‘Judge Priest’ long gray coat
added to collection

‘Judge Priest’ coat
 The long gray coat worn by Will Rogers in “Judge Priest,” a 1934 Fox production, was delivered to the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore by Gordon Kuntz, a longtime collector of Will Rogers movie memorabilia. Much of his collection of movie posters is on display at the museum.

 

CLAREMORE — Gordon Kuntz , a collector of Will Rogers memorabilia about a dozen years, had a lucky hit on E-Bay recently. He purchased the long gray coat worn by Will in the 1934 movie “Judge Priest.”
      The former Tulsan, now a resident of Woodbury, Wisc., brought the coat to the Will Rogers Museum where it will soon be on display with other movie items, including Kuntz’ collection of Will Rogers movie posters.
      “The coat is in excellent condition and is a welcome addition to Kuntz’ other items that pay tribute to Will Rogers movie career,” said Michelle Lefebvre-Carter, Museum director.
      Kuntz, whose parents lived in Tulsa, is a frequent visitor to the Claremore museum. He has collected hundreds of items relating to Will Rogers movie career. His posters line the walls of the Museum theatre. A traveling exhibit of the posters attracted attention of thousands more at road show performances of the “Will Rogers Follies” across the nation.
      Will referred to the coat in a July 1, 1934 syndicated column. “We are all sitting out here on the set, taking the parade in an old Confederate Reunion convention. I am sitting here on the running board of a car with the typewriter on my knee, trying to knock out a few ‘personals.’ I have on the old Confederate Gray (the long gray coat). It’s Irvin Cobb’s story of Judge Priest. The parade is in a small town of Kentucky and it’s wonderful to see all the costumes on all the men and women and even the children. Folks often ask, ‘Where do you get the old clothes?’
      Well costuming is one of the biggest businesses out here. There is just one company that has a great building of their own, six or eight stories high, that covers half a block. You can get any suit (or hundreds of ‘em) of any time period in the world …”
      Will Rogers played the lead role as Judge William “Billy” Priest in the Fox movie directed by the famous John Ford. It was set in the year 1890. Judge Priest’s position was coveted by a State Senator who belligerently confronted him in open court.
      After seeing the movie, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote Will Rogers about how much he enjoyed the movie saying “I suppose the next thing you will be doing is making application for an appointment on the Federal Bench. I might take you up on that!”