Squaresville vs the Beatnik

This short film, edited down from its original run time to 6 minutes but with a simple enough plot to still understand, would ordinarily be forgettable. However, it ends up as an odd cultural intersection today. In it a smoking jacket clad Ronald Reagan, playing an upright doctor and family man, is confronted by two hopped-up beatnik hooligans, one played by a scenery-chewing James Dean.

In film, beatniks are kind of like zombies -- once spotted you just have to watch. Ronald Reagan and James Dean sharing the screen is the cherry on top.

Via the Atlantic.