Ronald Reagan filmography
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Ronald Reagan filmography
The filmography of Ronald Reagan (1911 – 2004) includes many motion pictures and television screen work. His acting career began in 1937 when he contracted with Warner Bros. Studios. Apart from his absence during World War II, he would make most of his movies with Warner Bros. As film roles began to dwindle in the late 1950s, he turned to television, where he hosted and acted in a number of programs. His acting career came to an end in 1965, and he became active in politics.
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Entertainment career
Reagan, born in Illinois, moved to California and took a screen test in 1937 that led to a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers studios.[1] He spent the first few years of his Hollywood career in the "B film" unit, where, Reagan joked, the producers "didn't want them good, they wanted them Thursday".[2] While sometimes overshadowed by other actors, Reagan's screen performances did receive many good reviews.[2]
His first screen credit was the starring role in the 1937 movie Love Is on the Air, and by the end of 1939 he had already appeared in 19 films.[3] In 1938 he starred alongside Jane Wyman in Brother Rat. They married in 1940, having a child, Maureen, and adopting a son, Michael. The marriage ended in divorce in 1948.[4]
| None of you ever knew George Gipp. It was long before your time. But you know what a tradition he is at Notre Dame... And the last thing he said to me -- "Rock," he said - "sometime, when the team is up against it -- and the breaks are beating the boys -- tell them to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper... I don't know where I'll be then, Rock", he said - "but I'll know about it - and I'll be happy." |
| — Pat O'Brien as Knute Rockne[5] |
Before the film Santa Fe Trail in 1940, he played the role of George "The Gipper" Gipp in the film Knute Rockne, All American; from it, he acquired the lifelong nickname "the Gipper".[6] In 1941 exhibitors voted him the fifth most popular star from the younger generation in Hollywood.[7]
Reagan's favorite acting role was as a double amputee in 1942's Kings Row,[8] in which he recites the line, "Where's the rest of me?", later used as the title of his 1965 autobiography. Many film critics considered Kings Row to be his best movie,[9] though the film was condemned by New York Times critic Bosley Crowther.[10][11] Although, Reagan called Kings Row the film that "made me a star",[12] he was unable to capitalize on his success because he was ordered to active duty two months after its release, and never regained "star" status in motion pictures.[12]
After the outbreak of war, Reagan, an officer in the Army Reserve, was ordered to active duty in April, 1942. [13] Upon the approval of the Army Air Force (AAF), he was transferred to the AAF and was assigned to the First Motion Picture Unit (officially, the "18th AAF Base Unit") in Culver City, California.[14] In January, 1943 he was sent to the Provisional Task Force Show Unit of This Is The Army at Burbank, California.[14] He returned to the First Motion Picture Unit after completing this duty and was promoted to Captain.[15] By the end of the war, his units had produced some 400 training films for the AAF[15] including Beyond the Line of Duty, The Rear Gunner, and This is the Army.
Following military service Reagan resumed his film work. In 1947 Reagan was elected to the position of president of the Screen Actors Guild.[16] He was subsequently chosen by the membership to serve seven additional one-year terms, from 1947 to 1952 and in 1959.[16] Reagan led SAG through eventful years that were marked by labor-management disputes, the Taft-Hartley Act, House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) hearings and the Hollywood blacklist era.[16]
He met fellow star Nancy Davis in 1950 and they married two years later; the marriage would be one of the closest in U.S. political history,[17] and the couple had two children: Patti and Ron.[17] Reagan continued his acting career, making films such as The Voice of the Turtle, John Loves Mary, Bedtime for Bonzo, Cattle Queen of Montana, Tennessee's Partner, and Hellcats of the Navy (where he costarred alongside his wife).
Though an early critic of television, Reagan landed fewer film roles in the late 1950s and decided to join the medium.[2] He was hired as the host of General Electric Theater, a series of weekly dramas that became very popular.[2] His contract required him to tour GE plants sixteen weeks out of the year, often demanding of him fourteen speeches per day.[2] Eventually, the ratings for Reagan's show fell off and GE dropped Reagan in 1962.[18]
Reagan, a liberal Democrat, began to shift to the right as his relationship with Republican Nancy Davis grew.[19][20] Reagan soon began to embrace the conservative views of General Electric's officials,[21][22] in particular those of Lemuel Boulware. Boulware championed the core tenets of modern American conservatism: free markets, anticommunism, lower taxes, and limited government.[23] After General Electric Theatre, Reagan became a politician and in 1980 was elected to President of the United States.
Throughout his film career, his mother often answered much of his fan mail.[24] Ronald Reagan was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame when the walk was dedicated on February 9, 1960.[25]
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Love Is on the Air | Andy McCaine | |
| Hollywood Hotel | Radio announcer (uncredited) | ||
| 1938 | Sergeant Murphy | Private Dennis Reilley | |
| Swing Your Lady | Jack Miller | ||
| Accidents Will Happen | Eric Gregg | ||
| Cowboy from Brooklyn | Pat Dunn | ||
| The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse | Radio announcer (uncredited) | ||
| Boy Meets Girl | Radio announcer at premiere | ||
| Girls on Probation | Neil Dillon | ||
| Brother Rat | Dan Crawford | Co-starring Jane Wyman | |
| Going Places | Jack Withering | ||
| 1939 | Secret Service of the Air | Lieutenant "Brass" Bancroft | First of the Bancroft series |
| Dark Victory | Alec Hamm | ||
| Code of the Secret Service | Lieutenant "Brass" Bancroft | Second in Bancroft series | |
| Naughty but Nice | Ed "Eddie" Clark | ||
| Hell's Kitchen | Jim Donohue | ||
| The Angels Wash Their Faces | Deputy District Attorney Patrick "Pat" Remson | ||
| Smashing the Money Ring | Lieutenant "Brass" Bancroft | Third in the Bancroft series | |
| Sword Fishing | Narrator | Academy Award Nomination - Best Short | |
| 1940 | Brother Rat and a Baby | Dan Crawford | Co-starring Jane Wyman |
| An Angel from Texas | Marty Allen | With Jane Wyman | |
| Murder in the Air | Lieutenant "Brass" Bancroft | Fourth film in the Bancroft series | |
| Knute Rockne All American | George "The Gipper" Gipp | ||
| Tugboat Annie Sails Again | Eddie Kent | With Jane Wyman | |
| Alice in Movieland | Himself (uncredited) | [26] | |
| Santa Fe Trail | George Armstrong Custer | ||
| 1941 | The Bad Man | Gilbert "Gil" Jones | |
| Million Dollar Baby | Peter "Pete" Rowan | ||
| International Squadron | Jimmy Grant | ||
| Nine Lives Are Not Enough | Matt Saywer | ||
| 1942 | Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter | Lt. Saunders | Short |
| Kings Row | Drake McHugh | Academy Award Nomination - Best Picture | |
| Juke Girl | Steve Talbot | ||
| Mister Gardenia Jones | Gardenia Jones | Academy Award Nomination - Best Short | |
| Desperate Journey | Johnny Hammond | ||
| Beyond the Line of Duty[27] | Narrator (voice) | Academy Award Nomination and Win -Best Short | |
| 1943 | Cadet Classification | Narrator | Short |
| The Rear Gunner[27] | Lieutenant Ames | Academy Award Nomination - Best Short | |
| For God and Country | Father Michael O'Keefe | Short | |
| This is the Army | Cpl. Johnny Jones | Academy Award Win-Scoring of a Musical Picture; Academy Award Nomination-Best Sound | |
| 1945 | Target Tokyo | Narrator (voice)[27][28] | |
| The Fight for the Sky | Narrator | Short | |
| The Stilwell Road | Narrator | ||
| Wings for This Man | Narrator | ||
| 1947 | Stallion Road | Larry Hanrahan | |
| That Hagen Girl | Tom Bates | ||
| The Voice of the Turtle | Sergeant Bill Page | Reissued as One for the Book | |
| 1949 | John Loves Mary | John Lawrence | |
| Night Unto Night | John Galen | ||
| The Girl from Jones Beach | Bob Randolph | ||
| The Hasty Heart | Yank | ||
| It's a Great Feeling | Cameo | ||
| 1950 | Louisa | Harold "Hal" Norton | |
| 1951 | The Big Truth | Narrator/Host | |
| Storm Warning | Burt Rainey | ||
| The Last Outpost | Captain Vance Britten | aka Calvary Charge | |
| Bedtime for Bonzo | Professor Peter Boyd | ||
| 1952 | Hong Kong | Jeff Williams | |
| The Winning Team | Grover Cleveland Alexander | ||
| She's Working Her Way Through College | Professor John Palmer | ||
| 1953 | Tropic Zone | Dan McCloud | |
| Law and Order | Frame Johnson | ||
| 1954 | Prisoner of War | Webb Sloane | |
| Cattle Queen of Montana | Farrell | ||
| 1955 | Tennessee's Partner | Cowpoke | |
| 1957 | Hellcats of the Navy | Commander Casey Abbott | Co-starring Nancy Davis |
| 1961 | The Young Doctors | Narrator (voice) | |
| 1963 | Heritage of Splendor | Narrator | Short |
| 1964 | The Killers | Jack Browning |
Television
| Year | Show | Role | Episode |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Nash Airflyte Theatre | Tommy Blunt | "The Case of the Missing Lady" |
| 1952 | Hollywood Opening Night | "The Priceless Gift" | |
| 1953 | Medallion Theatre | "A Job for Jimmy Valentine" | |
| 1953 | The Revlon Mirror Theater | "Next Stop: Bethlehem" | |
| 1953–1954 | Lux Video Theatre | Merle Fisher | "A Place in the Sun" |
| "Message in a Bottle" | |||
| Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | "The Edge of Battle" | ||
| "The Jungle Trap" | |||
| "The Doctor Comes Home" | |||
| The Ford Television Theatre | Lieutenant Commander Masterson | "Beneath These Waters" | |
| Steve Wentworth | "And Suddenly, You Knew" | ||
| "The First Born" | |||
| 1954–1962 | General Electric Theater | Host | Hosted 235 teleplays; acted in 35 |
| 1956 | General Electric Summer Originals | "Jungle Trap" | |
| 1960 | The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Alan Royce | "The Way Home" |
| Startime | Host | "The Swingin' Years" | |
| "The Swingin' Singin' Years" | |||
| 1961 | Zane Grey Theater | Major Will Sinclair | "The Long Shadow" |
| 1961–1963 | The Dick Powell Show | Guest Host | "The Last of the Private Eyes" |
| Rex Kent | "Who Killed Julie Greer?" | ||
| 1963 | Wagon Train | Captain Paul Winters | "The Fort Pierce Story" |
| 1964 | Kraft Suspense Theatre | Judge Howard R. Stimming | "A Cruel and Unusual Night" |
| 1964–1965 | Death Valley Days | Host | Acted in eight episodes |
References
- General
-
- Robert Paul Metzger (1989). Reagan, American Icon. University of Pennsylvania Press.
- "Ronald Reagan > Filmography". Allmovie. http://www.allmovie.com/artist/ronald-reagan-p59108. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
- "Ronald Reagan Films". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/rrfilms.html. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
- Specific
(for releases not mentioned in the "General" sources)
- ^ "Biography > A Hero from the Heartland". Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071031092212/http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/biography/a_hero.asp. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Cannon, Lou (June 6, 2004). "Actor, Governor, President, Icon". The Washington Post: p. A01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18329-2004Jun5.html. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ "Ronald Reagan > Hollywood Years". Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070312120428/http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/biography/hollywood_years.asp. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
- ^ Severo, Richard. (September 11, 2007). "Jane Wyman, 90, Star of Film and TV, Is Dead". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/11/movies/11wyman.html. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
- ^ "Knute Rockne's "Win One for the Gipper" Speech". University of Notre Dame. http://archives.nd.edu/research/texts/rocknespeech.htm. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- ^ Cannon (2001), p. 15
- ^ "Cupid's Influence on the Film Box-Office.". The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 – 1956) (Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia): p. 7 Supplement: The Argus Week-end Magazine. October 4, 1941. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8208562. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
- ^ Reagan, Ronald (1965). Where's the Rest of Me?. New York: Duell, Sloan, and Pearce. ISBN 0-283-98771-5.
- ^ Wood, Brett. "Kings Row". TCM website. Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=17922. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
- ^ Crowther, Bosley (February 3, 1942). "The Screen; 'Kings Row,' With Ann Sheridan and Claude Rains, a Heavy, Rambling Film, Has Its First Showing Here at the Astor". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9903E2DE143BE33BBC4B53DFB4668389659EDE. Retrieved March 29, 2007.
- ^ Cannon (2003), pp. 56–57
- ^ a b Friedrich, Otto (1997). City of nets: a portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s. University of California Press (reprint). pp. 86–89. ISBN 978-0-520-20949-7. http://books.google.com/?id=1Y9uZw7YNK8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=city+of+nets.
- ^ "USS Ronald Reagan: Ronald Reagan". United States Navy. Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071030073032/http://www.reagan.navy.mil/about_reagan.html. Retrieved March 7, 2007.
- ^ a b "President Ronald Reagan". National Museum of the United States Air Force. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1660. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
- ^ a b "Military service of Ronald Reagan". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/military.html. Retrieved June 22, 2007.
- ^ a b c "Screen Actors Guild Presidents: Ronald Reagan". Screen Actors Guild. Archived from the original on December 28, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071228063556/http://www.sag.org/history/presidents/reagan.html. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
- ^ a b "End of a Love Story". BBC. June 5, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/265714.stm. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
- ^ Cannon (2003), p. 113.
- ^ "Nancy Reagan". Nndb.com. http://www.nndb.com/people/870/000022804/. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ "An American Life: The Autobiography by Ronald Reagan". LibraryThing. http://www.librarything.com/work/109910. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ "Corporate spokesman and rising conservative – Ronald Reagan – policy, election, foreign". Presidentprofiles.com. http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Kennedy-Bush/Ronald-Reagan-Corporate-spokesman-and-rising-conservative.html. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ "The Education of Ronald Reagan". Cup.columbia.edu. http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-13860-4/the-education-of-ronald-reagan. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
- ^ Thomas W. Evans, The Education of Ronald Reagan: The General Electric Years and the Untold Story of His Conversion to Conservatism (2008).
- ^ Skinner, et. al. (2003), p. 836
- ^ "Ronald Reagan’s Pre-Presidential Time Line, 1911–1980". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/prepreschrono.html. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- ^ Jean Negulesco Shorts
- ^ a b c Helfer, Andrew (author), Steve Buccatello (artist), and Joe Station (artist). Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography. Hill and Wang. 25.
- ^ "Target Tokyo." Victory in the Pacific. PBS. Accessed October 9, 2008.
- Bibliography
- Cannon, Lou; Beschloss, Michael (2001). Ronald Reagan: The Presidential Portfolio: A History Illustrated from the Collection of the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum. PublicAffairs. ISBN 1-891620-84-3.
- Cannon, Lou (2003). Governor Reagan: His Rise to Power. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-284-8.
- Reagan, Ronald (2003). Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, Martin Anderson. ed. Reagan: A Life in Letters. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-1967-8.
Further reading
- McClure, Arthur et al. Ronald Reagan: A Bibliography of the Movie Years. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1988.
- Thomas, Tony. The Films of Ronald Reagan. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel Press, 1980.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ronald Reagan filmography |
- Ronald Reagan at the Internet Movie Database
- Love is on the Air (1937), trailer
- "Life and Times", flash presentation chronicles Reagan's Hollywood years, from the Reagan Library
- General Electric Theatre "The Dark, Dark Hours", rare 1954 video starring Ronald Reagan and James Dean. Edited to 6 minutes in length.
- "Ronald Reagan on TV" by Billy Ingram, at TVParty.com.
- Ronald Reagan at the Internet Archive, collection of public domain films
- Ronald Reagan at the Internet Archive, collection of television programs
- Watch full length films
- Santa Fe Trail is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- This is the Army is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The short film The Rear Gunner is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- For God and Country is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The short film Target Tokyo is available at PBS
- The short film The Fight for the Sky is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The Stilwell Road is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The short film Heritage of Spendor is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The short film Wings for This Man is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
- The short film Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
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