Believe It or Not #2 Review: Ripley goes to court over trivia

You should watch this today if you like useless trivia or if you enjoy seeing how people entertained themselves before the internet existed. It is only about nine minutes long, so you really don't have much to lose here.

History buffs will probably find it charming in a dusty sort of way. If you hate old black-and-white shorts where people talk like they have a marble in their mouth, you should probably skip it and watch A Close Shave instead.

The movie starts with Robert Ripley just sitting at his desk. He’s got piles of mail everywhere because apparently, he was the most popular guy in the world for getting letters.

Some of the envelopes are genuinely weird. One is just written in Morse code, and another one uses those naval flags.

My favorite was the one with a picture of Robert E. Lee and a little tear next to it. Rip + Lee. Get it? It is a total dad joke, but it made me smirk a little bit.

It’s funny to think about a mailman in 1930 trying to figure that out. They probably hated him.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Believe It or Not #2 (1930) through its definitive frames.

Then this U.S. Marshal just walks in and arrests him. It feels very sudden and kind of fake, but that is just how these old shorts go.

They take him to court because people think he is a liar. The judge looks like he’s about 100 years old and bored out of his mind.

Ripley has to defend his claims. One is about The Star-Spangled Banner not being the national anthem.

I actually looked this up after watching. It turns out he was right—it wasn’t official until 1931.

The movie feels like a weird proto-version of a YouTube "Top 10 Facts" video. It’s just Ripley standing there being smug about knowing things you don't.

The big moment is the stuff about Charles Lindbergh. Ripley claims he was the 67th person to fly across the Atlantic.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Believe It or Not #2 (1930) through its definitive frames.

Everyone in the court freaks out like he just insulted their mother. But then he explains it.

Two guys did it in 1919, and then there were these huge dirigibles with tons of people on them. It is one of those "well, technically" moments that feels very satisfying.

The acting is pretty stiff. Murray Roth directed this, and you can tell they probably only did one or two takes for everything.

Ripley isn't a great actor, but he has this weird energy. He seems like the kind of guy who would corner you at a party to talk about shrunken heads for three hours.

There is a lot of dead air between lines. Sometimes the camera just lingers on Ripley's face while he waits for the next person to speak.

It makes the whole thing feel slightly awkward. Like you’re watching a school play that happens to have a decent budget.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Believe It or Not #2 (1930) through its definitive frames.

I noticed a weird smudge on the wall in the office scene. It kept distracting me from the mail.

Anyway, it’s a fun little time capsule. It’s better than sitting through something like The Gambling Fool if you just want some quick facts.

The court scene ends pretty abruptly. There isn't really a big climax or anything.

He just proves his point and that’s it. Believe it or not!

Wait, did you catch that?

• The Marshal’s hat is slightly too big for his head.
• Ripley handles the mail like he's afraid he's going to get a papercut.
• The Hebrew on the envelope looks like it was written by someone who was very rushed.
• The sound quality is a bit fuzzy, like listening to a ghost in a hallway.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s just a guy showing off his oddities and being right about history.

If you like being the smartest person in the room, you’ll probably enjoy stealing these facts for later.

I kind of wish they showed more of the weird mail. The Morse code one was cool but they moved past it way too fast.

Oh well. It's over before you can even get bored.