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5.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 5.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Believe It or Not (Second Series) #4 remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, you should only watch this if you have a high tolerance for stiff 1930s acting and very grainy footage. It's for people who like to dig through the digital bins of film history for things that feel 'off.' If you want a fast-paced documentary, you’re going to hate this.
The whole thing starts with Billy Hayes looking at a book. He looks like he's about to fall asleep even before the plot tells him to. It reminded me a bit of the slow start in Where Was I?, though this is much shorter and, frankly, weirder.
Billy falls asleep and suddenly, boom, Robert Ripley is there. Ripley isn't an actor, and you can really tell. He stands there with this very formal posture, like he's wearing a suit made of cardboard. He has this way of looking at the camera that makes you feel like he's trying to sell you a used car while also telling you about a man with three legs.
The 'Believe-It-or-Not land' is basically just a series of sets that look like they were slapped together on a Tuesday morning. The lighting is incredibly flat. It makes everything look slightly dusty.
They show these 'oddities' one after another. Some of them are just drawings or photos that the camera lingers on for way too long. One of them—I think it was a guy who could grow his hair five feet long—was just a static image. It’s kind of funny how much they expect the audience to just take their word for it.
The kid's reactions are the best part. Billy Hayes does this wide-eyed stare that feels totally fake but also kind of charming in a 'stage-school kid' sort of way. He keeps saying things like 'Gee!' and 'Gosh!' while Ripley drones on in that tinny, early-sound-era voice.
There is a moment where they talk about a bird, and the bird looks like it wants to be anywhere else but in front of that camera. I felt bad for the bird. It had more personality than some of the humans in the film.
I noticed that the sound quality dips whenever they move between scenes. You can hear the hiss of the background noise changing. It’s very distracting once you notice it. It has that same awkward technical feel as Where D'Ye Get That Stuff? where the technology is clearly struggling to keep up with the idea.
The movie doesn't really have an ending. Billy just wakes up. It’s the oldest trick in the book, and even in the 1930s, it must have felt a bit lazy. But there's something about the sincerity of it that I liked. They really thought people would be amazed by a grainy photo of a big potato.
It’s not a masterpiece. It’s barely a movie. It’s more like a filmed slideshow with a very awkward host. But if you like seeing how people used to try and be spectacular before CGI, it’s a fun ten minutes.
Wait, I almost forgot the guy who could whistle through his ears. Or maybe I imagined that? The movie is so fast and yet so slow at the same time that it all blurs together into one big believe-it-or-not soup. 🤷♂️
Anyway, don't expect much. Just enjoy the weird suits and the way everyone talks like they have a mouthful of marbles. It's a strange little relic from a time when the world felt much bigger and weirder than it does now.
IMDb —
1926
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