In 1964, superstar producer David Wolper entrusted a then-fledgling director named Mel Stuart with the first documentary about the year-old assassination of John F. Kennedy. Stuart went on to a successful, diverse career, interspersing such popular feature films as If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with an array of interesting nonfiction work, including The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Wattstax, and the moving The Unfinished Journey of Robert F. Kennedy. But with Four Days in November, he and Wolper paved the way for a certain modernity in the look and feel of a thoroughly researched documentary about a painful subject. Much of the film is compiled from television kinescopes of live TV coverage in Dallas on that fateful day, ordered in such a way as to offer viewers who lived through the events a sense of perspective, clarification, and perhaps closure. The myriad conspiracy theories that immediately appeared in the wake of Kennedy's death (not to mention Jack Ruby's murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, footage of which is included here) are examined and dismissed, though in fairness much, much else has been discovered since then to keep suspicions alive. The most fascinating and unexpected sequence, perhaps, is a clip from David Frost's old comedy show on British television, That Was the Week That Was, in which Frost, actor Roy Kinnear (Willy Wonka, interestingly enough), and others talk about their personal feelings regarding Kennedy. --Tom Keogh
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Wonderfull documentary Comment: A very interesting documentary on the events of november 63... On the same level as one of the greatest documentary film: "The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich"...
I consider myself very lucky to own this video... Customer Rating: Summary: Conspiracist or apologist, this film is a must see! Comment: Whether you believe Oswald acted alone, was part of a conspiracy, or was nowhere around, this film is worth the price. As a native Dallasite, I found the film footage of my hometown when it was still a great place to live to be priceless. Golly, remember when people still shopped downtown?! The film offers a very realistic flavor of both Dallas and America in pre-assassination times, it's almost unnerving to see an America that still trusted its elected representatives and institutions of authority. Richard Basehart's narration is excellent, and Kennedy's presidency as well as his trip to the south is well explained to even a complete Kennedy novice. The "man on the street" interviews that give us the reaction of both famous heads of state and average Americans immediately upon hearing the news of the assassination are interesting and sad, and the entire film will serve to transport you back in time as no present-day piece on this subject can do. Much of the second half of the film deals with the planning and execution of Kennedy's funeral, and this comes as close as anything I've yet seen to recreating what those days were like. If you're too young to remember this event, this film is a must see. Even us conspiracy theorists can overlook the assumption of Oswald's guilt (an assumption that, unlike post-Warren Commission material, is not shoved down your throat). I have been researching Kennedy assassination materials for years, and I find these contemporary efforts such as "Four Days in November" and Mark Lane's film "Rush to Judgement" to be far more valuable tools than latter day efforts, as the waters have now been so muddied by disinformation that we lose the real feel of these tragic events. Highly recommended. Customer Rating: Summary: Great vintage footage of 11/18-11/22/63! Comment: As the leading civilian authority on the Secret Service, I highly recommend this video for the outstanding vintage footage of JFK's trips to Florida and Texas 11/18-11/22/63. Of particular note is the Tampa trip depicting the start of the motorcade with agents on/ near the rear of the limo and the Love Field footage ('discovered' by myself in 1991 and shown on The Men Who Killed Kennedy, again by myself, in 2003) showing agent Henry J. Rybka being recalled by ATSAIC Emory P. Roberts.
Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA
Customer Rating: Summary: the witnessses tell all Comment: Inspite the fact that this video is based soley on the Warren Commission report the witnesses in this film undisdutedly are discribing a conspiracy as almost ALL point to the "Grassy Knoll" as the site where they believed the shots that killed the president came from. But then again, the government has had plenty of time to convince all those morons out there that Oswald was the lone assassin. Customer Rating: Summary: Indispensable! The Best JFK Assassination Film Ever Made! Comment: "Four Days In November" is my all-time favorite program dealing with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. You really get a sense of "re-living" the events of November 22-25, 1963, when America's all-too-young, 46-year-old leader was gunned down on the sunny streets of Dallas, Texas.
This 1964 black-&-white documentary, skillfully narrated by actor Richard Basehart, was filmed only months after the events, making the "re-creations" that were filmed for this movie all the more effective, since the people involved, the locations, the landmarks, and even the automobiles had not changed to a great degree (if at all) since the tragedy occurred. I truly had the sense of being there BEFORE it happened because of the very good re-created scenes.
This wonderfully-edited chronological documentary guides the viewer through all four of those dark November days that shocked the nation in late 1963. An integral part of this program lies in its outstanding musical score, by Elmer Bernstein. Mr. Bernstein's stirring score fits just perfectly here, adding emotional impact to each portion of the film.
In addition to many re-created scenes, there is a hefty amount of stock news footage presented throughout this 123-minute film -- some of which you probably have seen before, and some you probably haven't. The Joan Crawford/Richard Nixon clip was one I'd never seen in the past, as well as the footage of Lee Harvey Oswald's funeral, which nearly no one attended.
One particular "re-created" scene in the film that has an especially "eerie" feeling to it is the scene where we see Wesley Frazier driving his 1953 Chevrolet sedan toward the "drab bulk" of the Texas School Book Depository Building, which looms ahead in the foreground. Frazier was the 19-year-old Depository co-worker of Lee Harvey Oswald's who gave Oswald a ride to work on the morning of the President's assassination.
The "Zapruder Film" is not represented in this documentary. It was to be yet another 11 years before the public at large was to see Mr. Zapruder's infamous film. "Four Days" does include a sequence from the "Nix Film", however.
Wolper Productions sidestepped all the conspiracy theories [thank goodness] and stuck by the Warren Commission Report for this documentary.
Many of the facts surrounding JFK's assassination have been disputed and debated by researchers for decades. And this tragic crime will likely remain a topic that shall cause heated discussion for many more years to come.
But what the film "Four Days In November" does accomplish is to allow the viewer to re-live those sorrowful November days, in the order in which the events transpired, based on the evidence available. This is definitely one program that deserves to be in anyone's JFK collection.
