Muchmore Film of Kennedy Assassination

US President John F. Kennedy's assassination at 12:30 PM CST on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas will long be remembered as one of the most horrific incidents in America's history. Following his death, the Warren Commission used three pieces of 8MM footage to investigate the assassination and to position the presidential limousine in a forensic recreation of the event in May 1964. The first is the infamous and disturbingly graphic 26.6 seconds captured by Abraham Zapruder; the second was recorded by Orville Nix (footage which I have not seen). The third primary video document of the event was a colour 8MM film photographed by Marie Muchmore, an employee of Justin McCarty dress manufacturers in Dallas.

Unlike Zapruder's horrific recording, in Muchmore's footage, filmed with a Keystone movie camera, there is really not a great deal that can easily be discerned by an inexperienced eye such as mine. Muchmore began filming near the corner of Main Street and Houston Street as the President's motorcade turned into Dealey Plaza. The film captures the gunman's third and fatal head shot from a distance of 135 feet (41 metres), and ends just seconds later as Secret Service agent Clint Hill runs to board the President's vehicle. This is a horrible incident, and Muchmore's film – coupled with the footage of others at the scene – will continue to serve as an important slice of American history.