Between Two Worlds

In 1980, Hollywood--with a little help from the Republican Party--sent actor Ronald Reagan (“Knute Rockne--All American,” “The Hasty Heart,” “King’s Row”) to the White House. The Great Communicator has, in turn, often relied on Hollywood shorthand to address the world. “Many years ago, in one of the four wars in my lifetime, an admiral stood on the bridge of a carrier watching the planes take off and out into the darkness, bent on a night combat mission, and then found himself asking, with no one there to answer, just himself to hear his own voice, he said, ‘Where do we find such men?’ ”

--At Normandy for the 40th anniversary of D-Day, recalling a scene that took place in the movie “The Bridges at Toko-Ri . “ “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green!”

--As a presidential candidate in 1980, protesting an attempt to shut off his microphone during a New Hampshire debate by quoting a line from Spencer Tracy in the movie “State of the Union.” “I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead and make my day.”

--Addressing Congress, quoting Clint Eastwood from his movie “Sudden Impact.” “The force is with us.”

-- Defending his Strategic Defense Initiative by quoting from the movie “Star Wars.” “I urge you to beware the temptation of pride--the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire.”

-- Referring to the Soviets, at a convention of Protestant evangelicals, quoting, again, from “Star Wars.” “Where we’re going, there are no roads.”

-- From the movie “Back to the Future,” in his 1986 State of the Union message. “Win this one for the Gipper.”

-- Asking for support by echoing a line he spoke in the movie “Knute Rockne--All American . “