Nuts!

The life of Dr. John Romulus Brinkley reads like a Carl Hiaasen novel line-edited by Harry Crews. Brinkley was born dirt-poor in North Carolina to a former Confederate army doctor and died dirt-poor in Texas. In between those hallmark events he bought a phoney-baloney medical degree, "perfected" the transplantation of goat testicles into mens' scrotums (for virility purposes, duh) and then branched out into implanting them within women (the surgery cured flatulence, as if you didn't already know that). He then started a successful sideline business as a simultaneous radio station owner, DJ, ad salesman and pitchman. Brinkley earned millions of dollars, crammed goat balls in the coin pouches of some of Hollywood's most famous actors (allegedly) and ran for governor of Kansas twice, losing only because of election fraud -- which was perpetrated by his opponent, amazingly enough. Brinkley should be pictured on the $2 bill, but instead he's consigned to the dustbin of history. But no longer. Penny Lane's perfectly titled documentary Nuts! chronicles the amazing life of Dr. John Brinkley in animation, historical reenactments and archival footage. The film is screened at 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday (September 9 to 11) at Webster University's Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood Avenue; www.webster.edu/film-series). Tickets are $4 to $6.