Brief Description
Explores the relationship between the motion picture industry and American politics.
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Ronald Reagan in Hollywood explores the relationship between the motion picture industry and American politics through the prism of Reagan's film career at Warner Brothers. During the Depression, World War II, and the early Cold War era, the film industry served as a grand, world-wide propaganda base, using movies to influence attitudes about patriotism, national defense, communism, the welfare state, race, sex, and civil liberties. Ronald Reagan thrived in this environment. During his years in Hollywood from 1937 to 1952, he formed many of the ideas that were later carried into his presidency. Not merely a star, Reagan also became an articulate industry spokesperson and skilled propagandist, playing an important role in the battle of the world today to capture the minds of humanity in the struggle against communism. By the time he left Warner Brothers in 1952, Reagan had abandoned his New Deal liberalism and had become a militant anticommunist. Based on hundreds of interviews (including some with President Reagan), formerly secret FBI files, and archival materials,
On the Back Cover
Ronald Reagan in Hollywood explores the relationship between the motion picture industry and American politics through the prism of Reagan's film career at Warner Bros. During the Great Depression, World War II, and the postwar era, the Hollywood film industry served as a "grand, worldwide propaganda base" for those who wanted to use movies to influence attitudes about patriotism, national defense, communism, the welfare state, race, sex, and civil liberties. Reagan thrived in this environment. During his years in Hollywood, from 1937 to 1952, he formed many of the ideas that he later carried into his presidency. Not merely a star, Reagan simultaneously became an articulate industry spokesperson and skilled propagandist, playing an important role in "the battle to capture the minds" of humanity in the struggle against communism. By the time he left Warner Bros, in 1952, Reagan has abandoned his New Deal liberalism and had become a militant anticommunist. Based on interviews with President Reagan and others, formerly secret FBI files, and material from more than 150 archival collection, Ronald Reagan in Hollywood is the most comprehensive book on the subject, providing an incisive analysis of Reagan's important formative years.
Review Quotes
1. ..".the most comprehensive study of Reagan's early life and Hollywood career that we are likely to have for some time." Clayton R. Koppes, Reviews in American History
2. 'Anyone in doubt that motion pictures influence society will find ample food for thought in this incisive examination of how Hollywood 'turned dreams into reality.' Empire
3. ?Anyone in doubt that motion pictures influence society will find ample food for thought in this incisive examination of how Hollywood ?turned dreams into reality.? Empire
4. ???Anyone in doubt that motion pictures influence society will find ample food for thought in this incisive examination of how Hollywood ???turned dreams into reality.??? Empire
