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While Ronald Reagan will always be known as the 40th President of the United States, before entering politics, he had a successful career as a Hollywood star. With acclaimed roles in dramas, war movies, and Westerns, Reagans impressive entertainment career showcased him as a heroic leading man and likely influenced the American public's desire for him to then act as the countrys commander-in-chief. While Reagan has continued to remain a prominent figure on the big screen, such as through Dennis Quiads performance in the 2024 biopic exploring his presidency, looking back on his movies, several great roles stand out.

Although many actors have played Reagan in movies and TV shows, the former president himself has also portrayed some truly iconic characters. Reagan's Hollywood career was categorized by variety as he portrayed everything from real-life football legend George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American to the chimpanzee teaching psychologist Peter Boyd in Bedtime for Bonzo.

Minimalist 'Z' monster movies really took off in the 1950s, earning good money on tiny outlays of time, money, and sometimes talent. Dan Milner's directing is competent, to be kind, but the 'nothing happens' script is a sure-fire soporific -- Roger Corman surely didn't worry about the competition. The good news is Richard Harland Smith's commentary, which delivers more illuminating info on this show than we thought existed. The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1956 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date January 5, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Kent Taylor, Cathy Downs, Michael Whalen, Helene Stanton, Phillip Pine, Rodney Bell, Vivi Janiss, Michael Garth, Pierce Lyden . Cinematography Brydon Baker Film Editor Dan Milner Original Music Ronald Stein Written by Lou Rusoff, Dorys Lukather Produced by Jack Milner Directed by Dan Milner

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

In his trailer commentary for The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues, Joe Dante remarks that...