Jeff Benjamin just sent me a link to a 1932 movie short in which Jim Thorpe demonstrates the dropkick, punts and speaks. This is a real treat for me because I hadn’t heard him speak before. Old movie buffs will recognize Eugene Pallette from 1930s and 1940s comedies. The director, James Gleason, is also familiar to old movie buffs as a policeman in Arsenic and Old Lace and teamed with Edna May Oliver in the Hildegarde Withers detective stories.
The scoreboard shots may have been taken at Southern Cal’s field because the SC logo is visible. However, this movie was released in 1932 and USC played its home games in the Los Angeles Coliseum at that time. Unfortunately, imdb.com doesn’t list the shooting locations for this little film.
Tom Benjey's Weblog 
January 3, 2021 at 10:28 pm |
Thanks for sharing, Tom.
January 13, 2021 at 6:49 pm |
Tom….that was terrific! Hearing Thorpe’s voice on the film was a first for me too. Thanks again. I’ll watch it several times.