The Ronald Reagan Collection
First appeared in www.filmsinreview.com
First appeared in www.filmsinreview.com
By Glenn Andreiev
The week after Ronald Reagan won the Presidential election in 1980, television
stations let loose broadcasting the films Reagan acted in before turning to
politics. They couldn’t run these films during the election because it wasn’t giving
Reagan’s election opponent, then President Carter, equal air-time. I guess there’s
a shortage of Jimmy Carter movies. It was oddly amusing to see the new leader of
the free world at odds with a chimpanzee (BEDTIME FOR BONZO) or getting a
Hollywood styled knuckle sandwich from Lee Marvin (THE KILLERS). But then,
there were a few films we became seriously caught up in. It became apparent -
given decent material – that Ronald Reagan was a very good actor. Warner
Brothers,’ the studio that had the President under contract from 1937 to the mid
1950’s, recently released a box set of five Ronald Reagan films.
After three years of appearing in mostly B-Movie fare at Warners (in films such
as HELL’S KITCHEN and ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN), Reagan got to stretch his
acting wings in the first film in this box set, KNUTE ROCKNE – ALL AMERICAN.
This sentimental and interesting sports drama centers on the life of immigrant
football coach Knute Rockne (well played by Pat O’Brien). Along comes a quiet
but slightly arrogant college student, George Gipp, who joins Rockne’s team.
Reagan would forever be associated with this, his star-making performance. The
president would often be nicknamed “The Gipper.” The DVD of KNUTE ROCKNE
comes with a rare audio only radio show with O’Brien and Reagan.
KING’S ROW is the film that really cemented Reagan as a Hollywood star. It’s
strange seeing that such a dark film with subplots of torture and sexual madness
was made in 1942 Hollywood. The film’s opening will disarm you. The flowery
opening credits are accompanied by Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s syrupy but
memorable score. You feel you are going to be subjected to a very dated drama
about Victorian era middle America. Well, the early moments of the nicely
groomed schoolboys tormenting a retarded child, the sadistic Dr. Gordon (Charles
Coburn) who operates without anesthetics, and the very vile relationship of Dr.
Tower (Claude Rains, being oh-so filthy here) and his pre-teen daughter will glue
you to your seat.
Best buddies Paris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) and bad boy Drake McHugh
(Reagan) are two rather spoiled, adult trust fund babies. Paris decides to study in
Vienna to be a psychologist, while Drake likes to stay home and fool around with
local good-time girls. His family fortune dwindles, and the now broke Drake has to
work as a night watchman at the rail-yard. An accident causes an injured,
unconscious Drake to be taken to the horrible Dr. Gordon. Drake once fooled
around with Gordon’s daughter. Uh-oh!
KING’S ROW is by far Reagan’s best film. It's Victorian Gothic submerged in
acid. His Drake is a bit of a cad, but he's a lively person you’d want to have a drink
with. He has an air of self-destruction to him when the chips are down. It’s a very
real performance, almost a touch of James Dean there. James Wong Howe’s bold
black and white photography further makes KINGS ROW a must have.
The third film in the box set is 1950’s THE HASTY HEART, a war drama where
Reagan plays a wounded American soldier at the eve of World War II. The film
doesn’t date well, but again, a good solid performance by leads Ronald Reagan
and Richard Todd.
It’s always tough to market obscure classics, so very often the creators of these
box sets throw in one under-rated film, a great film that nobody has heard about.
STORM WARNING is that over-looked gem in this set!
When Marsha (Ginger Rogers), a New York model, arrives in a little southern town
to visit her kid sister (Doris Day), she finds a shadowy, uninviting village of
frightened, hostile people. A few minutes into her visit, she secretly witnesses the
Ku Klux Klan murder a helpless man. She gets a good look at one of the men.
That man will turn out to be her new brother-in-law, Hank (Steve Cochran steals
the film here)
Reagan plays Bill Rainey, a loner, a hard working District Attorney who knows his
fellow citizens, even his friends, don white robes and go out and kill. He will try to
get Marsha to testify against the clan.
STORM WARNING is a very grim-looking film noir, photographed much like a
depressing horror movie. Nobody here, not even Ginger Rogers, is lit to look
glamorous. You get a sense of the southern hostilities brewing here. Picture a
mix of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and you
have this movie. The cast is excellent. You forget you’re watching the future
president. Reagan’s co-stars here don’t seem like Hollywood heavyweights. They
all feel like real people who lived in this fearful little town forever. (Again, Steve
Cochran is great here as the cowardly Klansman. He specialized in tough cops
and gangster roles. Sadly, he died in his mid forties in a boating accident.)
This set wraps up with the tough-to-sit-through THE WINNING TEAM, a tedious
1952 baseball drama where a miscast Reagan plays Hall of Fame Pitcher Grover
Cleveland Alexander. Reagan’s films of the fifties lacked the promise he showed a
decade earlier (He was up for the role of the nosy prospector in THE TREASURE
OF SIERRA MADRE, but that part went to Bruce Bennett.)
The week after Ronald Reagan won the Presidential election in 1980, television
stations let loose broadcasting the films Reagan acted in before turning to
politics. They couldn’t run these films during the election because it wasn’t giving
Reagan’s election opponent, then President Carter, equal air-time. I guess there’s
a shortage of Jimmy Carter movies. It was oddly amusing to see the new leader of
the free world at odds with a chimpanzee (BEDTIME FOR BONZO) or getting a
Hollywood styled knuckle sandwich from Lee Marvin (THE KILLERS). But then,
there were a few films we became seriously caught up in. It became apparent -
given decent material – that Ronald Reagan was a very good actor. Warner
Brothers,’ the studio that had the President under contract from 1937 to the mid
1950’s, recently released a box set of five Ronald Reagan films.
After three years of appearing in mostly B-Movie fare at Warners (in films such
as HELL’S KITCHEN and ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN), Reagan got to stretch his
acting wings in the first film in this box set, KNUTE ROCKNE – ALL AMERICAN.
This sentimental and interesting sports drama centers on the life of immigrant
football coach Knute Rockne (well played by Pat O’Brien). Along comes a quiet
but slightly arrogant college student, George Gipp, who joins Rockne’s team.
Reagan would forever be associated with this, his star-making performance. The
president would often be nicknamed “The Gipper.” The DVD of KNUTE ROCKNE
comes with a rare audio only radio show with O’Brien and Reagan.
KING’S ROW is the film that really cemented Reagan as a Hollywood star. It’s
strange seeing that such a dark film with subplots of torture and sexual madness
was made in 1942 Hollywood. The film’s opening will disarm you. The flowery
opening credits are accompanied by Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s syrupy but
memorable score. You feel you are going to be subjected to a very dated drama
about Victorian era middle America. Well, the early moments of the nicely
groomed schoolboys tormenting a retarded child, the sadistic Dr. Gordon (Charles
Coburn) who operates without anesthetics, and the very vile relationship of Dr.
Tower (Claude Rains, being oh-so filthy here) and his pre-teen daughter will glue
you to your seat.
Best buddies Paris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) and bad boy Drake McHugh
(Reagan) are two rather spoiled, adult trust fund babies. Paris decides to study in
Vienna to be a psychologist, while Drake likes to stay home and fool around with
local good-time girls. His family fortune dwindles, and the now broke Drake has to
work as a night watchman at the rail-yard. An accident causes an injured,
unconscious Drake to be taken to the horrible Dr. Gordon. Drake once fooled
around with Gordon’s daughter. Uh-oh!
KING’S ROW is by far Reagan’s best film. It's Victorian Gothic submerged in
acid. His Drake is a bit of a cad, but he's a lively person you’d want to have a drink
with. He has an air of self-destruction to him when the chips are down. It’s a very
real performance, almost a touch of James Dean there. James Wong Howe’s bold
black and white photography further makes KINGS ROW a must have.
The third film in the box set is 1950’s THE HASTY HEART, a war drama where
Reagan plays a wounded American soldier at the eve of World War II. The film
doesn’t date well, but again, a good solid performance by leads Ronald Reagan
and Richard Todd.
It’s always tough to market obscure classics, so very often the creators of these
box sets throw in one under-rated film, a great film that nobody has heard about.
STORM WARNING is that over-looked gem in this set!
When Marsha (Ginger Rogers), a New York model, arrives in a little southern town
to visit her kid sister (Doris Day), she finds a shadowy, uninviting village of
frightened, hostile people. A few minutes into her visit, she secretly witnesses the
Ku Klux Klan murder a helpless man. She gets a good look at one of the men.
That man will turn out to be her new brother-in-law, Hank (Steve Cochran steals
the film here)
Reagan plays Bill Rainey, a loner, a hard working District Attorney who knows his
fellow citizens, even his friends, don white robes and go out and kill. He will try to
get Marsha to testify against the clan.
STORM WARNING is a very grim-looking film noir, photographed much like a
depressing horror movie. Nobody here, not even Ginger Rogers, is lit to look
glamorous. You get a sense of the southern hostilities brewing here. Picture a
mix of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and you
have this movie. The cast is excellent. You forget you’re watching the future
president. Reagan’s co-stars here don’t seem like Hollywood heavyweights. They
all feel like real people who lived in this fearful little town forever. (Again, Steve
Cochran is great here as the cowardly Klansman. He specialized in tough cops
and gangster roles. Sadly, he died in his mid forties in a boating accident.)
This set wraps up with the tough-to-sit-through THE WINNING TEAM, a tedious
1952 baseball drama where a miscast Reagan plays Hall of Fame Pitcher Grover
Cleveland Alexander. Reagan’s films of the fifties lacked the promise he showed a
decade earlier (He was up for the role of the nosy prospector in THE TREASURE
OF SIERRA MADRE, but that part went to Bruce Bennett.)
KNUTE ROCKNE - ALL AMERICAN
1940. 98 minutes
KINGS ROW
1942 127 minutes
THE HASTY HEART
1950 102 minutes
STORM WARNING
1950 93 minutes
THE WINNING TEAM
1952 93 minutes
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