Ronald Reagan's Top 10 Movie Roles
Million Dollar Baby, 1941
Before the war, Reagan got a few chances to prove himself in A material. One was in this fluffy comedy (unrelated to Clint Eastwood's 2004 Oscar winner). Reagan plays Peter Rowan, a rebellious composer who says he has "a sour disposition and a mouth to match" — an Oscar Levant type as the romantic lead. His soon-to-be-millionaire girlfriend, played by Priscilla Lane, calls Peter an anarchist; he insists he's "just a student of history. Civilization's rotting away." (Back then, he wasn't referring to the Soviet Union.) Reagan is compelling as a fellow spoiling for a fight with the world, and he gives a poignancy to his big speech: "The things I wanted most couldn't be bought with dough ... things like making your own way, climbing your own mountain or stubbing your own toe." Billed below nice-guy Jeffrey Lynn, Reagan displays a tense defiance, an untamed sexiness. For once, it's Reagan who gets the girl. And for once, he earns her.