In "Knute Rockne, All American (1940)," Ronald Reagan portrays a young football star named George Gipp from Notre Dame who dies of pneumonia. Gipp's dying words to his coach, Knute Rockne, are, "Someday, when things are tough, maybe you can ask the boys to go in there and win just one for the Gipper."

Yes, this is the movie that coined the famous phrase "Win one for the Gipper," even though it is actually "Win just one for the Gipper," but movie lines always seem to get a little distorted.

"Knute Rockne" is based on the of story of arguably the most successful coach to grace the football field at Notre Dame. Pat O'Brien portrays Rockne in the film. The real Rockne holds the record for the greatest winning percentage at Notre Dame. Altogether, Rockne had 105 victories, 12 losses, five ties and six national championships during his 13-year coaching reign from 1918-1930.

During the big game in the movie, Rockne honors Gipp's dying words by telling his team to "win just one for the Gipper" before they enter the playing feild.

In 1942, Reagan played a war hero alongside Errol Flynn in "Desperate Journey." The film is set during WWII. Flynn, Reagan and a few others, including Alan Hale and Arthur Kennedy, survive a plane crash behind enemy lines in Germany. The small but fearless crew has to make it back to safe British ground, but the journey is nearly impossible. The crew leaves behind a path of destruction as they make their way through the German countryside shooting down Nazi soldiers.

The film earned an Academy Award nomination for best special effects that year. It was directed by Raoul Walsh.

In 1951, Ronald Reagan starred in his first Western, "The Last Outpost," aka "Calvary Charge." In the film, two brothers fight in the Civil War, but on opposite sides. Reagan portrays a Confederate soldier whose brother, played by Bruce Bennett, is battling for the North. To further complicate matters, the two brothers are also battling over the same woman, played by Rhonda Fleming.

Just when the brothers think that things can't get any worse, a ruthless tribe of Apache Indians shows up. It all works out in the end when the two brothers decide to let bygones be bygones and pair up to defeat the Indians. You'll have to watch to see who gets the girl.

Reagan would go on to act in several other Westerns, which were right up his alley, considering that he was a rancher and a horse owner. In fact, producers of "The last Outpost" even allowed Reagan to ride his own horse, Tarbaby, in the film.

In 1951, Reagan found himself paired with a chimp in "Bedtime for Bonzo." In the outrageous comedy, Reagan plays a scientist named Peter Boyd who falls in love and proposes to the daughter of the dean of his college, Valerie. The dean disapproves of the match because Peter's father is a crook.

In order to win the heart of Valerie's father Peter barrows the science department's chimp to conduct an experiment. He hopes it will prove that a persons' environment reflects their path in life rather than their genetic make-up. If the experiment is successful Boyd will establish he is not a natural born criminal.

It gets a little tricky when Reagan's character doesn't want his fianceé to know of his monkey business. He hires a young nursemaid played by Dianna Lynn on the sly to act as mother to Bonzo instead of asking his fianceé to help.

When Reagan turned to politics, he was constantly jabbed for having starred in the silly comedy.

In "The Winning Team" (1952), Reagan showed his athletic ability by portraying baseball great Grover Cleveland Alexander, aka "Alex the Great." The legendary pitcher was discovered and recruited by the Philadelphia Nationals, where he gained significant recognition. After his stay with Philadelphia, he moved on to join the Chicago Cubs and finally the St. Louis Cardinals. Alexander's amazing pitching arm earned him a record of only about 100 losses in 20 years.

In the film, Alexander's wife, who is elegantly played by Doris Day, encourages her husband through periods of deep depression and alcoholism. Frank Lovejoy plays the Cardinals' team manager and good friend Grover. Also featured in the picture are several major league ball players, including Bob Lemon, Jerry Priddy, Peanuts Lowery, George Metkovich, Hank Saur and Gene Mauch.

In 1953, Reagan played a fearless law enforcer named Frame Johnson in the western "Law and Order." Reagan fills the role of a rough-and-tough marshal who retires after policing the town of Tombstone and experiencing an attempted lynching. When he tries to settle down on a pleasant little ranch near the town of Cottonwood, trouble finds him again. Instead of taking some time to spend with his sweetheart, played by Dorothy Malone, he has to resume his position as the no-nonsense marshal one more time. The film was directed by Nathan Juran.

"Hellcats of the Navy" is the only film in which the future president co-starred with his future first lady, Nancy Davis. The plot is based on a novel by Adm. Charles Lockwood about a World War II submarine crew charged with stopping enemy ships from delivering goods to Japan from mainland Asia. Reagan took on the role of yet another fearless leader, this time as the captain of the ship, Casey Abbot. Davis played his military nurse girlfriend caught in a love triangle with the captain and a frogman.

Reagan and Davis did not meet on the set of that film, however; the couple was married five years before "Hellcats" was made.

The 1964 remake of "The Killers," loosely based on an Ernest Hemingway short story, was Reagan's final film. Reagan fills the role of the "bad guy" in the picture, Jack Browning, while Angie Dickinson plays his mistress. The main characters in the film are two ruthless hit men played by Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager. The two men gun down a former race-car driver named Johnny North, played by John Cassavetes, who accepts his death rather gracefully. Marvin and Gulager are completely baffled by how easy it was to shoot him, so they decide to investigate. They discover that North was involved in a bank heist with Reagan's character and took all the money and his girl.

Reagan's film career gained him scant praise from critics. But it solidified the affable public persona that would launch him into the world's most powerful office.