Ronald Reagan Centennial
Sunday, February 6, 2011 at 2:00PM It's a big day for USA history today. 100 years ago today in 1911 Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois. He lived there until his college graduation in the early 30s. By 1937, after a brief dip in Iowa, he was seeking movie stardom in Hollywood. Forty-four years later he became the 40th President of the United States.
Reagan in the late 20s or early 30s in Illinois
He remains the only US President who ever starred in motion pictures, though he isn't remotely the only entertainer who has been elected to public office. Even when movie stars don't express a desire to run for office, they often dive in in a big way. (Warren Beatty is a prime example. His political life has a supporting role in the book STAR. Today is the last day to enter the contest to win the book).
Jane Wyman & Reagan in 1940. She won "Best Actress" shortly after divorcing him.My own feelings on Reagan are mixed.
I loved the idea of a movie star president as a kid and because of my general proclivities towards arts & entertainment I'm still fascinated -- sometimes against my better judgement -- by stories in which politics and the arts are entangled such as the political leanings of various actors, Lincoln's assassination in a theater, political battles over arts funding, the assassination attempt on Reagan himself by a deranged fan of Jodie Foster and Taxi Driver, etcetera.
I wasn't politically aware in the 80s but as I mapped out my own political feelings later on, I became horrified. I think the play Angels in America which takes place during the AIDS crisis when Reagan ruled America and was unforgivably silent on the matter helped me along the way to that. Imagine what immediate funding for research and prevention could have done early on; speeding us to a cure or saving millions and millions of lives.
Though Reagan himself was more liberal than today's right-wing (what past Republican isn't? Things have become... extreme.) the movements that he pushed forward like the deregulation of the economy have had disastrous long term effects: see Oscar's documentary frontrunner Inside Job next time you're in the mood for the scariest movie of the year.
Confession: Strangely, I have never seen a Ronald Reagan movie. Not even King's Row or Bedtime for Bonzo! Have you?
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Reader Comments (8)
The only Reagan movie I've seen is Dark Victory, where he and Bogey play supporting roles opposite the slowly-going-blind Bette Davis. I remember I was young and surprised that a movie star ever made it as President of the United States.
"King's Row" is certainly worth seeing, Nathaniel. It's a Best Picture nominee (and one of the strongest in that bunch), it's well-directed, and there's some really interesting chemistry between the Reagan and Cummings characters. Let it be your introduction to Reagan!
I've seen a few of Reagan's movies, and I agree about Kings Row. It's high-quality small-town melodrama, with all kinds of repressed mental/emotional problems, and creepy supporting performances by Charles Coburn and Claude Rains. Plus... well, not to spoil anything, but there's also a bizarre amputation scene.
And if you've ever wanted to see Reagan playing a cold-hearted villain who slaps around Angie Dickinson, there's always the 1964 remake of The Killers.
I've seen a couple of his movies-The Hasty Heart is also worth recommending. Robert Todd received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for it and it stars a young Patricia Neal. And Hellcats of the Navy is worth the novelty of seeing, if only because it stars both Reagan and his future First Lady Nancy (who was also a movie actress in her own right, in a Kelly Preston sort of way).
I’ll say two nice things about Reagan. In his youth he was an extremely attractive man. I get flustered just doing some quick online searches of his image. The other nice thing is that both of his biological children are liberals and for the hell of it David Lynch back in the 80s defended Nancy Reagan – please don’t ask me for further details but conservatives have been using that as some sort of validation and conformation that David is Right leaning. They obviously don’t watch his movies.
i cannot forgive ronald reagan.
Watch King's Row, if not for Reagan, then for Ann Sheridan. She's lovely.
I've only seen the Killers remake, and I think he was just getting started with full-time politics around then (which makes the scene where he slaps around Angie Dickinson...weirder...)