Four Days in November (1964)

Richard Basehart: Self - Narrator

Quotes 

• Himself - Narrator : There are only two occasions when the cannon of the military district of Washington fire a 50 gun salute to the nation; Each 4th of July to celebrate the country's birth and after the death of a President of the United States.

• Himself - Narrator : At the Baker Hotel, movie star Joan Crawford gives autographs and, in her capacity as bottling executive, joins a receiving line with another famed figure, former Vice President Richard Nixon.

• Himself - Narrator : Elsewhere in Dallas, it is a lively evening. Along Commerce Street at the Carousel Club, some of the *livelier* arts are presented by its excitable impresario, Jack Ruby, 52-year old bachelor who aspires to the big time.

• Himself - Narrator : At nine, he reenters the hotel, where Chamber of Commerce breakfast guests have gathered.

  Boys Choir : [singing as the President enters on Friday, November 22, 1963]  The Eyes of Texas are upon you, All the livelong day, The Eyes of Texas are upon you, You cannot get away. Do not think you can escape them, At night or early in the morn, The Eyes of Texas are upon you, Til Gabriel blows his horn.

• Himself - Narrator : In Fort Worth this morning, the President jokes with the crowd outside his hotel, excusing Mrs. Kennedy's absence. He says it takes her longer to organize herself; but, he suggests, the result is worth the wait.

• Himself - Narrator : Of all White House occupants, none has been more confident of his right to live there, than John Fitzgerald Kennedy. He has fought hard for it. With his Boston bred accent, his darting wit, and ringing political challenges, he has brought a new generation to rule.

• Himself - Narrator : White House aide, Kenneth O'Donnell walks steadily 100 feet to another room. To Lyndon Johnson, he says, "Mr. President, the President is dead."

• Himself - Narrator : Rounding the end of Main Street, the President's car swings onto Houston, toward the open window of the Book Depository...

  [gunshot] 

• Himself - Narrator : Outside Parkland, in terrible helplessness, people wait. While in the hospital, doctors fight a battle already lost. At one o'clock, Friday, November 22, John Fitzgerald Kennedy is dead.

• Himself - Narrator : They bear the President to the East Room, where he and his lady have graced the history of this house with gay and lustrous gatherings. Now, in final tenancy, they will ennoble it.

• Himself - Narrator : In the pitiless lights, Jacqueline Kennedy appears. An incongruously tragic figure, in the pretty pink suit that this morning dazzled Texas crowds.

• Himself - Narrator : Thirty-four years old and one hour a widow, Mrs. Kennedy leaves the hospital, still in shock, yet incredibly composed.

• Himself - Narrator : At its television screens, the greatest audience in history watches in stricken fascination the tragedy which is also its own. Through his campaigns and his Presidency, television has made John F. Kennedy a familiar guest in every home. Now, the day of his death will be related in cruel detail and endless repetition, by the strangely assorted persons who have been witnesses to it.

• Himself - Narrator : Lead by the slim, dark figure of Jacqueline Kennedy, there now begins those measured steps by which the nation bears its fallen Presidents into history.

• Himself - Narrator : Rushed to Parkland hospital, Oswald is carried into the Emergency Section, where President Kennedy died two days ago. Once again, as he had with the President, Dr. Malcolm Perry seeks desperately to keep Oswald's heart beating. He almost succeeds. Almost.

• Himself - Narrator : About 11 AM, Ruby wires $25 to a needy stripper in Fort Worth. A few minutes later, carrying a small gun, he will enter the police headquarters basement, less than a block away.

• Himself - Narrator : In Washington's chill sun, images of grief cast shadows. A caisson's horsemen. The silent drums. The White House, like a serene presiding presence. The state's flags fluttering along the drive. A great panoply waiting, as if for some final act of purification.

• Himself - Narrator : From around the world, planes being leaders of great states, ancient monarchies, and nations just born. Anastas Mikoyan, First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union. Queen Frederica of Greece, subdued and pale. Charles de Gaulle, President of France, himself, target of attempted assassinations. Prince Philip and Prime Minister Douglas-Home of England. Ludwig Erhard, new Chancellor of West Germany. Proud Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia.

• Himself - Narrator : Even in death, forever alienated from mankind, Lee Oswald is carried to his grave by hastily chosen volunteer newsmen. Mourned only by his wife, an older brother, and his mother.

• Himself - Narrator : Across the land, a great silence falls. Trains halt. Planes wait on the runways. All traffic ceases. The hushed streets become open chapels. For five minutes, in cities all over America, people pay silent tribute, wherever they may be.

• Himself - Narrator : Here in Saint Matthews, where the President prayed, an old friend and spiritual counsel prays for him. Like some great craggy archangel, Richard Cardinal Cushing officiated at John Kennedy's wedding, baptized his children, presided at the funeral of his son Patrick, and prayed at his inauguration,

• Himself - Narrator : At Saint Matthews, brought by car, the children join Mrs. Kennedy. Today is John John's third birthday.

• Himself - Narrator : Amid tolling bell and the bagpipes dirge, black-veiled like some ritual figure of classic myth, Jacqueline Kennedy follows her husband's coffin on foot.

• Himself - Narrator : As the gun salutes, and the lonely calls ring out in the waning Autumn afternoon, a man and a time pass forever into the nation's history.

• [last lines] 

  Himself - Narrator : Now, the mourners depart. Millions of others will come in time ahead. For John Kennedy's bold words often reminded the nation of its most splendid self - and for that, many loved him. He has spoken of great purposes and great ends and we knew he was again voicing the promises the nation had made to itself, long ago, when its own youth had just begun - and everything was possible.

• Himself - Narrator : In the fall of 1963, as he summons the nation to fulfill its Constitutional pledges to the negro, threatening riffs have begun to appear.