Host and legend Robert Ripley

Warner Archive released all 24 Ripley's Believe It or Not Vitaphone theatrical shorts last week, and they're hilarious. In the first of the bunch, our socially-awkward host Robert Ripley regales us with interesting facts like how Chinese people name their children by number and don't believe in proper names. In the first five minutes he says "everyone knows how much women like to talk".

Ripley's ~10-minute Vitaphone shorts were a spiritual predecessor to both the TV Info-mentary and reality shows whose hook is "believe it or not, this is what it's like out in the real world". It's odd that the ultra-connected world we live in hasn't made people more aware of the reality around them. Instead, it's programmed them with soundbites instead of real knowledge. Ripley's intent was quite different than the path we're on today. The WALL-E/Idiocracy world is coming to life (or death?) all around us...

Warner Archive is offering The 1930-32 Ripley Vitaphone Collection for $16.21 for a limited time.