It Wasn't an Act
By Eric Cox
Had he never become President, it is unlikely that anyone would have organized a film festival devoted to the works of Ronald Reagan. Although Reagan appeared in over 50 movies in a Hollywood career that spanned four decades, none of his films or performances is what one would call a classic.
Knute Rockne All American (1940) is largely remembered today only because it is the film in which Reagan uttered the line he later made famous on the campaign trail, "win one for the Gipper." Reagan appeared with his first wife, Jane Wyman (mother of Michael and Maureen Reagan), in several films: Brother Rat (1938), An Angel from Texas (1940), Brother Rat and a Baby (1940), Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940), and It's a Great Feeling (1949). He co-starred with his eventual First Lady, Nancy Davis (mother of Patti Davis and Ron Jr.), in only one: Hellcats of the Navy (1957).
Aside from these tidbits of trivia, there is little reason to rush out and rent these movies.
However, there is an interesting parallel between Reagan the actor and Reagan the politician. Just as his acting style is widely considered superficial and lacking depth, he was viewed by many of his political opponents as naive and aloof--intellectually out of his league.
Although both judgments might be politically motivated in many cases, there is a grain of truth to each of them. After all, whatever Reagan was, it is clear what he was not. He was not an intellectual. Nor was he a tortured artist. Just as Reagan the politician was no Adlai Stevenson, Reagan the actor was no Marlon Brando.
It might even be fair to say that Reagan wasn't an actor or a slick politician at all. What made him appealing to people was his genuine, authentic self.
One of the most common disparagements of Reagan as President, of course, is that he was merely playing the role convincingly. This, however, gives him more credit as a performer than he deserves. (In fact, it is downright self-contradictory to say that Reagan was a horrible actor and that his popularity and success as President were due to his acting ability.)
Reagan's true personality was in fact evident in both movies and politics. In his films, he portrayed characters who were affable but also confident, self-assured, and morally certain. In government, he showed exactly the same traits. Some people are inspired by this combination; others are put off by it.
Reagan, for instance, was director Mike Nichols's first choice to play the part of Benjamin Braddock's genial but shallow father in The Graduate (1967). Nichols wanted Doris Day for the mother. With their California tans, friendly demeanors, and All-American good looks, Reagan and Day epitomized everything about America that Nichols wanted to satirize. (Had Reagan played the part, I think it would have been the one shining performance of his career.)
On the other hand, the reason that Reagan found so much work as an actor was not because of his skill, but the fact that audiences loved him. They didn't care that he was not a convincing professor in Bedtime for Bonzo (1951). They liked him.
That same love has been shown across the country this week as thousands of Americans have come forward to pay their last respects and share their remarkably personal feelings about the former President and movie star.
Strange how a man who most people only saw from a great distance, his face transmitted by a camera lens, could deeply affect so many millions of people. Whatever the man had that could elicit such an outpouring of emotion, one thing ought to be clear: He wasn't faking it.
Eric Cox is a research fellow at the Sagamore Institute for Policy Research (www.sipr.org) and a movie columnist for TAEmag.com.
