Video: James Dean and Ronald Reagan, Circa 1954
The Atlantic has an exclusive report on some very cool recently unearthed footage from a TV episode featuring Ronald Reagan and James Dean acting together, unseen since 1954: Ronald Reagan and James Dean: Rare Video From 1954.
In the clip, Dean is a hopped up (and really dumb) teenage delinquent who breaks into the home of a doctor (Reagan) and forces him to treat an injured friend. The scene in which Reagan operates on the friend’s bullet wound is a classic, as Dean cranks up some wild jazz on the radio and starts jiving around like a crazed, armed beatnik.
(Hat tip: Atlantic deputy editor John Gould.)