The drama is real!
I was awed at witnessing the planning sessions of President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, General Abrams, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, etc.
If that is true it would mean the tension at that moment wasn't real but staged - at least to a degree. The principals were covered by four teams of film makers and most of the footage appeared unstaged. Kennedy and his brother Robert are seen trying to get Wallace to step down and allow two black students to enroll at the University of Alabama but the governor stands to his ground.
Crisis Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963). With John F. Kennedy, George Wallace, Robert F. Kennedy, Vivian Malone.
It's a fly-on-the-wall documentary cinema verite as three powerful men are coming to an epic battle. Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Robert Drew's fascinating documentary takes a look at the battle between President Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace.
After all, I'm sure Governor Wallace knew it was a lost cause, yet he gave permission for the film makers to film him and his staff and the confrontation. Directed by Robert Drew. “Crisis” captures events from all sides, using the cinema verite techniques pioneered by Drew Associates. Was this review helpful? The tension is real! Shots of Robert Kennedy at home with his kids and George Wallace with his daughter (or granddaughter) helped to make them more human rather than larger than life. A truly remarkable documentary which had cameras with all the principals involved in the confrontation between Governor George Wallace of Alabama and the federal courts in letting two black students enroll in the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. Governor George Wallace will not let two black students into an Alabama school, against the wishes of President Kennedy. 18 out of 21 found this helpful. What the federal government will do when that happens is the focus of the documentary? Reviews, streaming sources, trailers, user ratings, information and movie statistics. 1 out of 1 found this helpful. 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. Watching the footage I do believe Wallace had no intention of continuing to block those poor young people. President John F. Kennedy wants to enforce the integration of the University of Alabama. The film centers on the University of Alabama's "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" integration crisis of June 1963.
My grandfather told me he was involved in choreographing this momentous day in civil rights.
Governor George Wallace will not let two black students into an Alabama school, against the wishes of President Kennedy.
CRISIS: BEHIND A PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT provided filmmaker Robert Drew, his crew and his audience the rare opportunity to watch a President of the United States deal with a national crisis.
Aside from a few explanatory remarks occasionally made by the narrator, we see the events as they were, phone calls, brainstorming sessions, and all. Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment is a 1963 cinéma vérité documentary film directed by Robert Drew. He was very believable as he told me about it and I know he was a close friend and worked for Wallace. In this case, the crisis of the title was the attempted integration of the University of Alabama by African-American students by the Kennedy Administration and the machinations of then Governor George Wallace to stop them.CRISIS: BEHIND A PRESIDENTIAL COMMITMENT provided filmmaker Robert Drew, his crew and his audience the rare opportunity to watch a President of the United States deal with a national crisis. Loud shouts come from both sides of the issue as JFK stands by his decisions.