During a two-day period before and after the University of Alabama integration crisis, the film uses five camera crews to follow President John F. Kennedy, attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, Alabama governor George Wallace, deputy attorney general Nicholas Katzenbach and the students Vivian Malone and James Hood. As Wallace has promised to personally block the two black students from enrolling in the university, the JFK administration discusses the best way to react to it, without rousing the crowd or making Wallace a martyr for the segregationist cause. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1999.
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Availability data from JustWatch
- Status
- Released
- Production
- ABC News, Drew Associates
Keywords
- alabama
- civil rights
- john f. kennedy
- racial segregation
- integration
- oval office
- racism
- university
- cinéma vérité
- direct cinema
Links
Top Cast
James Lipscomb as Narrator
John F. Kennedy as Self
George Wallace as Self
Robert F. Kennedy as Self
Vivian Malone as Self
James Hood as Self
Nicholas Katzenbach as Self
Top Crew
Robert Drew · Director
Richard Leacock · Director
Gregory Shuker · Cinematographer
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