Will Rogers, 1879 - 1935. COURTESY
The common sense of Will Rogers is front and center in a documentary airing at 8 p.m. Tuesday on the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority's KOED, channel 11.
Be prepared to be entertained. "Will Rogers' 1920s: A Cowboy's Guide to the Times" is chock-full of the wit and wisdom for which Oklahoma's favorite son is known.
It was written by Peter C. Rollins, a retired Oklahoma State University professor and recipient of the Oklahoma Humanities Council's Oklahoma Humanties Award for 2011. He and two other historians did the research, found all the footage and edited the final film.
"Will Rogers' 1920s" focuses on the decade of '20s as seen through the eyes of Rogers, world famous for his social commententary. In it, he looks at the world after World War I, motion pictures as a social force, industrialism and its effects on American Life, the new woman and the beginning of "the American Century," according to press information.
The "historian-made film," which has earned national and international recognition, was sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities and "paid back to the endowment the funds given for the project - a rare follow through," according to a press release.
It has also received numerous awards including a CINE Golden Eagle.
More information about the film is available at tulsaworld.com/petercrollins and in his book "America Reflected: Language, Satire, Film, and the American Mind."
The DVD is available at the Museum Store at the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore and online at tulsaworld.com/wrmuseumstore. Proceeds benefit the museum.
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