blanche-2
It was hard back then to cut out Lee Harvey Oswald's face, paste it on a body holding a gun, and then copy it so it looked like a real photo. Made conspiracy challenging."Executive Action" from 1973 is another film that theorizes how the assassination of JFK went down - this time, it's a bunch of rogue intelligence agents, conservative politicians, greedy businessmen who were worried about President Kennedy's policies on race relations, ending the Vietnam War, and ending the oil depletion allowance. This film's conspiracy is a lot more straightforward than what was posited in JFK, and it really could have gone down this way - with fake Oswalds, three gunmen, and a lot of people getting out of Dodge as soon as it was over. Unfortunately we don't know what happened. This could be close though. Much of the film has actual footage mixed in with film footage. Although the assassination was a re- enactment, it was mixed with actual footage and is still devastating to watch.One thing I've never doubted for one minute is that Ruby was allowed to kill Oswald. Take a look at that scenario. This man supposedly just killed the President and Ruby saunters into the garage, Oswald comes up with a man at either side, walking somewhat slowly - where? Why wasn't the transport right at the door? Never could get over that."Executive Action" is handled in a very naturalistic style; the actors speak conversationally, and it makes what they're planning scarier.The most impressive part of the film is showing that 18 material witnesses to the assassination were dead by 1967. Sobering.Good film, makes you think. Depressing too.
atlasmb
"Executive Action" provides an alternate explanation for the evidence surrounding the assassination of President John Kennedy. Released only 10 years after JFK's death--too soon for the public to accept it--it was a box office flop. But its use of both dramatized scenes and archival footage provides an interesting, though controversial, story written by the talented Dalton Trumbo.Much of the conspiracy theory is similar to Oliver Stone's "JFK", and it does a good job of integrating known evidence (such as witness reports and information we know about Lee Harvey Oswald) and nearly mythologized explanations of the assassination (like the "grassy knoll").Starring Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan (in his penultimate film) and Will Geer as the three men who organize the hit, the film carries an emotional content for anyone who lived through the event in 1963. It also serves as an indictment of the Secret Service and the Dallas Police Department, criticizing their sloppy procedures and their unprofessional methods.Though many people have accepted the Warren Commission's lone gunman explanation, conspiracy theorists abound even now, especially since some of the evidence is difficult to explain.As we view the film today, it is nearly amusing to hear the conspirators say, in ignorant naivete, that JFK's reputation and personal life are smear proof. But the mystical spell of "Camelot" that surrounded the Kennedys and his presidency was still in place at the film's initial release in 1973.
AaronCapenBanner
David Miller directed this speculative conspiracy film dealing with the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy on Nov.22,1963, which this film theorizes was a combination of government and business interests, threatened by the social change and end of the Vietnamese war they feared would lead to disaster. Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Will Gear, John Anderson, and Ed Lauter round out the cast of conspirators. Despite the explosive nature of this material(explored far better in later film "JFK") this film is inexplicably tame, presented in a coldly indifferent fashion most unsuited to the premise. Good cast keeps you interested, but film is ultimately a misfire.
Ange Kenos
Could Prescott Bush have been the right wing politician? Certainly the movie plays a pivotal role in convincing even some of its stars - Donald Sutherland and Robert Ryan - that the plot line could have been very close to what did happen that fateful November when a President was gunned down under very mysterious circumstances. It also proves why one shooter had little chance of pulling it off, especially with the Italian Manlicher rifle, but "triangulated co- ordinated fire" could easily succeed. But, have you ever read the info sheet that came out with the movie? And how many witnesses dies within 3 years. And the enormous odds of that happening? Sais a great deal to me.
AD
