Ronald Reagan is such a good bad guy! He plays this role perfectly. That part when he slaps that woman is hilarious.
shareThat part knocked me out. I'm sure in time people asked him why he toke such a part. I wonder what his reply was.
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I never thought much of Reagan as an actor, but I saw this movie years ago and was very impressed with his villainy. He really belts Angie in that scene.
"Follow those who seek the truth. Beware of those who find it."
Clu Gulager, in the interview on the Criterion DVD, says that Lee Marvin told him in rehearsal, watch, I'll play this scene one way, then I'll play it another way, and another way and Reagan will react exactly the same way every time.
Which he did, according to Gulager.
He did play the villain very well, but I'm not surprised. His policies were pretty cold-blooded, as well.
shareEvery actor works differently. Some like to improvise, while some like to stick to a particular reading of the material. Reagan wasn't a great actor, but he had enough presence and experience to do a professional job on screen. This role afforded him a chance to play against type in a way he'd never done before. I think on that basis, it has value beyond his later political career.
The thing is we forget that before he became Governor of California and President of the United States, he was a popular movie star. Some reviews over the years actually gave him some credit when he have a good performance. So I believe that viewing Reagan's acting from the perspective of what he did later is unfair, although understandable.
Whatever one thinks of his politics, either as a liberal Democrat in the 1940s and 50s or conservative Republican in the 1960s - 1980s, Reagan was a likable screen presence who occassionally proved he could act.
In the "Trivia" section, it says that Reagan refrained from discussing politics during the filming, because it was so soon after the death of Kennedy. However, in 1963 Reagan might have still been a registered Democrat -- his switch to the GOP happened sometime between 1962 and early 1964.
>>> His policies were pretty cold-blooded.
Which?
Scariest words in English: We’re from the federal government and we’re here to help. R. Reagan
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/2/6/941664/-
"No, I don't like to cook, but I have a chicken in the icebox, and you're eating it."
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2010/02/06/why-was-ronald-reagan-the-greatest-president-of-the-20th-century/
Scariest words in English: We’re from the federal government and we’re here to help. R. Reagan
cool story.
Life's like a Cabo Carne Asada: never know how spicy it's gunna get.
I laughed when I first saw him. In his suit he looks exactly like Reagan, the president of the United States. All that's needed is a criminal partner who resembles his vice president.
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he was not much of an actor but it is campy fun to watch this cast. cassettes is an awful awful actor but lee marvin and the rest of the cast are fun to watch. directing is first rate. script is weak.
shareI think an earlier posting made it accurate that he maybe wanted to do something different. He did say he very uncomfortable in the scene where he had to slap Angie Dickenson. This was intended to be a TV movie but the network thought it too violent so it went to the theaters.
His career was on the rise in 1941 when he stepped away from his career to serve in World War II. Like John Wayne, he was not physically able to serve so he made film for the war effort. Unfortunately like George Reeves, whose career was also on the rise before the war, his career never regained the momentum after he returned to acting. Who knows how their careers would have worked out had not the war came along but they answered the call when our country needed them and that is to be appreciated.
Agreed. Reagan made for an effectively cold and ruthless villain. And his slapping of Angie Dickinson was indeed priceless!
I am the Duke of IMDb bio writers! I am A#1!
It never ceases to amaze me that a mere sixteen years after this film was released, Ronald Reagan was winning 44-states (worth 489 electoral votes) in a general election, making him the 40th president of the United States of America! And then, only four years later, he was re-elected with 49-states (worth a whopping 525 electoral votes)!
shareIn the Criterion bonus features, Clu Gulager suggests Reagan did the part because of his friendship with MCA chairman Lew Wasserman, whereas the audio reading of Don Siegel's autobio describes Siegel making the pitch to Reagan and suggesting it would be good for his career to diversify. Whatever the case, Reagan didn't like playing the role but he put himself into it and in the process showed he had some range as an actor that he is not usually given credit for. I would note that he had played a couple unsavory villain types on radio when he'd guested on "Suspense" (the show in which *every* star of the day got to play someone villainous at some point, including even Bob Hope) so it wasn't as if this was a brand new experience for him.
Since shooting was taking place in late 1963 at the time of the JFK assassination, this was before Reagan was fully plunged into the political world, though it was moving more in that direction. It wasn't until he gave his half-hour television speech for Barry Goldwater in late October 1964 that he had his political "debut" as it were as his speech ended up attracting praise for his command of the issues and how he was able to communicate the conservative position far more effectively than the abrasive Goldwater ever did.
Siegel also pointed out some examples like Cagney and Bogart whose careers were not hurt by playing heavies.
shareReagan was a terrific actor, governor, and president. I lived in California when he was governor, and still do now. What a mess our current stain of a governor and his cronies in Sacramento have made of this once-great state. If only we had Reagan now.
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