MOVIE/VHS VIDEO REVIEW -- "Four Days In November" (1964)
David Von Pein
Ever Made
www.amazon.com/Four-Days-November-Documentary-Stuart/dp/6301969308
http://imdb.com/title/tt0059197
http://www.mgm.com/title_title.do?title_star=FOURDYNO
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"In the memory of man, few events have shocked the world as those Four
Days in November. Here, with scenes never presented before, is a
complete motion picture chronicle of that incredible time in Dallas.
Here is the minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day story -- with
every detail revealed, every question answered."
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The above paragraph appeared on one of the original promotional movie
posters advertising one of the best documentary films ever made (and,
in my opinion, THE very finest documentary film dealing with the 1963
assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy) -- "Four Days In
November" -- which debuted in American movie theaters on Saturday,
November 21, 1964, which was just one day shy of the first anniversary
of JFK's assassination. (The film had a New York premiere on October 7,
1964, a month-and-a-half prior to its general USA release date.)
www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/184977.1020.A.jpg
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"Four Days In November", a black-&-white documentary film directed by
Mel Stuart and skillfully narrated by actor Richard Basehart, remains
my all-time favorite JFK-related program (whether it be a movie or a TV
special). It's an expertly-edited chronological documentary which
guides the viewer through all four of those dark November days that
shocked the nation and the world in late 1963.
"Four Days" received a significant amount of attention and was, in
fact, nominated for an Academy Award (for "Best Documentary Feature" of
1964). The film was released on VHS videotape by MGM/UA Home Video in
1988, and was re-released on video by MGM in the year 2000.
Via several "re-creations" of the actual Dallas events (using some of
the people who were directly involved), this David L. Wolper production
gives the viewer a true feeling of being able to re-live the events of
November 22-25, 1963, when America's young 46-year-old leader was
gunned down on Elm Street in Dallas, Texas.
"Four Days" was made only a matter of months after the assassination,
which helped in making the re-creations all the more effective, since
the people involved, the locations, the landmarks, and even the
automobiles had not changed much 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.
One of the film's re-created segments that has an especially "eerie"
quality to it is the scene where we see Buell Wesley Frazier driving
his 1953 Chevrolet sedan toward the "drab bulk" of the Texas School
Book Depository, which looms ahead in the foreground. Frazier was the
19-year-old Book Depository co-worker of Lee Harvey Oswald's who gave
Oswald a ride to work on the morning of President Kennedy's
assassination.
In addition to the re-created portions of the movie, there's an
abundance of stock news footage presented throughout the documentary.
In fact, the majority of the film is composed of TV news footage and
archival film clips, including some pre-November 22nd footage covering
JFK's activities in the days leading up to that terrible Friday in
Dallas (including some rarely-seen footage of President Kennedy's
mid-November trip to Florida and his visits to San Antonio, Houston,
and Fort Worth on 11/21/63).
Another very big reason for why I hold "Four Days In November" in such
high esteem is its outstanding Elmer Bernstein musical score. Mr.
Bernstein's stirring musical arrangements fit "Four Days" just
perfectly, adding emotional impact to each and every portion of the
film.
Wolper Productions thankfully sidestepped all the conspiracy theories
and stuck by the Warren Commission Report's "Lone Assassin" verdict for
this documentary.
Many of the facts surrounding President Kennedy's assassination have
been disputed and debated by researchers for decades. And this tragic
crime will likely remain a topic that shall cause heated debate 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.
Anyone who has a collection of John F. Kennedy-related videos and DVDs
should definitely own a copy of this remarkable motion picture.
David Von Pein
July 2001
Revised August 2006
David Von Pein
Additional Video/DVD/CD/Book recommendations re. the subject of
President Kennedy and his assassination on November 22nd, 1963:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.conspiracy.jfk/msg/9c4caef920ae6a0d