I will cheerily admit to being caught flat-footed by this delightful clip featuring Ronald Reagan in a World War II behind-enemy-lines caper.
Watching RR twinkle through bafflegab at the expense of a humorless German interrogator, I gained a better appreciation for just how maddening an opponent he would be in debate — worse, actually, than fabled duelist William F. Buckley.
Why?
Buckley’s debating opponent (and the debate audience) expected and received no quarter, sharp argument, quick exploitation of weakness — Buckley would hamstring an opponent with a wink and a smile.
Reagan appears a game fellow, up for a match even if the other guy’s so darned much better that he’s doing Reagan a favor to let him play. But it’s the other guy who always seems to end up on his tail pipe wondering what happened.
Heck, I didn’t even know that RR starred in a movie with Errol Flynn. (Look closely at the other soldiers, and you’ll see Little John from Robin Hood stealing the interrogator’s lunch.)
(Hat tip: John Nolte at Big Hollywood.)
Tags: errol flynn, Movies, robin hood, ronald reagan
