Report (Bruce Conner, 1967)
Nov
23
1963
Television footage of JFK's state funeral with the caption “November 23, 1963”, superimposed over it.
“This nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.”
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (Robert Drew, 1963)
Jun
10
1963
An energetic Bobby arrives at the White House in his limousine. DP: Gregory Shuker.
– JFK
“Come Senators, Congressmen,
Please heed the call,
Don't stand in the doorway,
Don't block up the hall”
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (Robert Drew, 1963)
Dec
14
Alabama Day
Bobby on the phone, seen from the back. DP: Gregory Shuker.
Filmed in Alabama: Alabama Day. In what he dubbed “Stand in the Schoolhouse Door”, George Wallace, Alabama governor, blocked Black students from walking into the University so he could uphold his inaugural promise of “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”. This prompted a national crisis, resulting in the President issuing Executive Order 11111, making the #NationalGuard step in.
– Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a-Changin (1964)
In a then-groundbreaking new documentary format, Robert Drew and associates followed President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy during the crisis. And they filmed everything; from tense phone calls, private discussions, private moments (one of RFK's daughters on the phone with a bemused “Kerry”, Dept. Nicholas Katzenbach), and many, many shots in which nothing – which is everything – is said.