Four Days in November

Four Days in November
Film poster
Directed byMel Stuart
Written byTheodore Strauss[1]
Produced byMel Stuart
Narrated byRichard Basehart
CinematographyVilis Lapenieks
Edited byWilliam T. Cartwright
Music byElmer Bernstein
Production
company
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • November 21, 1964 (1964-11-21)
Running time
122 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Four Days in November is a 1964 American documentary film directed by Mel Stuart about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[2][3][4]

Summary

The film includes Dallas radio and television coverage of:

  • The President's arrival at Love Field (Bob Walker, WFAA-TV 8)
  • Progression of the motorcade (Bob Huffaker, KRLD Radio)
  • First local bulletin of shooting (Jay Watson, WFAA-TV 8)
  • Reports at Parkland Hospital (Bob Huffaker, KRLD Radio)
  • Official announcement of President's death from Malcolm Kilduff (Roy Nichols, KLIF Radio)

Amateur films and photos include:

  • Scenes along the motorcade route
  • Orville Nix's films of the motorcade entering Dealey Plaza, the fatal head shot followed by Secret Service Agent Clint Hill climbing on top of the presidential limousine and the post-shooting confusion at the Plaza
  • Mary Moorman's photo taken just a fraction of a second after the fatal shot
  • Bob Jackson's photo Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald at the Dallas City Jail

Production

The opening credits indicate that "certain scenes have been recreated in the original locations by the actual participants".[5] Some of these recreations include:

  • Buell Wesley Frazier driving himself and Lee Harvey Oswald to work at the Texas School Book Depository on the morning of November 22. This scene includes commentary from Frazier and his sister Linnie Mae Randle who saw Oswald arrive at their house and place a package (in which Oswald told Frazier it contained curtain rods but really had the murder weapon) in Frazier's car to take to work.
  • Oswald's post-shooting trek from the Texas School Book Depository to the Texas Theater. This segment includes commentary from cab driver William Whaley, who picked Oswald up and took him to his rooming house on North Beckley.
  • Jack Ruby's path from his apartment to the Dallas City Jail on the morning of November 24

See also

References

  1. ^ ' Four Days in November,' Documentary on Assassination - The New York Times
  2. ^ "The 37th Academy Awards (1965) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  3. ^ "NY Times: Four Days in November". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  4. ^ Documentary Winners: 1965 Oscars
  5. ^ TCM.com