and they brought their customs, their culture to this community and said, this is our africatown. >> this weekend on c-span3. >> from the late 1970's to the 1980's, variety club international hosted an annual televised tribute to a hollywood celebrity who contributed to children's charity. honorees included lucille ball, john wayne frank sinatra, , ingrid bergman, and carol burnett. next on "reel america," from 1985, "all star party for ronald "dutch" reagan." hosted by frank sinatra, the program of song, comedy, and tributes includes nancy reagan, dean martin, charlton heston, burt reynolds, ben vereen, steve lawrence, and eydie gorme, and variety clubs international chairman monty hall.

♪ host: welcome to our all-star party for dutch reagan. speaking for variety clubs, monty hall. [applause] monty: thank you very much. good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the variety clubs all-star party. join me in welcoming a lady that we love, formerly appearing in motion pictures, and now in a supporting role in a major production back east, mrs. dutch reagan. [applause] ♪

monty: and now, will you kindly join me in welcoming a man whom we greet tonight as friend, a very special friend close to our hearts, mr. dutch reagan. ♪ [applause] ["hail to the chief" being played] ♪ [applause] pres. reagan: thank you. hello. how are you? [applause] ♪ monty: could you sit down? pres. reagan: [laughs] monty: nancy and dutch, your host for the evening, 1983

variety club honoree, truly his brother's keeper, francis albert sinatra. [applause] ♪ frank: you may be seated. [laughter] frank: i am delighted to be here with dutch and his bride, the first lady of the united states, and might i add, the first lady of geneva, too. [applause] frank: and now, here are some wonderful people who will be entertaining you for the next hour. you have already met monty. and here are charlton heston -- [applause] frank: eydie gorme -- [applause] frank: and steve lawrence, of

course. [applause] frank: emmanuel lewis, the mightiest little fellow i have ever known in my life -- [applause] frank: and my buddy, mr. dean martin. i did not mean to wake you, pal. [applause] frank: and that little rascal, mr. burt reynolds. [applause] frank: mr. vincent scully, a giant in the baseball world. [applause] frank: mr. ben vereen. hello, ben. [applause] frank: and the variety club orchestra, so lovingly conducted for many years by our dear friend, nelson riddle, tonight, under the direction of mr. nick perito. [applause] ♪ host: welcome to our "all-star party for dutch reagan." ♪ [inaudible] [laughter] ♪ frank: the music says it all,

ladies and gentlemen. this is a lovely way to spend an evening. tonight marks a very special celebration for variety club. we started out by honoring the big duke, john wayne, and here we are honoring duke's pal, dutch. tonight we honor the only man from our community who ever wound up living in public housing. [laughter] from our community who ever frank: and for tonight's guests, i am happy to say, the rules of protocol have been relaxed. tonight, he is dutch. and if anyone can't handle that, you can call him mr. dutch. and that's ok. [laughter] frank: as for nancy, do as i do. call her "beautiful." [applause] frank: by the way, dutch, you've got a lot of friends here tonight. some of the white house press corps, who will be served their favorite meal, leak soup. [laughter] frank: i insisted upon having that joke instead of somebody else reading it.

dutch did a lot of work in our community. good work. all in all, he made 53 motion pictures. he started in 1937 with "love is in the air." he made his last picture, "the killers," in 1964. and in between, there were some great ones, "dark victory," "brother rat," "kings row," "hellcats of the navy," with his beloved nancy, then "the hasty heart," and my favorite of all times, playing george gipp in "knute rockne, all-american." [applause] ♪ frank: and a christmas card for you, nancy and dutch. of course, not too far off from now. [sinatra sings "have yourself a merry little christmas"] frank: ♪ have yourself a merry little christmas [applause] your heart delight

from now on, your troubles will be out of sight ♪ [choir vocalizing] frank: ♪ have yourself a merry little christmas make the yuletide gay ♪ >> ♪ make the yuletide gay frank: ♪ from now on our troubles will be miles away ♪ [choir vocalizing] frank: ♪ here we are, as in olden days happy golden days of yore faithful friends who are dear to us gather near to us once more through the years we all will be together

if the fates allow hang a shining star upon the highest bough and have yourself a merry little christmas now ♪ >> ♪ here we are as in olden days happy golden days of yore faithful friends who are dear to us will be near to us once more ♪ frank: ♪ so have yourself a merry little christmas

make that yuletide gay from now on our troubles will be miles away ♪ [choir vocalizing] frank: ♪ so have yourself a merry little christmas now ♪ [applause] frank: thank you very much. thank you, to the choir. [applause] frank: here is a man whose mastery of the english language is second only to tom lasorda's. [laughter] frank: the wonderful vinny scully. [applause]

vin: i cannot tell you the feeling that comes over me, standing right here as i am, face to face with one of those chosen few men in history who know from personal experience the glory, the frustrations, and yes, the sometimes agony that all too often go along as the price of the high office that you sought and to which you were duly elected and reelected, the president of the screen actors guild. [laughter] [applause] vin: all of us in the sports broadcasting business today feel a special bond for you, mr. dutch. after all, you were a member of the club. indeed, you were. you spent five years on radio station w.h.o. in des moines,

re-creating chicago cubs games. in fact, i remember you told me a cute story about that, oh, a couple of years ago. it was a wonderful story. now, i would love to tell the story myself, but i know it would not be nearly as good. and i just have a feeling that somebody in this room, somebody -- laughter] vin: might really tell the story the way it should be told. [laughter] vin: i don't see any volunteers, so it looks like it is down to you and me, dutch. what do you say? what do you say? [laughter] [applause] pres. reagan: well -- [laughter] pres. reagan: could i set the stage for just a second and explain that when you did a baseball game by telegraphic report, that meant that you were

not at the ballpark looking at the game. you were sitting at a studio desk, with the microphone in front of you, and a glass window here, and a little slit under it, and there was a fellow on the other side of that window with the telegraph key, hearing those dots and dashes, and then he would type and send a slip of paper through to you, and you would take it, and it would say maybe "s-1-c." well, you cannot sell many wheaties yelling, "s-1-c." [laughter] pres. reagan: so you would say, "dean comes out of the wind-up, here comes the pitch, and it is a called strike, breaking over the outside corner to a fellow that --" [laughter] [applause] pres. reagan: well, this particular story that i have been dragooned into telling -- [laughter] pres. reagan: happened at a cubs and cardinals game, which in the midwest is really drama. it was the ninth inning, the score tied, and billy jurges at the plate, and i saw my friend curly on the other side of the window start to type, and so, i

had dean start his wind-up, and i had a ball on the way to the plate, and curly was shaking his head "no," and i thought it must be something sensational that has happened there, and he handed me the slip of paper that said, "the wire has gone dead." [laughter] pres. reagan: well, i had a ball on the way to the plate. [laughter] pres. reagan: and there's only one thing you can do that won't get in the record, so i had jurges fowl one off down to the left. [laughter] pres. reagan: and i looked, and curly just shrugged, and i thought -- you know, in those days, you didn't have an announcer for a team, for the game. there would be half a dozen of us on different stations doing that same game, so i knew that if i suddenly said there is going to be a delay, and we do not know what is going on at wrigley field, everybody would switch to another station. so i took a chance, and i had jurges foul one over back at first base. [laughter] pres. reagan: and curly is still sitting, slumped there, waiting. so then i had him follow one

-- fowl one down to the left that just missed being a homerun by a foot. [laughter] pres. reagan: then he fouled one back into the stands, and i described the fight the two kids put up who tried to get the ball. [laughter] pres. reagan: and this went on until i was beginning to set, if there is such a thing, a world record for a fellow standing at the plate hitting successive foul balls. [laughter] pres. reagan: and i knew that i had to keep on. if i now said the wire has gone dead, they would know i had been faking on all these foul balls, so i had him foul in a few more directions. in the meantime, i had dizzy dean on the mound, stepping back and using the rosin bag and shaking off the sign and getting another sign so it would take up time, and all of a sudden curly sat up straight and started to type, and i thought, "here we go." and he handed me the slip of paper, and i started to giggle. it said, jurges popped out on the first ball pitched. [laughter] [applause]

frank: there is another first for this evening. to introduce a man who doesn't even know he is here. [laughter] frank: mr. dean martin. [applause] ♪ dean: where is burt? [laughter] dean: burt, it is a pleasure to be here for your dinner tonight. [laughter] frank: listen, dingdong, we honored him four years ago. dean: [laughs] so i made a mistake. [laughter] dean: and this is for you, clutch. [laughter]

dean: are you kidding? ronnie and me -- i call him "ronnie," he calls me "deanie." [laughter] dean: but we sat down -- you know, in 1988, you are going to be out of work, but i will still be drunk. [laughter] dean: where is my accompanist? not only is he my accompanist, he plays piano for me too. ♪ dean: how did you get this out here? ♪ may i state, it's been great and a night like this, few people wait but i must admit in all honesty

mr. wonderful, that's me ♪ [laughter] dean: ♪ where i go, i suppose they'd get hammy if they heard such bravo but i must admit in all modesty, mr. wonderful, still me ♪ [laughter] dean: ♪ i drink a toast to him each night, as you might think, not 'cause i wish him well but 'cause i love to drink ♪ [laughter] dean: ♪ so you all, in this fine hall

raise a glass to the champ of them all here's to dutch and his nancy, too mr. wonderful ♪ yeah, mr. wonderful mr. wonderful, that's you ♪ [applause] 1981 variety club

honoree, mr. burt reynolds. i look at that center table and i would really not want your job. i do not think any of us here have to worry about that. [applause] >> hello nancy. .ello, dutch i played football at florida state at eureka. florida state is going to the gator bowl. i made four westerns and dutch made four westerns.

santa fe, 1940. montana, 1955. i was going to do a remake of the queen of montana, but they wanted me to play the title role. in the early 1950's, dutch went into television. he parlayed two television series into a lot better jobs. parlayed it to terrible television series into another television series. he then put in eight years at the branch office in sacramento before being called to the headquarters back east, where he works today.

and i think we should thank god for that. [applause] ok. ladies and gentlemen, to very gifted and talented young men, emmanuel lewis and ben vereen. hooray for hollywood, where you are terrific if you're even good do you think you can be an actor. and hollywood ♪

♪lywood hooray for hollywood ♪

>> how are you doing, dutch? cannot believe i'm calling the president dutch. >> how are you? >> fine. i want to thank you for doing us.all you have done for thank you. ben: hear, hear! [applause] ben: dutch, nancy -- rather,

beautiful. here are some of those kids from the international children's choir. they are from 50 nations, and they are here to wish you, and all of us wish to wish you -- both: peace on earth. ben: god bless you. ♪ [children's choir singing] ♪ >> ♪ peace on earth let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me let there be peace on earth the peace that was meant to be with god as our father brothers all are we let me walk with my brother

in perfect harmony let peace begin with me let this be the moment now with ev'ry step i take let this be my solemn vow to take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me ♪

[applause] pres. reagan: beautiful. just beautiful. and thank you all. a wonderful message. thank you all. you know something? how would you like to take a i trip with me to geneva? [laughter] pres. reagan: i think you could do the job. you really could. thank you. god bless you all. [applause] ♪ frank: a medley of love songs, love songs to america, and write the history of this night, and here are two of the happiest kids in town, steve and eydie. [applause] ♪

>> ♪ america is a song that cannot remain unsung she is an urgent word that wants to be heard she is a bell that wants to be rung ♪ steve: ♪ she is a heart that beats with joy and hope ♪ eydie: ♪ she is a cup that must be filled ♪ >> ♪ you can hear her principal spirits -- an irrepressible spirit. it is the precious song of freedom, and it is thundering across the sky america is changing back to what she used to be, a feeling through and through that is wild and fresh and free

deep celebrate her spirit down inside glory, glory, hallelujah america, me and you glory, glory, hallelujah light the torch of liberty america, beloved by you and me ♪ >> ♪ america steve: ♪ i am a yankee doodle dandy a yankee doodle do or die a real-life nephew of my uncle sam born on the fourth of july ♪

eydie: ♪ i'm his yankee doodle sweetheart he's my yankee doodle boy ♪ >> ♪ yankee doodle went to london just to ride a pony ♪ >> ♪ i am that yankee doodle boy ♪ hooray for the red white and blue columbia, we love you >> ♪ this is my country lando my birth. you're a grand old flag, you're a high flying flag you're the emblem of the land i love the home of the free end the brave america america this land is your land this land is my land from california to the new york island from the redwood forests to the

gulfstream waters this land was made for you and me america, i love you o beautiful, for spacious skies for amber waves of grain for purple mountains' majesty upon the fruited plain america, america

god shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea ♪ [applause] ♪ from the mountains, to the prairies to the ocean white with foam god bless america my home sweet home god bless america

my home sweet home ♪ [applause] steve: thank you very much. congratulations. eydie: we love you. [indiscernible] frank: every hour of life has its own moment of truth, and who better to call it to our attention than the man who parted the red sea? [laughter] frank: chuck heston. [applause] charleton: you know, when i got here tonight, i wasn't sure what to expect but a great party,

variety club kind of guarantees that. for the president and first lady on a first name basis is a great idea, just like the old days. at the screen actors guild, it wasn't dutch, it was ron or ronnie to the old hands. i was new on the board then. we were in the middle of a tough strike, and he appointed me to the negotiating team. i remember coming home late one night after a long session, 4:00 a.m. olivia woke up. "honey," i said, "we have got a leader." yeah, you could say that. [applause] charlton: that is what i was thinking about when i watched the two of them come into the room tonight, but they walk a road now that we can't possibly know, and they walk it for us.

a little less than five years ago in washington, at ceremonies marking his first inauguration, i said "tomorrow at high noon on the steps of the capital, one man will take in his hand the most awesome power and influence ever held by a single human being. he will be thenceforth forever wrapped in legend and myth. he will also pick up a burden of responsibility that has no known counterpart in the civilized world. ronald reagan will become the lineal descendent of washington and adams, jefferson and jackson, lincoln, wilson, roosevelt. with them he will be linked to the very birth date of this republic," and so he has. so he has. [applause]

charlton: so here we are tonight, his friends. we watch him laugh, we see nancy's foot tap to the music, but we know, sir, you are us. to the world, you are america. your "yes" is our yes, your "no" is ours. you are every man and woman in this nation. you speak to mankind in our name. you carry the torch that was flamed by patrick henry's passion for liberty, tom payne's common sense, and tom jefferson's uncommon wisdom, lifted by the memory of those soldiers known and unknown whose bodies, in your words, "lie in the only foreign soil this country occupies." the president, what do we pray for him, what do we wish from him? and for him?

what can he pledge to us, what can we say to help him? american writers have spoken eloquently to this question, among them thomas wolfe, william faulkner, f scott fitzgerald, have said it is a fabulous country, the only fabulous country where miracles can happen all the time. i refuse to accept the end of man. he will prevail because, alone among all creatures, he has a soul, spirit capable of compassion and endurance and sacrifice. in this country, there is a willingness of the heart. and as you lead us into the uncertain, beleaguered future and in a broad swell between those shining seas, let me say for all of us, mr. president, in

the words of a song you will remember, "god shed his grace on thee." [applause] ♪ frank: once again, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce the international chairman of variety club international, mr. monty hall. monty: dutch, i feel funny saying "dutch." >> it feels strange, i must say. monty: for allowing variety clubs international to televise this party in your honor, you join our humanitarian hall of fame. at earlier parties, we added facilities to hospitals

dedicated to john wayne in miami, elizabeth taylor on fifth avenue hospital, jimmy stewart in our minnesota hospital, ingrid bergman in our des moines hospital, jack lemmon in our buffalo children's hospital, burt reynolds at the hospital for children in atlanta, carol burnett here in the ucla medical center in los angeles, the sinatra family waiting for the chronically ear -- chronically ill at the seattle children's medical center and last year, the lucille ball research library at the barbara davis juvenile diabetes hospital in denver. i hasten to remind you that all of these hospital units are dedicated to the care of of sick and underprivileged and handicapped children, without regard to race, religion, or the family's ability to pay. [applause] monty: and now, before we announce tonight's dedication, let's make our guest, former eureka college football hero, feel at home. here is the fight song of the

red devils, "oskee wow-wow." ♪ ["oskee wow-wow" being sung] [applause] monty: and for your old alma mater song, "'neath the elms," would you join us, dutch? ♪

[applause] monty: dutch, you have been a friend of variety clubs for many, many years now, helping on -- our honorees, and i am sure nancy has told you her work as honorary chairperson of variety lifeline, which provides surgery for children with life-threatening illnesses around the world, and for that we are eternally grateful. thank you, nancy. [applause] money: and now to you, sir, ronald wilson reagan, born and raised in midwestern america, the heartland of our nation. tonight you return to midwestern america if not in body, certainly in spirit. we are proud to announce the ronald reagan wing, which will be dedicated in your honor at the university of nebraska medical center in omaha, nebraska. [applause]

monty: now ladies and gentlemen, i give you our friend, dutch. [applause] pres. reagan: well -- [laughter] pres. reagan: it is good to be "dutch" again. and it is wonderful to be surrounded by so many fine and talented friends. to paraphrase jack kennedy, there hasn't been so much talent assembled in one room since, well, since last time that monty hall hosted "let's make a deal." [laughter] pres. reagan: seriously, nancy and i have watched these parties over the years, and we are thrilled to be part of the good work of variety clubs international. something lucy said last year applies to the way i feel now.

let's see if i can quote her accurately. "to those of you who said such nice things about me tonight, i just wish you were all under oath." [laughter] pres. reagan: i wish you were all members of congress. [laughter] [applause] pres. reagan: you know, when i started in my present job, i would sometimes put together in my mind my own dream cabinet, you know, john wayne as secretary of state, clint eastwood at defense -- [laughter] pres. reagan: jack benny as secretary of treasury, groucho marx at education. [laughter] pres. reagan: but even presidents can't have everything, except tonight. tonight, all of you here, well, you have really made my day.

[laughter] pres. reagan: as for all of you who were so generous in sharing your talents tonight, will you please stand up, so that i can applaud you all once more? come on. [applause] pres. reagan: thank you. and frank, old blue eyes, as always, you have been the perfect host. your voice rings just as pure and clear as ever, for all of us guys and dolls who are still young at heart. speaking of music, steve and eydie, i like the songs you sang, not a clinker in the bunch. [laughter] pres. reagan: and dean martin, there you go again. [laughter] pres. reagan: dean, i am thrilled that you were able to be here tonight for burt reynolds' party. sometime if they have a party

for nancy and me, i hope you can make that one, too. vin scully, you brought back a lot of happy memories. monty hall, the voice of variety clubs, thank you for your for your presentation. mike, you share those words of gratitude. everybody knows how devoted you are to variety. [applause] pres. reagan: ben vereen, you have danced your way into america's heart. and emmanuel lewis, we should never lose sight of what you said -- wait a minute -- even if we sometimes lose sight of you. [laughter] [applause] pres. reagan: there you are, manny. and that was a lovely sentiment that was expressed by the international children's choir. [applause] pres. reagan: chuck heston, i

knew you had leadership qualities when i saw you play moses. [laughter] pres. reagan: you were eloquent and gracious in your remarks about me. that guard on eureka varsity, thank you. to all of you associated with the good work of variety, you have our eternal gratitude for arranging this party. for all the work you have done in your half a century of giving and caring, for those who need it the most, the innocent children of the world. having my name associated with your good work at the university of nebraska medical center will always have a special place in my heart, and i thank you all, very much. >> bravo. [applause] pres. reagan: and now, speaking for nancy as well as myself, to all of you here and to all americans everywhere, paraphrasing something that moses said earlier, god shed his

grace on each of thee. thank you. [applause] ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] ♪ frank: for nancy and dutch, step once more into history and go with our prayers and a song, a song that says it all. may we have a bell tone, please? [bell rings] >> ♪ should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?

should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne? for auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne we'll take a cup o' kindness yet for auld lang syne ♪ [applause] ♪

>> production assistance furnished by pan-american world airways. ♪ [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> this is american history tv

on c-span3, where each weekend we feature 40 hours of programs exploring our nations past. >> the presidents from public affairs now available in paperback and e-book. of everybiographies president organized by ranking i noted historians from best to worst and features perspectives into our nation's chief executives and leadership. styles.

visit c-span.org/presidents to learn each -- learn more about each president and features. >> up next on the civil war, gettysburg national military park ranger angie atkinson talks about the formation and combat experience of the union army's irish brigade. she regards -- describes the standing of irish immigrants in american society before the war. and it's battlefield action from first manassas through gettysburg. recorded in 2014. everybody.o welcome what we are going to look at tonight is a popular unit here at gettysburg and other battlefields like antietam and fredericksburg. we will not look at all the technical fighting, but the history of how they came about.