Quick, which former President had experience with anthrax?
see below
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October 21, 2001 -- Anthrax aided Reagan
AT least one former American president has knowledge of anthrax and how to cope with it. Way back in 1947, Ronald Reagan made a movie about the dread virus - and it saved his screen career.
"Stallion Road" featured young Ronnie as a brave veterinarian in post-World War II California trying to convince an indifferent population that their livestock herds were being killed by a mystery disease called anthrax.
He fought the epidemic - with only the brave and busty Alexis Smith and rival suitor Zachary Scott at his side - while the folks around them wondered what all the fuss was about.
(In those innocent days, no one imagined anthrax as a weapon of terrorism to use against humans, but some did think the disease was being used as a metaphor for what would, 40 years later, become Reagan's "Evil Empire.")
Until "Stallion Road," the future president had been playing Joe College roles and his career was beginning to falter. But the part of the uncompromising vet brought him fresh Hollywood attention, and he began getting more credible parts. (OK, the "Bonzo" series wasn't exactly cinema verité, but it was wildly successful.)
"Stallion Road" wasn't such a career booster for another big name, however. The great Southern novelist William Faulkner wrote the original script but was denied a screen credit because the studio hacks had made so many changes. Faulkner was disgusted at his treatment and never wrote for Hollywood again - their loss and literature's gain.
nypost.com |
