Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Movie Nights with the Reagans
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE: NJ
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
Former speechwriter and advisor to Ronald Reagan.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in OH; married; children: two.
EDUCATION:Attended George Washington University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Communications consultant and writer. Previously, worked as a speechwriter and advisor to President Ronald Reagan, 1980-88; also worked for John Connally presidential campaign.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Mark Weinberg is a communications consultant and writer based in New Jersey. He may be best known for having worked as an advisor and speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan. In 1979, Weinberg was attending George Washington University and was nearing graduation with a degree in journalism. However, when an opportunity arose to work on the presidential campaign of John Connally, Weinberg left school to pursue it. John Connally lost the Republican nomination, after which time Weinberg joined Ronald Reagan’s campaign. He worked under Reagan throughout his entire eight years in office.
In 2018, Weinberg released a book about his experiences with the Reagans, titled Movie Nights with the Reagans: A Memoir. He highlights the former first family’s ritual of watching movies on the weekends at the Camp David retreat in Maryland, noting that he was present for some of the film-watching. Weinberg told David Smith, writer in the London Guardian: “The Reagans were students of movies. When the movie was shown, they watched the movie. They didn’t take their eyes from the screen, they didn’t look around the room, they didn’t do anything. They studied the movies.” Weinberg continued: “It was familiar and comfortable territory very fondly remembered. Watching movies was just something that they both enjoyed and was natural for them. The Reagans liked movies where there was somebody to root for and the president always said that’s an important part of any film to be successful.” Weinberg added: “I think it is important for political leaders to be in touch with popular culture. But it’s even more important for presidents to take a deep breath on the weekends.” In the book, Weinberg focuses individual movies that the Reagans watched and shares reactions from the former President and First Lady. Weinberg recalls that President Reagan greatly enjoyed Raiders of the Lost Ark, although it made him consider his competition with Errol Flynn for acting roles. He was touched by E.T., a film that was popular nationwide during his time as President. The movie, WarGames, deeply affected Reagan and even came to mind when he considered the U.S.’s missile defense program. Action films approved by Reagan included Top Gun, Rocky IV, and Red Dawn.
In an interview with Asia Palomba, contributor to the Christian Science Monitor, Weinberg stated: “This is a look at the Reagans that hadn’t been offered before, and this is one that I could uniquely write. I went to Camp David with them more weekends than anyone else on the White House staff, saw more movies with them than anyone else, and I thought it was a side of them that should be shared. It was a fun side, a revealing side, an interesting side.” Weinberg continued: “When I met Mrs. Reagan for that final interview I found that she thought so, too. The influence of Hollywood, and the importance of Hollywood culture in America can’t be understated, and the 1980s were extraordinarily exemplary of that.”
“Sometimes, Weinberg seems to be compiling a brief in defense of his old boss—he’s still a press flack at heart—but he also captures the personable nature of the Reagans,” asserted a Kirkus Reviews critic. A reviewer in Publishers Weekly described Movie Nights with the Reagans as an “amiable political memoir.” and suggested: “This book will serve as a welcome change from today’s political climate.” Writing in USA Today, David Holahan remarked: “Weinberg knows his subjects well, but there is a price to pay for his cozy insider access, including occasional lapses into fawning prose. … But Weinberg largely succeeds in capturing a different time and a different president. … Most of all, the nostalgia is palpable.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Christian Science Monitor, March 3, 2018, Asia Palomba, author interview and review of Movie Nights with the Reagans: A Memoir.
Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2018, review of Movie Night with the Reagans.
London Guardian, March 3, 2018, David Smith, author interview and review of Movie Nights with the Reagans.
Publishers Weekly, January 15, 2018, review of Movie Nights with the Reagans, p. 53.
UPI Archive: Washington News, August 14, 1987, article about author.
USA Today, February 28, 2018, David Holahan, “Settle in for the Reagans’ ‘Movie Nights’,” review of Movie Night with the Reagans, p. 4D.
ONLINE
Federalist Society website, https://fedsoc.org/ (May 31, 2018), author profile.
People Online, http://people.com/ (June 28, 1982), author interview.
Simon & Schuster website, http://www.simonandschuster.com/ (May 31, 2018), author profile.
Mark Weinberg is a former speechwriter and advisor to President Ronald Reagan, who served on the 1980 Reagan campaign traveling staff, all eight years in the Reagan White House, and two years thereafter as Reagan’s spokesman in his post-presidency office in Los Angeles. He is an experienced executive communications consultant who has held senior management positions at Fortune 500 corporations and the federal government. Weinberg currently runs his own communications consultancy, Weinberg Communications. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and their two children. Movie Nights with the Reagans is his first book.
At Home or Overseas, Mark Weinberg Helps the President Meet the Press
People Staff June 28, 1982 12:00 PM
If I say the wrong thing, the stock market could crumble,” frets MARK WEINBERG, 25. “Not because of me, a kid from Shaker Heights, but because of the title that goes with my name.”
As an assistant press secretary to the President of the United States, Weinberg spends one-fourth of his time accompanying Ronald Reagan on his trips out of Washington. Handpicked by Press Secretary Jim Brady to fill the $28,245-a-year post, he has emerged as one of Reagan’s most ubiquitous aides as he shepherds the reporters and photographers who follow the President, occasionally fills in as White House spokesman, or acts as liaison to the Secret Service and military communications staff. During Reagan’s recent 10-day European trip, for example, Weinberg was up at 5:30 every morning and worked until 3 a.m. the next day. “I learned to sleep in about any position, in a helicopter or a motorcade; I’d close my eyes for five minutes and be fine for the next few hours.”
The son of a shopping center executive and a placement counselor, Weinberg got into politics in 1979 when he left George Washington University just six credits shy of a journalism degree to jump on John Connally’s presidential bandwagon. When the Connally campaign fizzled, Weinberg followed Brady to Reagan’s camp and in 1981 was named to one of the two assistant press secretary posts. (The other is held by C. Anson Franklin, 35.) Last year, when the President and Brady were shot, Weinberg accompanied Brady’s wife, Sarah, to the hospital and stayed to comfort her throughout the first anxious night.
Now, after his 11-hour workdays, bachelor Weinberg draws duty many weekends at Camp David with the Reagans and says, “Next to my parents, they are my favorite couple.” Although he vows to get his degree, he doubts he will pursue a Washington career. Instead, he plans to become a public relations man in Hollywood. “It is,” he explains, “the same kind of adrenaline-producing industry.”
Mark Weinberg is a former spokesman, advisor and speechwriter to President Ronald Reagan. He served on the 1980 Reagan campaign, all eight years on the Reagan White House staff, and two years thereafter as Director of Public Affairs in the office of former President Ronald Reagan. He currently works as a communications consultant in the private sector. Mr. Weinberg and his wife live in the New York City area with their two children.
QUOTED: "Sometimes, Weinberg seems to be compiling a brief in defense of his old boss—he's still a press flack at heart—but he also captures the personable nature of the Reagans."
Weinberg, Mark: MOVIE NIGHTS WITH THE REAGANS
Kirkus Reviews. (Feb. 1, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Weinberg, Mark MOVIE NIGHTS WITH THE REAGANS Simon & Schuster (Adult Nonfiction) $28.00 2, 27 ISBN: 978-1-5011-3399-2
An exploration of what Ronald and Nancy Reagan thought of Top Gun, Ghostbusters, E.T., Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and other iconic movies.
In this sentimental but often revealing debut memoir, former Reagan spokesman and speechwriter Weinberg recalls his years with the first couple through the movies they screened for friends at Camp David. The Reagans were the first Hollywood couple to occupy the White House, and movies put them on familiar ground, especially when the president's own rosy view of America was beginning to take hold. Some, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first of the Indiana Jones movies, restored the rugged individualist to the screen and reminded Reagan--the eternal supporting player--of the roles he always lost to Errol Flynn. The Reagans wept along with the rest of the country over E.T., the poor alien who was forced to flee the planet to escape government interference. Others, like WarGames, made such an impression that the film made its way into speeches on the administration's missile defense program. "At one point," writes Weinberg, Reagan "put aside his notes and talked about WarGames and the dangers an inadvertent launch might pose to the United States. His concern, like the film itself, was dismissed by some in the room as far-fetched, even absurd." Saber-rattling entertainments like Top Gun, Red Dawn (a "stridently anti-Communist movie), and Rocky IV, which "coincided with the first real thaw in Soviet-American relations since well before President Reagan took office," echoed the administration's militarism and jingoistic approach to foreign policy. Sometimes, Weinberg seems to be compiling a brief in defense of his old boss--he's still a press flack at heart--but he also captures the personable nature of the Reagans and how they shifted and reflected the cultural landscape.
A readable, mostly enjoyable walk down Memory Lane.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Weinberg, Mark: MOVIE NIGHTS WITH THE REAGANS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A525461382/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=741a8442. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A525461382
QUOTED: "amiable political memoir."
"This book will serve as a welcome change from today's political climate."
Movie Nights with the Reagans: A Memoir
Publishers Weekly. 265.3 (Jan. 15, 2018): p53.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Movie Nights with the Reagans: A Memoir
Mark Weinberg. Simon & Schuster, $28 (272p) ISBN 978-1-5011-3399-2
This amiable political memoir recounts the movie nights hosted by President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan over weekends at Camp David. Former assistant press secretary Weinberg dedicates each chapter to a different screening, tying the films into aspects of Reagan's presidency or personal life. Titles discussed include such hits of the era as E. T. (screened soon after the inauguration of the Space Shuttle Program), Ferris Bueller's Day Off(which lifted the president's spirits after a stressful medical checkup), and Top Gun (which reflected growing esteem for the military after its post-Vietnam War fall from grace). Added to the mix are Reagan's own Knute Rockne All American and Hellcats of the Navy, the only film in which he and his wife appeared together. As a longtime Reagan staffer, Weinberg has plenty of admiring stories to share about Reagan's charm and leadership style, recalling how the president stood by him when the White House chief of staff tried to fire him. The author's recollections tend to be less than revelatory, but in general he paints an intimate, pleasant picture of the Reagan White House. For those equally enthused about movies and the 40th president, this book will serve as a welcome change from today's political climate. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Movie Nights with the Reagans: A Memoir." Publishers Weekly, 15 Jan. 2018, p. 53. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A523888935/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=eea59b9a. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A523888935
QUOTED: "This is a look at the Reagans that hadn't been offered before, and this is one that I could uniquely write. I went to Camp David with them more weekends than anyone else on the White House staff, saw more movies with them than anyone else, and I thought it was a side of them that should be shared. It was a fun side, a revealing side, an interesting side."
"When I met Mrs. Reagan for that final interview I found that she thought so, too. The influence of Hollywood, and the importance of Hollywood culture in America can't be understated, and the 1980s were extraordinarily exemplary of that."
'Movie Nights with the Reagans,' a new memoir
Asia Palomba
The Christian Science Monitor. (Mar. 3, 2018): News:
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 The Christian Science Publishing Society
http://www.csmonitor.com/About/The-Monitor-difference
Full Text:
Byline: Asia Palomba
As a spokesman, adviser, and speechwriter to former President Ronald Reagan, Mark Weinberg spent countless weekends with the Reagans at the Aspen lodge at Camp David where the pastime of choice was watching iconic movies from the 1980s. Mr. Weinberg, who has just released his memoir, "Movie Nights with the Reagans," gives readers a seat on the couch next the president and first lady as they laughed, cried, and were moved to action by some of Hollywood's most famous blockbusters.
The author spoke with the Monitor about his impressionable moments from those movie-watching days.
What do we need to know about President Reagan, as a person and a historical figure, and what does his choice of films to screen at the White House say about him?
The book takes the reader back to a nostalgic time in American history, and an important time in American history, and gives them a never before seen look at the Reagans at Camp David watching movies. It also shares their thoughts on these movies, it shares their thoughts on Hollywood and how it evolved over the years, it tells the readers how Hollywood influenced them and prepared them for their national leadership role, and it shares some interesting never before told anecdotes and insights, including my interview with Nancy Reagan for this book, which was the last interview that [she was] known to give.
Why did you decide to write about your experiences at Camp David now?
This is a look at the Reagans that hadn't been offered before, and this is one that I could uniquely write. I went to Camp David with them more weekends than anyone else on the White House staff, saw more movies with them than anyone else, and I thought it was a side of them that should be shared. It was a fun side, a revealing side, an interesting side. When I met Mrs. Reagan for that final interview I found that she thought so, too. The influence of Hollywood, and the importance of Hollywood culture in America can't be understated, and the 1980s were extraordinarily exemplary of that.
How did you come to be on the guest list for the Reagans' movie nights?
I was among a small group of staff that accompanied the Reagans to Camp David on the weekends. And I asked Mrs. Reagan, "how did movie nights come about?," and she said, "Well we were all here, it just seemed like the thing to do." The Reagans watched the movies in their lodge every Friday and Saturday night, that was one of their favorite forms of relaxation having come from the movie picture business, and they just thought it would be nice to include the people who had to be up there with them.
Why were movies so important to the Reagans?
They could sit on their couch, put up their feet, and just be themselves and spend a couple of hours enjoying a story. The movie business is where the Reagans met each other, it's where their lives together began. They understood the movie business, they felt tied to it, they were very proud of it. They also understood, too, that movies were a reflection of popular culture, and knowing what was out there in the theaters was important to the leaders of a nation.
Of all the more than 300 movies that you watched with the Reagans, which one was your favorite? Why?
My favorite was "Hellcats of the Navy" because it was the one they were both in. That was a golden oldie, and it was an extraordinary experience ... to watch the Reagans watch the Reagans. They had wonderful memories of that, and they shared those memories with the small group that was there after the movie what it was like to make the movie, what it was like to act together, and what they remember from the Hollywood days. It was interesting to hear their perspective on how Hollywood had changed, what it was doing right, what it was doing wrong, what they liked and what they didn't like.
How do you think President Reagan would have responded to the kinds of films that are blockbusters today? Would he have liked 'Black Panther'?
I don't know, he favored movies that were wholesome, that didn't have gratuitous sex or violence [and] that did not glamorize use of illegal drugs. There's a story in "Movie Nights" about how they felt about a movie that glamorized the use of illegal drugs, and that bothered them a lot. [That movie, "9 to 5," which features characters smoking marijuana, deeply upset the Reagans and prompted the first lady to launch her anti-drug campaign "Just Say No."] They liked movies that were entertaining, he would like movies that had someone to root for, [and] he certainly liked patriotic movies, so it depends. I think he would be bothered, generally, by the way Hollywood has moved away from wholesome movies and allowed its political agenda to sometimes influence what they're making. They both had a great respect and affection for the movie industry, and would be paying close attention.
How did Reagan feel about the Oscars?
Ronald Reagan was very fond of the movie industry, and very proud of it. He never hesitated to talk about the fond memories he had working in Hollywood. On one occasion, after he was president and we were in California, we were talking in his office about Hollywood has changed over the years and it was very rare note of disappointment in his voice. He said, "You would think that after what I've accomplished, being the only one of the movie business to have done so, you would think that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences would have acknowledged it in some way, perhaps even by an honorary Oscar. But I guess their political agenda has taken over good manners." He was a little wistful and it was clear his feelings were hurt by that and he felt a little bit snubbed.
And it occurred to me that he was right. Had any other president, [like] Mr. Clinton or Mr.Obama, had they come from movies, I'm sure the academy would have acknowledged that one of their own had ascended to presidency. Sunday night, we'll hear a lot of speeches and I'm sure many of them will be political, and it just reminded me ... of how Ronald Reagan felt about Hollywood and the Oscars. It would be nice for the academy to recognize what one of their own accomplished.
What did you learn from all those years of movie watching with the Reagans that has stayed with you today?
The greatest lesson from behind the scenes at Camp David is that the Reagans weren't who you thought they were. Through these anecdotes from Camp David and elsewhere, you'll find that they were nice, warm, and welcoming people with a sense of humor, and genuine appreciation for filmmaking, and [they were] people that treated others respectfully all the time.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Palomba, Asia. "'Movie Nights with the Reagans,' a new memoir." Christian Science Monitor, 3 Mar. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529679876/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e46749ae. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529679876
QUOTED: "Weinberg knows his subjects well, but there is a price to pay for his cozy insider access, including occasional lapses into fawning prose. ... But Weinberg largely succeeds in capturing a different time and a different president. ... Most of all, the nostalgia is palpable."
Settle in for the Reagans' 'Movie Nights'
David Holahan
USA Today. (Feb. 28, 2018): Lifestyle: p04D.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/
Full Text:
Byline: David Holahan, Special to USA TODAY
It's an apropos vehicle, to be sure: looking at the presidency of Ronald Reagan through the filtering lens of a movie projector. The president and first lady Nancy Reagan, both actors, loved to watch movies, new or old, whether they starred in them or not.
Nearly every weekend, most often at the presidential retreat at Camp David, the Reagans and invited staffers would gather for the movie of the week. Screenings included blockbusters of the 1980s, such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Top Gun, Rocky IV and Raiders of the Lost Ark. A few golden oldies made the cut as well, like Hellcats of the Navy, which starred the Reagans.
If edgier titles like Wall Street or Platoon were viewed, they are not included in Movie Nights With the Reagans: A Memoir (Simon & Schuster, 237pp., ***), a glossy chronicle by Mark Weinberg, who was a White House press aide throughout Reagan's two terms and was the former president's director of public affairs for two years after.
Movie Nights is a sentimental meander through a simpler time, which the author frames with his rose-colored viewfinder. He freely acknowledges being a fast friend and fan of the "Great Communicator" and his wife.
Each chapter features a viewed movie, sometimes two or three, and they are used to illustrate aspects of Reagan's reign. Return of the Jedi inspires an examination of Reagan's 1983 denunciation of the Soviet Union as "an evil empire," along with how he prosecuted the Cold War.
The author employs the office comedy 9 to 5 to illustrate his boss' belief in gender equality, pointing out that Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Weinberg also asserts that the president "was always a gentleman and had impeccable manners toward women." Talk about the good old days.
There are moments of insight and intimacy. The reader gets to know the Reagans better -- and politics aside, Weinberg makes them hard not to like. The couple clearly were devoted to each other, which is quite winning, and both cried at the end of E.T. On the geopolitical side of things, the specter of nuclear war haunted Reagan, and he worked tirelessly to make it less likely.
The contrasts with today are unavoidable. It was a time, the author points out, when a Republican president had friends across the aisle -- Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Tip O'Neill -- and they passed bipartisan bills together. Reagan didn't demonize or belittle his political opponents. Imagine that.
Weinberg knows his subjects well, but there is a price to pay for his cozy insider access, including occasional lapses into fawning prose: "Ronald Reagan liked many aspects of the Superman view of the world -- specifically, truth, justice, and the American Way " Good to know he wasn't pulling for Lex Luthor.
The author also can't shake his public-relations roots and bring himself to mention the Iran-Contra and savings and loan scandals or the Wall Street crash of 1987. He prefers to slime Ghostbusters by asserting that the phantasmagorical comedy makes a statement about government overreach (boo!).
But Weinberg largely succeeds in capturing a different time and a different president. Thankfully, he is not above trafficking in delicious Beltway gossip. But most of all, the nostalgia is palpable -- enough to make a diehard Democrat wistful.
CAPTION(S):
photo 1987 file photo by TIM DILLON/USA today
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Holahan, David. "Settle in for the Reagans' 'Movie Nights'." USA Today, 28 Feb. 2018, p. 04D. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529413918/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=59e76ffe. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529413918
QUOTED: "The Reagans were students of movies. When the movie was shown, they watched the movie. They didn't take their eyes from the screen, they didn't look around the room, they didn't do anything. They studied the movies."
"It was familiar and comfortable territory very fondly remembered. Watching movies was just something that they both enjoyed and was natural for them. The Reagans liked movies where there was somebody to root for and the president always said that's an important part of any film to be successful."
"I think it is important for political leaders to be in touch with popular culture. But it's even more important for presidents to take a deep breath on the weekends."
Movie night with the Reagans: a time to disconnect, recharge and be entertained; The Reagans were film buffs and watched 363 films mostly on weekends. The ritual is the subject of a memoir by a former aide
The Guardian (London, England). (Mar. 3, 2018): News:
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Guardian Newspapers. Guardian Newspapers Limited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian
Full Text:
Byline: David Smith in Washington
It was the cold war. Almost every weekend the American president's inner circle, including a military aide, a senior secret service agent and a Marine One pilot, gathered far from public view at Aspen Lodge. At the official "call time" of 8pm, a screen automatically lowered from the ceiling, the lights dimmed and a hush descended.
It was movie night with the Reagans.
Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, former Hollywood actors, watched 363 films in the eight years of his presidency, almost all on Friday and Saturday evenings at the Camp David retreat in Maryland. The ritual is the subject of an affectionate memoir by former Reagan aide Mark Weinberg, published just ahead of the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday, which offers a glimpse of the first couple's cultural tastes and an era when the news cycle was less frenetic and presidents were not glued to cable TV or smartphones.
Related: Oscars on edge: in a strange year for Hollywood, anything is up for grabs
"As it turns out, the Russians had the courtesy to leave president alone during movie nights," recalled Weinberg, who made more trips to Camp David and watched more movies with the Reagans there than any other White House staffer.
"The Reagans were students of movies. When the movie was shown, they watched the movie. They didn't take their eyes from the screen, they didn't look around the room, they didn't do anything. They studied the movies."
They enjoyed their share of Hollywood classics including Stagecoach, North by Northwest, Some Like it Hot, Singing in the Rain, Funny Girl, Rear Window, Vertigo, Showboat, To Catch a Thief, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The African Queen, The Magnificent Seven, Roman Holiday, Cabaret and The Searchers. They also revisited some of their own work including Bedtime for Bonzo and Knute Rockne, All American, which bequeathed Reagan's lasting nickname "the Gipper", as well as Hellcats of the Navy, the only picture in which they acted together.
But Weinberg's principal focus is the movies of the period: the 1980s. The president's diet included Big, Chariots of Fire, Educating Rita, Gandhi, Ghostbusters, On Golden Pond, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Sophie's Choice, Tootsie, The Untouchables and episodes of the Rocky, Superman, Star Trek and Star Wars sagas. He was moved by Steven Spielberg's ET, relished Top Gun's portrayal of military heroism and heeded the cold war warnings of War Games and Red Dawn. The viewing list does not include Oliver Stone's Wall Street, now seen by many as epitomising Reagan's "greed is good" decade.
"They watched movies up there to be entertained as much as anything else," said Weinberg, 60, who supplied smooth-centred chocolates to the viewing parties after doctors banned Reagan from eating nuts and seeds.
"It was familiar and comfortable territory very fondly remembered. Watching movies was just something that they both enjoyed and was natural for them. The Reagans liked movies where there was somebody to root for and the president always said that's an important part of any film to be successful."
The first film the divisive Republican president watched after taking office was Tribute; the second was Nine to Five, starring Jane Fonda (still unpopular with conservatives for her stand against the Vietnam war), Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. Reagan was angered by a scene in which the three women share revenge fantasies against their boss while smoking marijuana, which he found to be "a distasteful endorsement of pot smoking". Nancy Reagan even cited the scene during the launch of an anti-drug campaign that became known as "Just say no".
A particular favourite was Ferris Bueller's Day Off, in which the lead character, played by Matthew Broderick, fakes illness and plays truant for a day albeit in innocent fashion, visiting a museum and a parade rather than drinking, gambling or smoking.
Weinberg recalled: "It was just a purely entertaining movie, a good time, the kind of movie that the Reagans thought should be made because they did lament some of the changes in Hollywood over the years with gratuitous sex and violence that had become commonplace. They liked the more wholesome truly entertaining movies that you didn't have to worry about whether your kids saw."
Another Camp David hit was Back to the Future starring Michael J Fox as Marty McFly. But in one scene, McFly, who has time travelled to 1955, is asked by Doc Brown who is president in 1985. He replies: "Ronald Reagan." Doc follows up: "I suppose Jane Wyman is first lady?"
Weinberg writes in Movie Nights with the Reagans that it was only the second time in all his eight years of service that he heard the name of Reagan's first wife mentioned. "It felt as if the air had gone out of the Aspen Lodge. Something lingered in the room. A discomfort."
The Reagans were film buffs but both Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter watched more. Nixon's favourite film was Patton, about the second world war general George Patton; he watched the movie in the same week he ordered the secret war against Cambodia. Carter was the most prolific viewer of all, even though he only served one term. He held 480 screenings at the White House over the four years -- an average of one every three nights -- starting with All the President's Men.
Bill Clinton maintained the tradition, once confiding: "The best perk out in the White House is not Air Force One or Camp David or anything else. It's the wonderful movie theatre I get here, because people send me these movies all the time."
I think Reagan would probably be a little bit uncomfortable with some of the language and tone in Washington these days
Mark Weinberg
As for Donald Trump, he has said his favourite films include Citizen Kane, Goodfellas, The Godfather parts I and II, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Gone with the Wind, Sunset Boulevard and Bloodsport, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Weinberg, a former spokesman, adviser and speechwriter for Reagan, added: "I think it is important for political leaders to be in touch with popular culture. But it's even more important for presidents to take a deep breath on the weekends, relax and just kick back, put their feet up and watch a movie or two. It's a way of disconnecting from the pressures of the presidency and recharging a little bit."
Reagan came from Hollywood movies; Trump came from reality television. Weinberg mused: "As a politician he'd be very impressed with what President Trump accomplished in 2016. That's quite an achievement to have come from where he did and vanquished all those candidates and win the election. I think he'd be very intrigued by the idea of an outsider coming to Washington to shake things up and change the way the government serves the people."
But he added, tactfully: "They are men in different times with different styles. I think President Reagan would probably be a little bit uncomfortable with some of the language and tone in Washington these days."
Indeed, it is hard to know what the Reagans would have made of contemporary Hollywood. Dr Michael Cornfield, a political scientist at George Washington University in Washington, said: "I think Ronnie and Nancy would have enjoyed many of this year's Oscar nominated films.
"However, Call me by Your Name, Get Out, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards might have left them discomfited and mystified. And Black Panther? I can't even."
CAPTION(S):
Credit: Photograph: Harry Langdon/Getty Images
Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in a portrait in 1980. 'The Reagans were students of movies. They didn't take their eyes from the screen, they didn't look around the room, they didn't do anything. They studied the movies,' writes Mark Weinberg in his memoir.
Credit: Photograph: Harry Langdon/Getty Images
Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in a portrait in 1980. 'The Reagans were students of movies. They didn't take their eyes from the screen, they didn't look around the room, they didn't do anything. They studied the movies,' writes Mark Weinberg in his memoir.
Credit: Photograph: Harry Langdon/Getty Images
Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in a portrait in 1980. 'The Reagans were students of movies. They didn't take their eyes from the screen, they didn't look around the room, they didn't do anything. They studied the movies,' writes Mark Weinberg in his memoir.
Credit: Photograph: Harry Langdon/Getty Images
Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in a portrait in 1980. 'The Reagans were students of movies. They didn't take their eyes from the screen, they didn't look around the room, they didn't do anything. They studied the movies,' writes Mark Weinberg in his memoir.
Credit: Photograph: Harry Langdon/Getty Images
Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan in a portrait in 1980. 'The Reagans were students of movies. They didn't take their eyes from the screen, they didn't look around the room, they didn't do anything. They studied the movies,' writes Mark Weinberg in his memoir.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Movie night with the Reagans: a time to disconnect, recharge and be entertained; The Reagans were film buffs and watched 363 films mostly on weekends. The ritual is the subject of a memoir by a former aide." Guardian [London, England], 3 Mar. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529655244/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=16ec3065. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529655244
President Reagan announced Friday he is appointing Mark D....
UPI Archive: Washington News. (Aug. 14, 1987):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 1987 United Press International
http://www.upi.com/
Full Text:
WASHINGTON President Reagan announced Friday he is appointing Mark D. Weinberg, assistant press secretary, to be a special assistant to the president, making him a member of the senior staff.
Weinberg, 30, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, has been on the White House press staff since Reagan became president. The president personally informed Weinberg Thursday that he was being promoted.
Weinberg has mainly handled logistics and media coverage movements at the White House. He also accompanies the President and Mrs. Reagan on their weekend trips to Camp David as the press officer in charge.
He has been on all of the 'advance trips' to plan for presidential journeys abroad.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"President Reagan announced Friday he is appointing Mark D...." UPI Archive: Washington News, 14 Aug. 1987. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A445673336/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b9ddde79. Accessed 20 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A445673336
Charming new book has front-row seat with President and Nancy Reagan on 'movie night'
David Holahan, Special to USA TODAY Published 11:53 a.m. ET Feb. 26, 2018 | Updated 7:16 p.m. ET Feb. 26, 2018
636547486796747770-Movie-Nights-with-the-Reagans-JACKET.jpg
(Photo: Simon & Schuster)
CONNECTTWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE
It's an apropos vehicle, to be sure: looking at the presidency of Ronald Reagan through the filtering lens of a movie projector. The president and first lady Nancy Reagan, both actors, loved to watch movies, new or old, whether they starred in them or not.
Nearly every weekend, most often at the presidential retreat at Camp David, the Reagans and invited staffers would gather for the movie of the week. Screenings included blockbusters of the 1980s, such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Top Gun, Rocky IV and Raiders of the Lost Ark. A few golden oldies made the cut as well, like Hellcats of the Navy, which starred the Reagans.
If edgier titles like Wall Street or Platoon were viewed, they are not included in Movie Nights With the Reagans: A Memoir (Simon & Schuster, 237 pp., ★★★ out of four), a glossy chronicle by Mark Weinberg, who served as a White House press aide throughout Reagan’s two terms and as the former president’s director of public affairs for two years thereafter.
E.T. tries to phone home in a scene from 'E.T. The
E.T. tries to phone home in a scene from 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.' The Reagans were fans of the hit movie. (Photo: ILM/Universal Studios)
Movie Nights is a sentimental meander through a simpler time, which the author frames with his rose-colored viewfinder. He freely admits to being a fast friend and fan of the “Great Communicator” and his wife.
Each chapter features a viewed movie, sometimes two or three, and these are used to illustrate aspects of Reagan’s reign. For example, Return of the Jedi inspires an examination of Reagan’s 1983 denunciation of the Soviet Union as “an evil empire,” along with how he prosecuted the Cold War.
The author employs the office comedy 9 to 5 to illustrate his boss’ belief in gender equality, pointing out that Reagan nominated Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Weinberg also asserts that the president “was always a gentleman and had impeccable manners toward women.” Talk about the good old days.
There are moments of insight and intimacy. The reader gets to know the Reagans better — and politics aside, Weinberg makes them hard not to like. The first couple clearly were devoted to one another, which is quite winning, and both cried at the end of E.T. On the geopolitical side of things, the specter of nuclear war haunted Reagan and he worked tirelessly to make it less likely.
Author Mark Weinberg.
Author Mark Weinberg. (Photo: Peter Wallburg Studios)
The contrasts with today are unavoidable. It was a time, the author points out, when a Republican president had friends across the aisle — with Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Tip O’Neill — and they passed bipartisan bills together. Reagan didn’t demonize or belittle his political opponents. Imagine that.
Weinberg knows his subjects well, but there is a price to pay for his cozy insider access, including occasional lapses into fawning prose. He writes, “Ronald Reagan liked many aspects of the Superman view of the world — specifically, truth, justice, and the American Way …” Good to know he wasn’t pulling for Lex Luthor.
The author also can’t shake his public-relations roots and bring himself to mention the Iran-Contra and Savings and Loan scandals or the Wall Street crash of 1987. He prefers to slime Ghostbusters by asserting that the phantasmagorical comedy makes a statement about government overreach (boo!).
That said, Weinberg largely succeeds in capturing a different time and a different president. Thankfully, he is not above trafficking in delicious Beltway gossip. But most of all, the nostalgia is palpable — enough to make a diehard Democrat wistful.