So it’s almost the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination, and we’re being bombarded by Kennedybilia. But I recommend two JFK films on Turner Classic Movies – the documentary Primary and the biopic PT 109 . [I’m also highly recommending the 2013 day-of-the-assassination movie Parkland, available now streaming on VOD]
Primary (November 21) documents the Wisconsin Democratic primary election campaign in 1960. This was a key stepping stone in Kennedy’s road to the White House because it was a chance for him to demonstrate that he appealed to voters outside the Northeast. Kennedy’s rival Hubert Humphrey was favored because Wisconsin neighbors Humphrey’s home state of Minnesota. Primary is both a time capsule of 1960 politics and an inside look at the Kennedy family unleashed in a campaign. There’s an amazing scene where Humphrey appeals to a handful of flinty farmers in a school gym – he’s giving his all and he ain’t getting much back. Only 60 minutes long, Primary has been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The great documentarian D.A. Pennebaker, who went on to direct Monterey Pop and The War Room, shot, edited and recorded sound for Primary.
As 26-year-old PT boat commander in WWII, JFK was a real life war hero. Some scolds deride PT 109 (November 21) as hagiography, but I don’t buy it – when things went bad, he acted heroically indeed and bore the health effects for the rest of life. PT boats were essentially light wooden speed boats just big enough to hold some torpedoes and some depth charges on top of a tank of extremely combustible aviation fuel. The commanders needed to maneuver the PT boat close enough to fire the torpedoes at a Japanese warship while avoiding return fire that would certainly be lethal . No wonder the PT units were nicknamed “They were expendable”. It’s good history and an exciting true life action tale. Cliff Robertson plays the young JFK.
