Reagan Films - What are your favorites?

Steve...O · 06-06-2004, 01:22 AM

Although the accomplishments President Reagan will most be remembered for came long after leaving Hollywood, he made some fine films for Warner Brothers (and some other studios in the latter part of his career).

Aside from the obvious choice of "King's Row" I really enjoyed his 4 film series as "Brass Bancroft" in the 30's as well such enjoyable fare as "Brother Rat", "Louisa", "Voice of the Turtle", and even his ultra violent (for the times) turn in "The Killers".

I remember watching "Storm Warning" years ago and being blown away by it. Unfortunately this film seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth despite being highly regarded.

Turner Classic Movies shows Reagan films fairly often. I would guess that a Reagan marathon will be scheduled sometime soon.

Any other favorites?

PS - no politics in this thread please

Jason_Els · 06-06-2004, 01:33 AM

Ugh. Forgot to mention The Killers in my thread! Ronald Reagan playing a bad guy was so against type but I was pleasantly surprised by how good he was. He was also great in That Hagen Girl, Knute Rockne All American , and The Hasty Heart. All are fairly treacly as films go but were well-acted and produced. Most people will say King's Row is his best but since seeing The Killers I have to disagree. It's not a great movie but Reagan was fantastic. I have not seen Storm Warning, but now you've piqued my interest!

george kaplan · 06-06-2004, 07:47 AM

Quote:

the accomplishments President Reagan will most be remembered for came long after leaving Hollywood

Chris · 06-06-2004, 09:40 AM

Eh, I think if we can have a sensible discussion a few months back about Leni Riefenstahl's career, Reagan should be an easy subject.. he has a large film body that can be discussed outside of anything else. Besides, being elected is an "accomplishment" of fact, and outside of that, we'll not deal with politics

I personally do find "The Killers" to be a good film; "Storm Warning" is also a film better then you'd expect.

I've always been a fan of "Sante Fe Trails" for it's total B-Movie nature and the fact that Flynn is in it, and seems to walk through it.. it's not a great film, but it's one that is a good piece of history.

"King's Row" may be more appropriate a film for now then others; the line "Where is the rest of me" is a great moment in that film.

george kaplan · 06-06-2004, 11:33 AM

Quote:

I think if we can have a sensible discussion a few months back about Leni Riefenstahl's career

**HTF Ads**

JohnS · 06-06-2004, 01:08 PM

I have yet to see a Regan film.
But maybe since his recent death, I'll check a few out.

"I haven't felt this awful since we seen that Ronald Regan film!"

Steve...O · 06-06-2004, 01:12 PM

I did some digging at the TCM site. By coincidence the topic of "Storm Warning" came up two days before the President's death on one of their forums. Here's what the head of programming had to say on June 3:

Quote:

"Storm Warning" is controlled by Warner Brothers, and there shouldn't be any rights issue involved. We played it back in '95, and it's just a matter of us acquiring the rights from them (even though we're the same company, we don't automatically have the rights to their films).

If TCM does do a marathon of Reagan films, hopefully this one will be included. Ginger Rogers and Doris Day also shine in this. Nine years is long enough!

Although not a great film and full of inaccuracies (typical Hollywood bio of the era) Doris Day fans might enjoy "The Winning Team" in which Ron Reagan played Grover Cleaveland Alexander.

Chris - you are correct, I meant no political statement or hidden implications in my original post. I was merely respectfully recognizing the fact that being elected Governor of California and President of the USA is much more important than making a few movies. How I or anybody else interprets his career as Governor/President is outside the boundaries of this topic.

Steve...O · 06-08-2004, 12:34 AM

Jason, he was indeed a Warners contract player signing a 7 year deal in 1937 after basically one audition.

TCM is doing a Reagan marathon on 6/10 spilling over to 6/11 which you can find here. (you may have to manually change the date and time zone).

Alas no "Storm Warning" or "Brother Rat", but some films that don't get shown too often will air including a couple with The Dead End Kids.

Steve

Jason_Els · 06-08-2004, 05:57 PM

Quote:

...the studio heads assigned him to star in a series of patriotic films produced by the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Forces in Culver City. Between 1942-45, Reagan starred in over 400 of these films.

400??? That's about a film every two weeks! I had no idea! Damn, that's amazing! Talk about wartime production! Now I understand what why grandfather, who served in WW2, once said he's seen more Ronald Reagan films than those of any other actor. Here I thought he was just a fan, now I know!

Here is TCM's schedule. As Steve indicated, Storm Warning isn't there and neither is The Killers or Knute Rockne All American

but King's Row and Santa Fe Trail are so we'll get to see some of his better work:

For Thursday, June 10:

8:00 AM Love is On the Air (1937) (first starring role)
9:00 AM Accidents will Happen (1938)
10:15 AM Angels Wash Their Faces (1939)
11:45 AM Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940)
1:15 PM Santa Fe Trail (1940)
3:15 PM One for the Book (1947)
5:00 PM Night Unto Night (1949)
6:30 PM Prisoner of War (1954)
8:00 PM Kings Row (1942)
10:15 PM Desperate Journey (1942)
12:15 AM The Last Outpost (1951)
2:00 AM John Loves Mary (1949)
3:45 AM An Angel from Texas (1940)
5:00 AM Sergeant Murphy (1938)
6:00 AM Hell's Kitchen (1939)

Whatever you might think of him as an actor, most of these are rarely seen so it's a chance to get a look at some of the more obscure films from the period. King's Row is just plain great all on its own so even if you have no interest in seeing a Ronald Reagan film, you should see this if you're a fan of movies.