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PERFORMANCES
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Reagan a mediocre actor? Not in these movies!
of TheColumnists.com
When Ronald Reagan first ran for public office as governor of California, his critics quickly reminded potential voters that he'd never been more than "a mediocre movie actor" even though he'd spent more than 25 years starring in movies and another dozen or so as a headliner in television.
Then, to prove their case, they trotted out the still photos from "Bedtime for Bonzo," showing Reagan in what appeared to be deep conversation with a chimpanzee, or stills from a B-western called "Law and Order," showing him as a frontier gunslinger who was quick on the draw.
The message: Do you want a guy who was the stooge for a chimp as your governor? Or, Do you want a "cowboy" running your stage government?
Well, it didn't work. Reagan was elected governor, then went on to become one of America's most popular presidents--for two full terms. When he died June 5, he was considered an icon of modern conservatism and quite literally a legend in his time.
And yet great multitudes of Americans still have the notion he was a "mediocre actor" who somehow transcended his Hollywood days to achieve his greatness.
Now I find myself in the unlikely position of sticking up for Ronald Reagan. Unlikely because I'm a political liberal who never agreed with anything Pres. Reagan said or did while running the country. However, I'm also a lifelong movie buff--and, like him or not, I'd have to defend him as a movie actor.
Here's the sum of my defense: He wasn't a great actor, but he was a very good one who could play comedy, drama, romance and even action roles with considerable skill. In his final film role in 1964, he even played a despicable villain--and he did it with a style that has always made me believe he'd have gone on to play some great bad guys if politics hadn't intervened.
As we celebrate the life of Ronald Reagan and mourn his death, I'd like to suggest we also take the time to look at some of his greatest screen performances and start the process of rehabilitating the career that so many political foes and narrow-minded critics have conspired to trash over the years.
Let's begin with:
KINGS ROW (1942) the Warner Bros. melodrama in which Reagan plays the second male lead--the best friend of hero Robert Cummings. In this forerunner to "Peyton Place" in the exposing of small-town corruption, Reagan is the decent young man who marries the girl (Ann Sheridan) from the "wrong side of the tracks" and suffers a stunning tragedy when he's injured in an accident and the drunken local doctor (Charles Coburn) amputates both his legs unnecessarily. It's Reagan's most famous role and contains his best-ever scene, the one where he discovers what has happened to him and, in despair, cries out, "Where's the rest of me?"
VOICE OF THE TURTLE (1947) is a romantic comedy about what happens when a giddy young actress (Eleanor Parker), who's been seriously damaged by her failures in love, meets a young soldier (Reagan) on leave--and falls in love with him. Based on the Broadway hit by John Van Druten, this is a seldom seen film today--but it contains a perfect example of how boyishly handsome and charming Reagan was at the peak of his career in Hollywood.
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a hitman as Lee Marvin wields his gun in 'The Killers' (1964), Reagan's final film role |
THE KILLERS (1964) is a loose adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's famous short story, turned into a hard-hitting crime film by director Don Siegel ("Dirty Harry") about two hit men and the victim they've just murdered. Originally made for television, it was deemed too violent and released to theaters instead. It was to be Reagan's last film. He has the supporting role of the crime kingpin--and plays it to the hilt, every bit as nasty as tough guy leading man Lee Marvin.
THE HASTY HEART (1950) was a British-made film about an arrogant Scottish soldier (Richard Todd) in a military hospital in Burma during World War II. He doesn't know he's dying, but all the other men in the ward--and nurse Patricia Neal--do. One of them is wounded American G.I. Ronald Reagan, whose down-to-earth performance is extremely good.
SANTA FE TRAIL (1940) is a star-bloated Warner Bros. western with Errol Flynn as Jeb Stuart and Reagan as his West Point classman and pal, George Armstrong Custer. They wind up as romantic rivals for the same lady (Olivia DeHavilland) on the western frontier. Reagan made many westerns, but this one lets him swagger with real panache.
KNUTE ROCKNE, ALL AMERICAN (1940) is the hopelessly sentimental story of the famed Notre Dame coach (Pat O'Brien) and his star football player, George Gipp (Reagan). O'Brien and Reagan are both in top form with their heart-tugging performances--and Reagan gets to deliver his immortal "Win just one for the Gipper" line. See if you can watch it without reaching for the Kleenex, even after 64 years!
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Grover Cleveland Alexander in 'The Winning Team' (1952) |
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THE WINNING TEAM (1952) is a baseball lover's dream, starring Reagan as Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander and Doris Day (a real-life baseball nut) in a straight dramatic role as his loyal wife, who sees him through all kinds of woe, including alcoholism. Lots of real-life baseball immortals play cameo roles.
STORM WARNING (1951) is one of the best dramas of the early 1950s, featuring a cast playing outside their usual movie territory with great success. Ginger Rogers is visiting her pregnant sister (Doris Day) when she discovers the sister's husband (Steve Cochran) is a Ku Klux Klansman. Only courageous D.A. Ronald Reagan seems willing to help Rogers take on the Klan. A strong performance from Reagan.
DARK VICTORY (1939) was one of the few "A" pictures Reagan made in the 1930s in between the many "B" pictures on his schedule as a young contract player at Warners. The film is a soaper about Bette Davis facing blindness and death, but Reagan shines in a supporting romantic role--and shows up fellow contract player Humphrey Bogart, who plays an Irishman not too convincingly.
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HELLCATS OF THE NAVY (1957) isn't exactly replete with great performances, but it's a hoot today because it's the only film made together by Reagan and Nancy Davis, his future First Lady. As a sub commander in World War II, Reagan gets to look stalwart, which would become his specialty in politics, and to say lots of lines that seem awfully arch all these years later.
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"Hellcats of the Navy" (1957) |
BEDTIME FOR BONZO (1951) isn't as dumb as it's supposed to be. In fact, heck, it's pretty entertaining--so entertaining that it earned a sequel. Anyway, this zany comedy stars Reagan as a professor who conducts an experiment in heredity by raising a chimp as if it were his child. Reagan didn't appear in the sequel, "Bonzo Goes to College." Perhaps he had a premonition.
Many of Ronald Reagan's
screen performances are available on home video and DVD, but
watch for special schedules of Reagan films on cable movie channels
this week and next.
©2004 by Ron Miller.
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