#movie nights with the reagans
Movie Nights with The Reagans is a memoir authored by former special advisor and press secretary to President Ronald Reagan, Mark Weinberg.
I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t normally choose a biography of Ronald Reagan to put on my ever-growing queue of books to read. But the hook that got my interest was the clever way this book was put together. Each chapter is devoted to a movie that the author watched with the Reagans at Camp David during movie nights. We not only get to read what the Reagans thought of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but we get a glimpse into what was going on in the White House (and, in the world) the week prior to the weekend spent at Camp David. As a classic movie fan who came of age during the Reagan years, this was right up my alley.
Make no mistake, this is a sort of love letter to the Reagans by Mark. He makes it very clear early on how much he adores them, and loved working with them. You won’t find anything in this book other than feel-good memories, and you know what? This is a good thing. It’s wonderful to read a book written by someone who loves the people they are writing about, and spent a great deal of time with them, without making them into saints. Most importantly to Mark, though, was that Nancy Reagan approved of him writing this book. In a letter to him, she wrote that she was delighted that he was writing about Camp David, and “just thinking about those days brings back such happy memories.”
Most of the movies screened in the Aspen Lodge at Camp David were new releases, some just out a week or two. However, the Reagans also screened Ronald Reagan’s movies, and a point which he made sure to make was “they [the invited staff] were the ones who asked for this!” I especially loved the chapter on Knute Rockne All American – I’m a big fan of Pat O’Brien, and thought Reagan was (as mostly everyone else did) really wonderful in the role of George Gipp, aka the Gipper (a nickname Reagan himself would be called for the remainder of his life). I do wish, though, that Kings Row would have been included in this book! It’s my favorite movie of Reagan’s, and I would have loved to have heard his thoughts on working with Robert Cummings, Claude Rains, Charles Coburn and Ann Sheridan.
There are no real surprises in this book, no big revelations. It’s simply a memoir of pleasant weekends spent eating popcorn and watching movies with his boss, who also happened to the be the leader of the free world. It’s a quick, enjoyable read and I loved getting to know the Reagans a little bit better through their movie nights at Camp David.
