The Reagan Show
Made up entirely of archival news and White House footage, this documentary captures the pageantry, absurdity, and mastery of the made-for-TV politics of Ronald Reagan.
8 February 1940, Lancashire, England, UK
12 October 1947, Chicago, Illinois, USA
August 30, 1917 in Mottingham, Kent, England, UK
13 October 1925, Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, UK
25 September 1929, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
5 April 1937, New York City, New York, USA
23 September 1933, Golden Acres, Texas, USA
12 June 1924, Milton, Massachusetts, USA
21 May 1952, Chicago, Illinois, USA
9 May 1942, Durham, North Carolina, USA
20 November 1942, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA
6 July 1921, New York City, New York, USA
6 February 1940, Webster, South Dakota, USA
13 December 1920, New York City, New York, USA
4 November 1916, St. Joseph, Missouri, USA
November 15, 1925 in Huntsville, Tennessee, USA
2 March 1931, Privolnoye, North Caucasus Krai, Russian SFSR, USSR [now Stavropol Krai, Russia]
11 March 1934, El Paso, Texas, USA
2 November 1938, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
29 August 1958, Gary, Indiana, USA
6 February 1911, Tampico, Illinois, USA
January 14, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois, USA
October 06, 2017
The Reagan Show will offer a peculiarly potent hit of nostalgia and cultural cringe.October 05, 2017
While noble in its cause, the documentary's theme fails to materialize, and there are several glaring omissions...October 05, 2017
This wry documentary focuses on the original entertainer-turned-president and his box of showbiz tricks.October 08, 2017
Uncritical, infatuated with Reagan's charisma rather than searching for the chinks in his armour, the film's lively score keeping things balefully light.June 29, 2017
"The Reagan Show" helps attach a face to the name, but it doesn't accomplish much more than that.October 09, 2017
The fact that Ronald Reagan's administration was big on PR and presentation is hardly news, and, though this documentary made up of television footage from the period claims to focus on that aspect of the presidency, it doesn't dig deep.June 29, 2017
It's like a time capsule prologue to today's world, no more prescient than when a 1988 Reagan lets on to David Brinkley with exit-interview folksiness that he often wondered "how you could do the job if you hadn't been an actor."July 06, 2017
It's a glib and scattered exposé, the sort of ersatz thesis film that invites you to chuckle at the sight of Reagan doing multiple takes of a campaign commercial while flubbing the name "Sununu" over and over again.October 08, 2017
Interesting enough but not especially insightful or revealing.June 30, 2017
At a time when sharp ideological stances are annoyingly ubiquitous, this film's lack of one is refreshing.June 28, 2017
Rather than reveal a showman, The Reagan Show in the end imitates one.September 25, 2017
... a provocative and amusing look at President Ronald Reagan's use of television to sell economic plans, missile treaties and, mostly, himself.