JFK (film)

JFK is a film, first released in Canada and the United States on December 20, 1991, which purports to tell the history surrounding the President of the United States John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Related Topics:
Canada - United States - December 20 - 1991 - President of the United States - John F. Kennedy's assassination

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The film follows the 1967 to 1969 investigation led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner) and interweaves flashbacks of the theories behind the assassination with actual assassination movie films footage, such as the Zapruder film.

Related Topics:
1967 - 1969 - New Orleans - Jim Garrison - Kevin Costner - Zapruder - Film

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JFK stars Kevin Costner, Ron Rifkin, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, Jay O. Sanders, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, John Candy, Brian Doyle-Murray, Gary Grubbs, Wayne Knight, Vincent D'Onofrio, Michael Rooker and Pruitt Taylor Vince. The movie was adapted by Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar from the books On the Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison and Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy by Jim Marrs. Stone directed it. During the filming Dealey Plaza was completely restored to how it looked on November 22, 1963.

Related Topics:
Kevin Costner - Ron Rifkin - Donald Sutherland - Kevin Bacon - Tommy Lee Jones - Laurie Metcalf - Gary Oldman - Jay O. Sanders - Sissy Spacek - Joe Pesci - John Candy - Brian Doyle-Murray - Gary Grubbs - Wayne Knight - Vincent D'Onofrio - Michael Rooker - Pruitt Taylor Vince - Oliver Stone - Zachary Sklar - Jim Garrison - Jim Marrs - Dealey Plaza - November 22 - 1963

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JFK won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tommy Lee Jones), Best Director, Best Music, Original Score, Best Sound, Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, and Best Picture.

Related Topics:
Academy Awards - Best Cinematography - Best Film Editing - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Best Director - Best Music, Original Score - Best Sound - Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - Best Picture

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Ironically, the real Jim Garrison, a severe critic of the Warren Commission, plays Supreme Court Chief Justice, Earl Warren in the film. Supposed assassination witness Beverly Oliver, who claimed to be the Babushka lady, also appeared in a cameo, non-speaking role.

Related Topics:
Warren Commission - Supreme Court - Chief Justice - Earl Warren - Babushka lady - Cameo

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Among the many advisors for the film were Gerald Hemming, a former Marine who has claimed involvement in various CIA activities, Robert Groden, a photographic expert and longtime JFK assassination researcher and author, and actual assassination witness Jean Hill.

Related Topics:
Robert Groden - Jean Hill

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One of the characters in the movie, "General X" (played by Donald Sutherland), was loosely based on the theories and military experience of L. Fletcher Prouty, another advisor for the movie. However, unlike "General X", Prouty had no connection to Presidential security at the time of the assassination. Prouty was a former Colonel in the Air Force, and military liaison between the CIA and the Pentagon. He wrote the 1975 book The Secret Team: The CIA and Its Allies in Control of the United States and the World, (republished in 1992).

Related Topics:
L. Fletcher Prouty - Air Force - Pentagon - 1975 - 1992

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Upon release, JFK earned mostly favorable reviews and was financially successful, earning over US$205 million during its initial movie run.

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In JFK, as actually occurred, Garrison indicted a New Orleans based international businessman, Clay Shaw, for his alleged involvement in a conspiracy to murder President John F. Kennedy. In March 1969, a jury acquitted Shaw of the charges after less than an hour of deliberation. Although the film portrays members of that jury stating publicly that they believed there was a conspiracy behind the assassination (but not enough evidence to link Shaw to that conspiracy), this is mostly based on disputed claims in pro-Garrison books. Other sources have the juries giving different views on the idea of a conspiracy.

Related Topics:
New Orleans - Clay Shaw - John F. Kennedy

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Members of the CIA, Mafia, the military-industrial complex, Secret Service, FBI, and Kennedy's vice-president Lyndon Baines Johnson are implicated as co-conspirators with motives for Kennedy's assassination and/or the cover-up afterwards. Stone has stated that the movie JFK was "intended as counter-fiction to the Warren Commission's fiction."

Related Topics:
CIA - Mafia - Military-industrial complex - Secret Service - FBI - Lyndon Baines Johnson - Warren Commission

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