Robert L. Ripley (played by an actor), the man who created the "Believe It Or Not" series.

A Ripley's Believe It or Not short film, it tells the story of a man wrongly imprisoned who goes abroad to find his fortune and ends up getting sent back home on the Titanic.

Robert Ripley shows a pretty blond a shrunken head and an iron execution chamber. Vitaphone No. 1336.

Robert Ripley draws and shows movies to train passengers. Vitaphone No. 1346.

Robert Ripley gives a show aboard a luxury liner at sea, starting with drawings discussing the origin of the "fathom" and Christopher Columbus being banished from America. Vitaphone No. 1361.

Robert Ripley presents a well-dressed cocktail party an assortment of drawings and film clips showing the world's youngest parents and the largest bible. Vitaphone No. 1362.

In this short film, Robert L. Ripley introduces narrator Leo Donnelly who presents various "Believe It or Not" oddities from around the world as gathered by Ripley. Segments include a NYC clothier that caters to very large men and circus elephant grooming. Vitaphone No. 1363.

This omnibus of film clips include a Savanna golf course made from Civil War trenches, wooden Indians used ourside cigar stores, an American Indian artist from South Dakota who paints upside down, the smallest residence house, a Bronx River statue with mysterious Civil War origins, the Ocean Grove community in New Jersey that closes on Sundays and a futuristic automated parking garage. Vitaphone No. 1364.

This entry of the series does not feature Robert Ripley, who is away gathering material on his tours. Leo Donnelly narrates various odds and ends like a church service held on a river in boats, one of the largest sculptures in the world, sand art in bottles and a man who pulls cars with his hair. This episode also has a greater amount of "critter" material: chickens learn to be aquatic thanks to a training duck, another hen adopts puppies as her own, the Australian platypus is discussed and a motorized blacksmith and we see a horse with double-hoof. Vitaphone No. 1410.

In Robert L. Ripley's absence, Leo Donnelly acts as the guide to the unusual from around the world. A group of people in the Philippines are moving a house, foundation and all, six miles, by carrying it on their backs. A one-armed boat builder demonstrates the water crafts he has devised for his disability. A junk in China propelled by treadmill propeller. Dwarf trees in Japan, some as old as 700 years. Also in Japan, chickens are shown with tail feathers measuring up to twenty-five feet in length. A sun dial in Manila is the world's largest at 30 feet in height and 65 feet in length. A group of church goers in Luxembourg are dancing as a ritual toward good health. Livestock with unusual physical attributes are shown. Tree limbs are displayed in Tacoma, Washington that form an alphabet. The world's largest collection of the smallest books. And celebrity footprints displayed outside of Grauman's Chinese Theater. Vitaphone No. 1427.