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. 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. After PRIMARY, director Drew was given more access to Kennedy and it's pretty clear that the two of them knew this decision would be something big so it's pretty incredible that so much was able to be captured for this film. It runs just 53-minutes but there's certainly some drama here even though you know what happened at the school. I thought the film was extremely well-made and especially towards the end when the countdown starts on getting the two students into the school. Getting to see Robert Kennedy listening to what's going on in Alabama was pretty fascinating and you can see the drama going on just by looking at his face. Also, seeing the aftermath of the events was also rather special. It's hard to believe that this film was released just a month before Kennedy was assassinated so in some ways that gives it even more power when viewed today. It's hard to believe that this type of stuff was happening such a short time ago but this documentary does a very good job at capturing the moods at the time.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Robert Drew's fascinating documentary takes a look at the battle between President Kennedy and Alabama Governor George Wallace. 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. After PRIMARY, director Drew was given more access to Kennedy and it's pretty clear that the two of them knew this decision would be something big so it's pretty incredible that so much was able to be captured for this film. It runs just 53-minutes but there's certainly some drama here even though you know what happened at the school. I thought the film was extremely well-made and especially towards the end when the countdown starts on getting the two students into the school. Getting to see Robert Kennedy listening to what's going on in Alabama was pretty fascinating and you can see the drama going on just by looking at his face. Also, seeing the aftermath of the events was also rather special. It's hard to believe that this film was released just a month before Kennedy was assassinated so in some ways that gives it even more power when viewed today. It's hard to believe that this type of stuff was happening such a short time ago but this documentary does a very good job at capturing the moods at the time.