It seems as if Ronald Reagan enjoyed watching movies almost as much as making them, at least by a tally of the films the 40th president starred in as an actor – and viewed from either the White House Theater or from Camp David.
Fittingly, the first movie ever screened at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was “The Birth of a Nation.” President Woodrow Wilson was the host. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt converted a White House cloakroom in the East Wing into the mansion’s movie theater. He installed 42 seats in tiered rows.
According to the Reagan Library, the Gipper and Nancy screened 363 films between 1981 and 1988. The first was Tribute starring his friend, Jack Lemon. The last one was Cattle Queen of Montana – a movie starring Barbara Stanwyck and 43-year-old Ronald Reagan.
Incidentally, critics often poked at the Reagans for watching so many movies – but his 363 pictures across eight years paled in comparison to the 480 films screened in four years by President Jimmy Carter.
It was the legendary director and producer Frank Capra who said, “No saint, no pope, no general, no sultan, has ever had the power that a filmmaker has; the power to talk to hundreds of millions of people for two hours in the dark.”
As a subject matter, Reagan and the movies have been back in the news the last few months as the latest biopic of his extraordinary life hit the big screen.
Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid as the president and Penelope Ann Miller as the late first lady, and Jon Voight as a KGB agent, thrilled fans and defied both box office expectations and the predictably antagonistic critics.
With an opening weekend of over seven million, the touching biopic has grossed nearly $30 million.
Viewers can now stream the movie from the comfort of their own homes.
While the script is historical and biographical, producer Mark Joseph decided to originally frame the film based on Grove City College political science professor Paul Kengor’s book, God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life. As the years rolled on, the script that emerged was actually inspired by Dr. Kengor’s second Reagan book: The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism.
“Paul is such a meticulous researcher and his book ‘The Crusader’ was helpful in guiding us to tell Reagan’s story accurately,” Mark Joseph said.
“A story about a perfect person isn’t very interesting so it was important that Paul painted a full portrait of Reagan that was even-handed. He obviously respects him but he’s a historian first and so he covers him fairly and doesn’t gloss over his failures. That was important to us and to our director Sean McNamara.”
While parents would be wise to screen the film first (consult Plugged In’s review), Reagan could be an excellent film for families, especially homeschooled ones. My wife and I took our three boys (19, 14 and 12) to see it – and it elicited lots of great conversation and discussion.
From the Gipper’s evolving political views, opposition to communism, concern with social issues, his inspiring leadership style and his overarching strong Christian faith, there are plenty of rich themes for moms and dads to pivot and play off of around the dinner table or family room.
That so many critics hated Reagan and so many viewers loved it? That’s a telling sign of the ongoing and escalating ideological clash in the country – and one more reason why you won’t regret watching Mark Joseph’s cinematic masterpiece.
Reagan is now available to buy or rent online.
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