Before I take it upon myself to ignore the rest of the wall-to-wall Reagan coverage, there are a couple movie-related bits of Regan-info I thought I’d pass along. Also, I have a question maybe someone can answer that I consider even more perplexing than the one which troubled me for so many years: how the hell do they get the cream into the middle of a Twinkie. (For those of you worried, I’ve discovered the answer, although it’s still damn hard to believe!)
First, you should take a look at Richard Corliss’ article from the current Time Magazine. Corliss provides a pretty good overview of “His Days in Hollywood, paying special attention to his role as second banana.
In 1966, movie mogul Jack Warner returned from a European trip to hear that an actor who used to work for him was running for Governor of California. “No, no,” Warner famously said. “Jimmy Stewart for Governor. Ronald Reagan for Best Friend.” Second lead. Second best. Best friend. Genial loser. That was Reagan throughout his 15-year tenure at Warner Bros. and in most of his films.
It’s interesting to consider what might have happened had Reagan become a bigger star. As Corliss also mentions in the lede:
In early 1942 Reagan was announced for a lead role, with his frequent co-star Ann Sheridan, in a film of the play Everyone Comes to Rick’s. After a round of Hollywood-casting roulette, Warner made the film without Reagan or Sheridan. They called it Casablanca.
Casablanca would have obviously been a much different film without Bogie and Bergman, and probably not as big a hit or as good a film since Reagan and Sheridan were lesser actors, or at least less-iconic.
But if Reagan had been a bigger Hollywood star, truly a Jimmy Stewart, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney or Errol Flynn type, or a Glenn Ford or Edmond O’Brien even, he never would have had to escape to television, and without General Electric Theater and his traveling to GE factories around the country, one has to wonder if he might have been content as president of the Screen Actors Guild or if he even would have taken on a position such as that. That’s not to say Reagan wasn’t always political, but it wasn’t until he started speaking, primarily as a pitchman for GE, and taking very public anti-Communist stances in the 50s that the powers-that-be came to him to run for political office.
Of course, Reagan was never going to be a huge star. His greatest strength as a politician was his amiability, and the same could be said for his talent as an actor. Reagan had that unexplainable screen presence, but not much else. It’s not that he was ever a bad actor; he just wasn’t an exceptional one either.
But don’t take my word for it. As they’re wont to do, TCM has dedicated all of their programming today and through the night to movies featuring Reagan. (Shockingly, there’s no Knute Rockne, All American.) They will show one of his better films, Kings Row at 8 PM, followed by the Raoul Walsh 1942 war film Desperate Journey, one of three times Reagan co-starred with Errol Flynn. (Tangentially, I’m always fascinated with WWII films that were shot during the earlier years of US involvement in the war. It’s difficult to remember that everything we now know about the Nazis and the outcome of WWII was still a mystery and unfolding as these films were being produced and released. What a different experience it must have been for moviegoers in 1942.)
So take a look if you want to see what all the fuss wasn’t about, and why Doc Brown’s disbelief when Marty McFly mentions that Ronald Reagan is the president in 1985 was so appropriate. (“Ronald Reagan? The actor? Who’s Vice President? Jerry Lewis? I suppose Jane Wyman is the first lady.” — Nancy must have loved that one!)
Finally, a question for everyone — what is it with these thousands of people braving the heat and humidity of the Washington Mall in order to walk by a casket with a flag draped over it. I’d call it morbid, but it’s not even because what are they looking at? There’s something off about it. Especially since, what if he’s not even in there. Oh, I’m not doubting that he’s dead, and he’s obviously been through the Six Feet Under treatment (how great would it be if Alan Ball was able to quickly change the opening death of the new season to Reagan?), but seriously. It’s a box. And a flag. And it’s just weird to me, regardless of who the person is.
Out of Focus 