A feature-length documentary about the rise of an eccentric genius who built an empire in Depression-era America with an impotence cure and million-watt radio station, opens Aug. 19 at the University of Nebraska’s Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center.
Also showing at the Ross is “Indignation,” a story about a young Jewish atheist who, in 1951, clashed with an Ohio college’s established social order.
Directed by Penny Lane, “Nuts” uses animated reenactments, interviews, archival footage and an unreliable narrator to tell the story of “Goat Gland Doctor” John Romulous Brinkley. The film traces Brinkley’s Depression-era rise from poverty and obscurity to the heights of celebrity, wealth and influence — which was propelled primarily by the doctor transplanting goat testicles into men as a way to cure impotence. While building his fortune, Brinkley was (sort of) elected governor of Kansas, built the world’s most powerful radio station, invented junk mail and the infomercial, and hosted some epic parties. Brinkley’s audacious actions forced the federal government to create regulations that brought his empire crashing down.
“Nuts” won a Special Jury Prize for Editing at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.
Lane will attend the 7:30 p.m. Aug. 19 screening of “Nuts” and participate in a question and answer session with the audience.
“Nuts” is not rated and plays through Aug. 25.
Based on a Philip Roth novel, “Indignation” follows Marcus Messner (played by Logan Lerman), a brilliant working class Jewish boy from Newark, New Jersey, as he travels on scholarship to a small, conservative college in Ohio. By attending college, Messner is exempt from being drafted into the Korean War. However, a growing infatuation with classmate Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon) and clashes with the college’s imposing dean (Tracey Letts), put Messner’s best laid plans to the ultimate test.
“Indignation,” which is rated R for sexual content and some language, shows at the Ross through Sept. 1.
For more information on films at the Ross, click here or call 402-472-5353.
