Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment

President John F. Kennedy and his brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy face down Governor George Wallace of Alabama who has sworn to personally block the entrance of two black students (Vivian Malone and James Hood) into the campus of The University of Alabama. The intimacy of the documentarian's camera with the principal characters is stunning (such openness in a politician seems unthinkable now) and the discussions about how to diffuse an ostensibly simple but in fact incredibly complicated problem are fascinating (as are the futures of all involved).

My grandfather told me he was involved in choreographing this momentous day in civil rights. He claims to have been one of a couple of men that served as go-betweens all night long the night before between George Wallace and Bobby Kennedy in Birmingham as they came to an agreement as to exactly how everything would play out. He was very believable as he told me about it and I know he was a close friend and worked for Wallace. If that is true it would mean the tension at that moment wasn't real but staged - at least to a degree. Watching the footage I do believe Wallace had no intention of continuing to block those poor young people.

Although this Film, with its Remarkable Access to Gov. Wallace and the Kennedy White-House is Even-Handed and Fair,

and Plays Out More or Less as it was Happening Around the July 11, 1963 Time-Frame, It Wasn't Staged, it was Shot Cinema Verite Style and Edited After the Fact.

A Few Things are Happening Behind the Scenes that Basically Assured the Kennedy Administration that the Outcome would Not Require the Use of Federal Force.

Taking Wallace at His Word, it is Alleged that Wallace Told the White-House He Would Stand Down After a Show of Principles, but the Federal Govt. Was Still Preparing for Anything to Happen.

It was a Night-Before Commitment that Things would Eventually be for the Good of the Country. (Alabama was the only State that refused integration of Universities).

Wallace Knew in His Heart of Hearts this was a Lost Cause.

On Screen He Says (paraphrasing)...I still believe that the Civil War was a stance of fighting for what you believe in...It was just that there were more of them then there were of us.

The Same Could be Said of His Current Dilemma...He was Fighting for What He Believed. Both Races were Better Off Apart, but the Overwhelming Majority of the States were Allowing Integration and Alabama Stood Alone, Fighting, but Still Alone.

The Outcome was a Done Deal Before it Happened and Wallace Stood in the Doorway to Block the Students (Vivian Malone, James Hood) from Entering.

Once, for Symbolic Reasons and Fulfilling His Promise to the Citizens. But the Second Time the Students Arrived...Wallace Walked Away, and the "Crisis" was Over.

Still, the Film was a Break-Through for Documenting an Important Historical Event with "A Fly On the Wall" Perspective and for that it is Priceless.

Note...President Kennedy was gunned-down in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, a month after the film was released. His brother and Attorney General, Robert, was killed by an assassin, 5 Years later, in June of 1968.

On a hot day in June there was a standoff between the governor of Alabama, arch-segregationist, rabid racist, George Wallace, and the POTUS, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. What about? The right for Vivian Malone and James Hood to enter the University of Alabama. They were already accepted by the university, but George Wallace saw it as his religious and public duty to physically bar them from entering. JFK had a decision to make: federalize the Alabama National Guard and risk crucial southern votes for his civil rights legislation, or back off and stall the inevitable just to keep southern support.

This one-hour documentary is real-time footage of the strategizing by JFK, his brother and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and others from the Kennedy administration. This footage is historical and priceless, especially with the knowledge of who was on the right side of history and who was on the wrong side. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing history being made and hearing JFK make a monumental speech about freedom and equality.

It's a fly-on-the-wall documentary cinema verite as three powerful men are coming to an epic battle. President John F. Kennedy wants to enforce the integration of the University of Alabama. His younger brother Robert F. Kennedy is the Attorney General of the United States. George Wallace is the Governor of Alabama and insists on fighting the federal government.

This serves as a piece of historical document. It's not pushing the agenda one way or another. It is simply showing the situation as it existed. There is surprising tension despite the known history. I can't wait for the movie.