Althouse: Ronald Reagan and James Dean — in "The Dark, Dark Hours."

April 20, 2010

Ronald Reagan and James Dean — in "The Dark, Dark Hours."

Not seen since it originally aired, live, on December 12, 1954. This is pre-"Rebel Without a Cause" and just 6 minutes long. Crazy!

28 comments:

lemondog said...: Crazy!

Hey, man....I'm hip!; 4/20/10, 3:57 PM
veni vidi vici said...: If it wasn't clear before, Althouse's blog is the unofficial comments thread for Instapundit!

That's not a complaint, by the way.

wv: "sonangl" -- Like "Teen Angel", sung from a parent's perspective.; 4/20/10, 4:05 PM
Anonymous said...: Of course, if our current president were in that role, he would have answered that it was Bush's fault that the punk died.; 4/20/10, 4:09 PM
David said...: Another gem from Althouse Blog.

"It's only a .32. That's not a very big bullet." Now there's a line.

Was this done live?

Anyway, the acting--by Reagan and Dean--is a zillion times better than what's on TV now.; 4/20/10, 4:13 PM
David said...: "Was this done live"

Duh--read the post.

Another gem by David.; 4/20/10, 4:15 PM
MDIJim said...: Sanctions. if you don't give up that gun, kid, I'm not gonna let you listen to the radio.; 4/20/10, 4:26 PM
Wince said...: Before hippies, it was the Beatniks, man.

Beatnik, a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s, was a synthesis of the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s into violent film images and a cartoonish misrepresentation of the real-life people and the spirituality found in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical fiction. Kerouac spoke out against this misdirected detour from his original concept.

The word "beatnik" was coined by Herb Caen in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 2, 1958. Caen coined the term by adding the Russian suffix -nik after Sputnik I to the Beat Generation.

Check out this movie poster for The Beatniks (1960).

EXPLODING FROM ALLEYWAYS AND IVORY TOWERS... Living by their code of REBELLION and MUTINY...; 4/20/10, 4:34 PM
bagoh20 said...: That's cool. The acting augmented by a few moments of the actor not acting, makes you appreciate it as a craft. It's not special effects or editing, but people pretending with talent after study and practice. I sometimes forget that's what it really is. Maybe it is less so today, it hard to tell except on stage and that just too far away visually.

The dialog and especially the conclusion is very dated and I loved it. In real life, it would likely happen that way more often than as in the modern storyline which would almost certainly involve more deaths and a more violent resolution.; 4/20/10, 4:45 PM
bagoh20 said...: BTW Reagan knew about taking a bullet and still fighting although he took a .22 cal.

Hinckley missed all six shots at Reagan. He did hit three other people and the final one, after hitting the limo, ricocheted into Reagan chest. Only 69 days into his first term.

If Jody Foster would have come out as gay a little earlier, the second amendment would be in better shape.; 4/20/10, 4:56 PM
bagoh20 said...: I always hated that finger snapping crap.; 4/20/10, 4:59 PM
Penny said...: General Electric Theater was a half hour long, and this was a six minute video. That leaves twenty four minutes for station identification, advertisements and previews for next week.; 4/20/10, 5:00 PM
Christopher said...: That was some pretty credible TV acting by the Gipper, even with some over-the-top moments.; 4/20/10, 5:16 PM
Deirdre Mundy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/20/10, 5:50 PM
Deirdre Mundy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/20/10, 5:52 PM
john said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/20/10, 5:58 PM
john said...: "Mr. Dean: lay down that gun!"

"Shoot and this Pershing 2 will knock it down before it gets out of your barrel, punk."

Some great Hollywood training for later on. (He could'a said those lines.); 4/20/10, 6:00 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "If it wasn't clear before, Althouse's blog is the unofficial comments thread for Instapundit!"

I got the link from the email, not from Instapundit. People send us both the same stuff. I'm much less likely to post from emailed things, however.; 4/20/10, 6:28 PM
veni vidi vici said...: Like I said, I'm not complaining.

I think it's cool that I can read something interesting over there, and then come here for the roundtable discussion. It's likewise interesting to read/discuss/see-discussed things here, and later find Glenn's take (or mere reference/link) over there.

Since I found your blog through his and have been here for several years now (tempus fugit), your two sites have always been linked in my mind anyway. That they're often complementary is a gratuity.

wv: "reapp" -- when you brick your iphone, you're gonna hafta...; 4/20/10, 6:48 PM
Phil 314 said...: I would have to agree that this is some of the best acting I've seen from Mr. Reagan.; 4/20/10, 7:09 PM
The Dude said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/20/10, 7:26 PM
john said...: Isn't it the opposite?; 4/20/10, 7:59 PM
Anonymous said...: I've never gotten the James Dean thing. I just never understood the phenomenon.

Anyone?; 4/20/10, 8:33 PM
1775OGG said...: Never got that finger snapping crap either. "Blackboard Jungle" seemed more realistic and it still phonied that kind of behavior too. I think Dean's movies all came out after his death, which might have done more to make his career famous than anything else.; 4/20/10, 9:15 PM
William said...: Dean really chews it. Reagan seems more credible.....In Giant, his best picture, when Dean goes over the top, he is in an over the top world and his gestures aren't too big for the dialogue.; 4/20/10, 9:23 PM
Anonymous said...: They tried to pull this James Dean shit with Heath Ledger, you know. It doesn't work now.; 4/20/10, 9:30 PM
Dad Bones said...: Always knew you were a hip kitty, Althouse.; 4/20/10, 9:54 PM
reader_iam said...: \; 4/21/10, 12:47 AM
reader_iam said...: Interesting, the intersection of familiarities with guns and the implementations of restraint.; 4/21/10, 1:34 AM