The Story of Will Rogers
| The Story of Will Rogers | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Written by | Jack Moffitt (as John C. Moffitt) (adaptation by) |
| Screenplay by | Frank Davis Stanley Roberts |
| Based on | "Uncle Clem's Boy" by Mrs. Will Rogers |
| Produced by | Robert Arthur |
| Starring | Will Rogers Jr. Jane Wyman |
| Narrated by | J. Carroll Naish (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | Wilfred M. Cline |
| Edited by | Folmar Blangsted |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | Warner Bros. |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $2.65 million (US/Canada rentals) |
The Story of Will Rogers (titled onscreen as The Story of Will Rogers as told by His Wife) is a 1952 American Comedy Western film biography of humorist and movie star Will Rogers, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Will Rogers Jr. as his father. The supporting cast features Jane Wyman. The film's screenplay was based on the true short story "Uncle Clem's Boy" by Rogers' widow Betty Blake, which was published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1940.
Bing Crosby secretly made a screen test for the lead role in 1943 (available for viewing at the Paley Center for Media in New York City and Los Angeles), but Warner Bros owned the rights to the Will Rogers story while Crosby was under contract to Paramount and, in 1941, he had given up the clause that had allowed him to make one independent movie per year. Because of these contractual complications, Crosby could not be cast.