Posted on 04/20/2010 12:09:31 PM PDT by DukeBillie
Today, it's an astonishing, even eerie, scene: the icon of modern American conservatism, whose rise to political prominence was galvanized by the cultural rebellion of the 1960s, fighting off an attack-at-gunpoint by the quintessential modern American rebel. But when "The Dark, Dark Hours" episode of General Electric Theater aired live from Hollywood on December 12, 1954, Ronald Reagan and James Dean were just two actors yet to find the roles that would define them.
No one has seen this episode in the decades since; the kinescope has been locked away, until now. My friend Wayne Federman, a writer for NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, unearthed the broadcast, condensing it from its original 23 minutes (without commercials) into the six-minute version you see below. (Federman is planning a retrospective of Reagan's television career for next year's Reagan centennial.)
Here, Reagan is a physician, forced to defend his home and family from Dean, a teenage lawbreaker seeking medical treatment for an injured friend.
A decade before Reagan's political career took off, with a nationally televised speech supporting Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, and months before Dean started filming Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, both of these Midwesterners seem to be rehearsing future roles—Reagan as the happy warrior who could, in a moment, turn fierce ("I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!") and Dean as teenage angst writ large ("You're tearing me apart!").
At the time of the broadcast, Reagan was 43. With the movie industry in recession, and his career waning, his agents had been bringing him offers to do TV shows. Like many movie actors at the time, Reagan was skittish about the small screen. But producers thought he was perfect for the anthology genre, which was still struggling to gain traction with audiences.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
they sure don’t.....
saw a t-shirt at the tea party sat...it said ronald reagan for president....
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Thank You for that Gem. Loved it.
Did James Dean ever do anything besides be anguished and weep?
Me too!
This is quite a find! Thanks for posting!
What a treasure! Thanks.
No. He perfected anguished and weepy, Costner perfected wooden.
“Did James Dean ever do anything besides be anguished and weep?”
Well, he did play Jett Rink. (Shoulda killed him while ya had the chance. He’s too rich ta kill now.)
That's nuanced acting. Those of us who cannot see the Emporer's clothes just aren't worthy to comment.
Yes. He struck oil, got filthy rich, got falling-down drunk, etc., in GIANT, with Rock Hudson and Liz Taylor. He may have wept once or twice in that one, too; come to think of it.
Ping for watching when I get home.
He drove race cars.
How about the scene of him sitting, drooped, on the rail fence, bemoaning his fantastic riches (and the fact that he was so unlikeable that nobody in Texas wanted anything to do with him).
LOL
How was James Dean a thug?
Give him a break, he was only in three films.
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