90 reviews
David Miller's conspiracy-theory 're-enactment' shows the plotting by several oil-barons and intelligence officers to murder the then- President of the United States John F. Kennedy. Kennedy's pushing of the Civil Rights movement and plans to withdraw U.S. forces from Vietnam proves a threat to these emotionless rich folk, and the removal of Kennedy will benefit their business and, to them, their country. Farrington (Burt Lancaster), a black ops specialist, plans out the assassination in minute detail, with the backing of Foster (Robert Ryan), an oil baron. The action cuts between meetings between these men, the preparations of the gunmen and their target practice, and the recruitment and actions of a Lee Harvey Oswald lookalike.
While not being a fact-based and detailed account like the portrayal of Jim Garrison's investigation in Oliver Stone's excellent JFK (1991), Executive Action makes no claims to be historical fact, but instead a theory of how Kennedy's assassination could have been planned. How much is based on fact I don't know, as I had trouble finding much information about it. While it is certainly very interesting from a conspiracy- theorists point-of-view, the film works far better as a straightforward thriller, and certainly manages to build up plenty of tension regardless of the fact that we know what is going to happen, and that what is being played out in front of us is unlikely to be true.
It's a cold and emotionless film, which made me like it more. Lancaster's Farrington prepares the assassination as if he is preparing a holiday - matter-of-factly, routinely. The terrifying thing is that these men believe that what they are doing is patriotic and for the good of the country. Because of this, the film can be seen as a damning commentary of American values - the pursuit of money and desire for security is held in higher regard than doing the right thing, or equality. The film's low budget is certainly noticeable, and some of the supporting acting is often questionable, but this is a riveting thriller that contains many qualities that made the 70's the greatest era for American cinema.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
While not being a fact-based and detailed account like the portrayal of Jim Garrison's investigation in Oliver Stone's excellent JFK (1991), Executive Action makes no claims to be historical fact, but instead a theory of how Kennedy's assassination could have been planned. How much is based on fact I don't know, as I had trouble finding much information about it. While it is certainly very interesting from a conspiracy- theorists point-of-view, the film works far better as a straightforward thriller, and certainly manages to build up plenty of tension regardless of the fact that we know what is going to happen, and that what is being played out in front of us is unlikely to be true.
It's a cold and emotionless film, which made me like it more. Lancaster's Farrington prepares the assassination as if he is preparing a holiday - matter-of-factly, routinely. The terrifying thing is that these men believe that what they are doing is patriotic and for the good of the country. Because of this, the film can be seen as a damning commentary of American values - the pursuit of money and desire for security is held in higher regard than doing the right thing, or equality. The film's low budget is certainly noticeable, and some of the supporting acting is often questionable, but this is a riveting thriller that contains many qualities that made the 70's the greatest era for American cinema.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
- tomgillespie2002
- Oct 12, 2011
- Permalink
- mark.waltz
- Mar 22, 2010
- Permalink
Released in November 1973, near the tenth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, EXECUTIVE ACTION is often overlooked as a film because of Oliver Stone's extraordinarily controversial 1991 film JFK. It obviously doesn't have the high-budget gloss or the montage that Stone's film does, but what it does have is a hard-hitting inside look into the individuals who might have had a direct hand in plotting this hideous crime.
Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan (in one of his final movies), and Will Geer are the conspirators, right-wing businessmen with an axe to grind. As in Stone's film, the motivations for the assassination are disgust with the way Kennedy handled Fidel Castro and the possibility that he would have stopped our involvement in Vietnam before it ever got to the ground troop stage. Based on Mark Lane's book "Rush To Judgement", scripted by former blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, and directed by David Miller (LONELY ARE THE BRAVE), EXECUTIVE ACTION is very somber and cold-blooded, but superbly constructed. It is amazing to think that three actors with ultra-liberal political credentials like Lancaster, Ryan, and Geer should be so icily convincing in their portrayals of fascists. The film makes very plausible the banality of evil. And like JFK, it also blows holes in the Warren Commission report big enough to drive a truck through and make apologists like Gerald Posner apoplectic.
Whether seen on its own terms or as a companion piece to the much better known JFK, EXECUTIVE ACTION is worth viewing--and, like Stone's film, asks us to consider the nightmarish chain of events that seem to have resulted directly or indirectly from what happened on that dark day in Dallas in 1963.
Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan (in one of his final movies), and Will Geer are the conspirators, right-wing businessmen with an axe to grind. As in Stone's film, the motivations for the assassination are disgust with the way Kennedy handled Fidel Castro and the possibility that he would have stopped our involvement in Vietnam before it ever got to the ground troop stage. Based on Mark Lane's book "Rush To Judgement", scripted by former blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, and directed by David Miller (LONELY ARE THE BRAVE), EXECUTIVE ACTION is very somber and cold-blooded, but superbly constructed. It is amazing to think that three actors with ultra-liberal political credentials like Lancaster, Ryan, and Geer should be so icily convincing in their portrayals of fascists. The film makes very plausible the banality of evil. And like JFK, it also blows holes in the Warren Commission report big enough to drive a truck through and make apologists like Gerald Posner apoplectic.
Whether seen on its own terms or as a companion piece to the much better known JFK, EXECUTIVE ACTION is worth viewing--and, like Stone's film, asks us to consider the nightmarish chain of events that seem to have resulted directly or indirectly from what happened on that dark day in Dallas in 1963.
I forgot about this movie until I saw it on tape in a cut-out bin. I don't know why it isn't a well-known film, it's very good. The cast is excellent, and the straight-forward tone is unique. There's no judgement provided by the movie makers on the plotters, who are on one hand presented as earnest men doing what they believed to be in the best interest of the country, and on the other as lunatic facists, discussing eliminating "excess population" as if it were an everyday thing.
The purpose of the movie is to educate, it seems, presenting a lot of facts or what are presented to be facts, about Oswald as a patsy. I've read enough to know that not all of what is presented as factual is true (the phone system being cut out in D.C. is a well-known canard, repeated in "JFK"), but the movie uses this approach to lay out a very logical scenario regarding how it could have been done. The political background, and the details of the lapses of the Secret Service are used to good effect.
Finally, there is the presence of JFK himself as a counterpoint throughout the movie. Films of some of his best lines combined with the haunting musical score lend an air of melancholy appropriate to the subject matter, a feeling that is shared by the plotters. There is a quote from Shakespeare given by Robert Ryan that sums it up; ". . . and nothing can we call our own but death . . . let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings." It's one fine moment of many in a well-crafted film.
The purpose of the movie is to educate, it seems, presenting a lot of facts or what are presented to be facts, about Oswald as a patsy. I've read enough to know that not all of what is presented as factual is true (the phone system being cut out in D.C. is a well-known canard, repeated in "JFK"), but the movie uses this approach to lay out a very logical scenario regarding how it could have been done. The political background, and the details of the lapses of the Secret Service are used to good effect.
Finally, there is the presence of JFK himself as a counterpoint throughout the movie. Films of some of his best lines combined with the haunting musical score lend an air of melancholy appropriate to the subject matter, a feeling that is shared by the plotters. There is a quote from Shakespeare given by Robert Ryan that sums it up; ". . . and nothing can we call our own but death . . . let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings." It's one fine moment of many in a well-crafted film.
It was hard back then to cut out Lee Harvey Oswald's face, paste it on a body holding a gun, and then copy it so it looked like a real photo. Made conspiracy challenging.
"Executive Action" from 1973 is another film that theorizes how the assassination of JFK went down - this time, it's a bunch of rogue intelligence agents, conservative politicians, greedy businessmen who were worried about President Kennedy's policies on race relations, ending the Vietnam War, and ending the oil depletion allowance.
This film's conspiracy is a lot more straightforward than what was posited in JFK, and it really could have gone down this way - with fake Oswalds, three gunmen, and a lot of people getting out of Dodge as soon as it was over. Unfortunately we don't know what happened. This could be close though. Much of the film has actual footage mixed in with film footage. Although the assassination was a re- enactment, it was mixed with actual footage and is still devastating to watch.
One thing I've never doubted for one minute is that Ruby was allowed to kill Oswald. Take a look at that scenario. This man supposedly just killed the President and Ruby saunters into the garage, Oswald comes up with a man at either side, walking somewhat slowly - where? Why wasn't the transport right at the door? Never could get over that.
"Executive Action" is handled in a very naturalistic style; the actors speak conversationally, and it makes what they're planning scarier.
The most impressive part of the film is showing that 18 material witnesses to the assassination were dead by 1967. Sobering.
Good film, makes you think. Depressing too.
"Executive Action" from 1973 is another film that theorizes how the assassination of JFK went down - this time, it's a bunch of rogue intelligence agents, conservative politicians, greedy businessmen who were worried about President Kennedy's policies on race relations, ending the Vietnam War, and ending the oil depletion allowance.
This film's conspiracy is a lot more straightforward than what was posited in JFK, and it really could have gone down this way - with fake Oswalds, three gunmen, and a lot of people getting out of Dodge as soon as it was over. Unfortunately we don't know what happened. This could be close though. Much of the film has actual footage mixed in with film footage. Although the assassination was a re- enactment, it was mixed with actual footage and is still devastating to watch.
One thing I've never doubted for one minute is that Ruby was allowed to kill Oswald. Take a look at that scenario. This man supposedly just killed the President and Ruby saunters into the garage, Oswald comes up with a man at either side, walking somewhat slowly - where? Why wasn't the transport right at the door? Never could get over that.
"Executive Action" is handled in a very naturalistic style; the actors speak conversationally, and it makes what they're planning scarier.
The most impressive part of the film is showing that 18 material witnesses to the assassination were dead by 1967. Sobering.
Good film, makes you think. Depressing too.
Entertaining and interesting film which puts forward a seemingly plausible theory as to why JFK was assassinated.
The main thought seems to be that President Kennedy's ideas in regard to nuclear disarmament, racial equality and ensuring a square deal for America's most lowly paid workers were just too radical as far as the country's hard line conservatives were concerned.
Appears to have been generally well researched and non sensationalist.
However, it's a fair criticism to note that some of the finer points of period detail are slightly shaky. For example, some of the hairstyles and fashions definitely belong to the '70s rather than the early '60s. We have a '61 Chevy coupe with a tattered rear back seat which has obviously been parched by a decade of sun exposure. But these are minor points.
Don't worry too much about nit picking as this movie is most certainly well worth a look.
The main thought seems to be that President Kennedy's ideas in regard to nuclear disarmament, racial equality and ensuring a square deal for America's most lowly paid workers were just too radical as far as the country's hard line conservatives were concerned.
Appears to have been generally well researched and non sensationalist.
However, it's a fair criticism to note that some of the finer points of period detail are slightly shaky. For example, some of the hairstyles and fashions definitely belong to the '70s rather than the early '60s. We have a '61 Chevy coupe with a tattered rear back seat which has obviously been parched by a decade of sun exposure. But these are minor points.
Don't worry too much about nit picking as this movie is most certainly well worth a look.
- BruceCorneil
- Feb 23, 2003
- Permalink
Executive Action is directed by David Miller and written by Dalton Trumbo, Donald Freed and Mark Lane. It stars Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Will Geer, Gilbert Green and John Anderson. Music is by Randy Edelman and cinematography by Robert Steadman.
In essence it's a film that is offering up a different theory to the Warren Commission's report that ruled Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating John F. Kennedy. Plot has Lancaster and Ryan as shady conspirators who plot the downfall of JFK on that fateful day November 22nd 1963. There's lots of talking, with the actors chewing into the dialogue whilst brooding considerably, their motives explained clearly, the framing of Oswald brought to life, and it rounds up to a triple gunmen scenario. We then get a startling revelation about what befell a number of eyewitnesses from that infamous day.
It's engrossing without being truly riveting, but the cast make it worth time spent. While if you like to buy into the conspiracy theory surrounding the assassination? Then it carries some extra entertainment value. 7/10
In essence it's a film that is offering up a different theory to the Warren Commission's report that ruled Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassinating John F. Kennedy. Plot has Lancaster and Ryan as shady conspirators who plot the downfall of JFK on that fateful day November 22nd 1963. There's lots of talking, with the actors chewing into the dialogue whilst brooding considerably, their motives explained clearly, the framing of Oswald brought to life, and it rounds up to a triple gunmen scenario. We then get a startling revelation about what befell a number of eyewitnesses from that infamous day.
It's engrossing without being truly riveting, but the cast make it worth time spent. While if you like to buy into the conspiracy theory surrounding the assassination? Then it carries some extra entertainment value. 7/10
- hitchcockthelegend
- Jan 15, 2014
- Permalink
- jacobs-greenwood
- Oct 13, 2016
- Permalink
Anyone who wants to learn from the past, not trust the present, and be hopeful for the future should see this film. It was very well put together and very informative. Even though it is suppose to be fiction, one can only feel that this is a thinking person's film. David Miller, the director, did not waste a minute of the viewers' time in giving this film great guidance to the end of the film. I felt like I had learned something and I wanted to research and learn more. If you are a lover of history and want to not make mistakes of the past, this is definitely a movie you will enjoy. Lancaster, Ryan, and Geer were completely believable. I wish they made movies like this again. This is the best political thriller I have seen in such a long time.
- belindar-2
- Sep 20, 2014
- Permalink
A dramatization about how the high level covert conspirators in the JFK assassination might have planned , schemed and plotted the magnicide , being based on the records , data , Comission Warren's evidences , facts of the case and especulative proposition . It joins a group of greedy intelligence agents, free-lance assassins , ultra-conservative politicians and wealthy people with corrupt interests , all of them become increasingly alarmed at President Kennedy's policies, including his view points on race relations, winding down the Vietnam War, and finishing the oil depletion allowance . As a small group of like minded individuals join to devise a strategy for Kennedy not to be reelected. Among the group, the lead conspirator, Robert Foster (Robert Ryan) , presumably a Texas oil baron . He and the others are trying to convince , a wealthy right wing American businessman named Ferguson (Will Geer), being the chief strategist James Farrington (Burt Lancaster) , who has done similar work for Ferguson before . Farrington's main idea: kill the President sometime before the election. They decide to eliminate him through an "executive action" utilizing three teams of well-trained snipers during JFK's visit to Dallas and place the blame on supposed CIA operative Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone assassin and being subsequently murdered by Rudy . Their plan would have the starting point of past assassinations and assassination attempts of Presidents as McKinley , Garfield and Theodore Roosevelt , the latter was a failed attempt , all those precedents which were carried out by a lone citizen standing on his own principle , and without experience in military or revolutionary strategy . Their Goal...Assassination. November 22, 1963...Accomplished!The schemers... the plotters... and the hush men behind the assassination of an American president. Assassination conspiracy? The possibility is frightening. To this day, they remain somewhere among us... these people responsible for November 22, 1963!.The way it could have happened . Probably the most controversial film of our time.
This forceful and speculation movie is based on Mark Lane's book : ¨Rush to judgement¨ and based on conspiracy theories and the engaging evidences of the Warren Commission refused to hear , the picture at the same time uses stock footage , acting re-enacting and on-the-record facts as the framework developing the action , as it features a riveting look at possible reasons for the assassination of Head of State JFK and attempting to avoid the possibility of liberally-minded Kennedy's reelection in 1964. Providing a different look at the happenings leading to the magnicide in which millionaire and unscrupulously greedy businessmen pay professional spies to kill John Fitzgerald Kennedy . This is compelling and fascinating dramatic hypothesis constructed by the great writer Dalton Trumbo and investigator Mark Lane . Including a thoughtful and provoking dialogue as protagonists argueing the dark means of eliminating "excess population" as if it were an everyday thing. The conspiracy would be meticulously thought out, and exactly executed by a motley reunion of varied people : rogue intelligence agents, right-wing politicians, ambitious capitalists , but on the surface be made to look like a lone crazed gunman executed the assassination on his own, that patsy of a person chosen ultimately being a Communist sympathizer named Lee Harvey Oswald who would have no idea of the actual plot . This plausible enough attempt to weld a political thriller is made in Costa Gavras style , in fact producer Edward Lewis was responsible of financing , nine years later , Costa Gavras' Hollywood debut : ¨Missing¨ with Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek . Main cast give fine acting as Robert Ryan , Burt Lancaster , Will Geer ; along with a good support cast with brief appearances from Ed Lauter , John Anderon , Richard Bull , Paul Carr , Rutanya Alda, Lloyd Gough , Joaquín Martínez , Dick Miller , among others .
It contains an atmospheric and adequate cinematography by Robert Steadman . As well as impressive and thrilling musical score by Randy Edelman . This speculative agitprop picture was compellingly directed by David Miller .Filmmaker David Miller was a good professional , a fine craftsman who made a few and nice films , and some of them were successful enough . He directed all kinds of genres , such as : ¨Bittersweet Love¨ , ¨Executive action¨ , ¨Heroes¨ , ¨Hammerhead¨ , ¨Captain Newman¨ , ¨Back Street¨, ¨Midnight lace¨ , ¨Happy anniversary¨ , ¨Billy the Kid¨ , ¨The story of Esther Costello¨ . Being his two greatest hits : ¨Executive action¨ and this ¨Lonely are the brave¨ . Rating : 7.5/10 . Better than average . Worthwhile seeing . Essential and indispensable watching for political film lovers .
This forceful and speculation movie is based on Mark Lane's book : ¨Rush to judgement¨ and based on conspiracy theories and the engaging evidences of the Warren Commission refused to hear , the picture at the same time uses stock footage , acting re-enacting and on-the-record facts as the framework developing the action , as it features a riveting look at possible reasons for the assassination of Head of State JFK and attempting to avoid the possibility of liberally-minded Kennedy's reelection in 1964. Providing a different look at the happenings leading to the magnicide in which millionaire and unscrupulously greedy businessmen pay professional spies to kill John Fitzgerald Kennedy . This is compelling and fascinating dramatic hypothesis constructed by the great writer Dalton Trumbo and investigator Mark Lane . Including a thoughtful and provoking dialogue as protagonists argueing the dark means of eliminating "excess population" as if it were an everyday thing. The conspiracy would be meticulously thought out, and exactly executed by a motley reunion of varied people : rogue intelligence agents, right-wing politicians, ambitious capitalists , but on the surface be made to look like a lone crazed gunman executed the assassination on his own, that patsy of a person chosen ultimately being a Communist sympathizer named Lee Harvey Oswald who would have no idea of the actual plot . This plausible enough attempt to weld a political thriller is made in Costa Gavras style , in fact producer Edward Lewis was responsible of financing , nine years later , Costa Gavras' Hollywood debut : ¨Missing¨ with Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek . Main cast give fine acting as Robert Ryan , Burt Lancaster , Will Geer ; along with a good support cast with brief appearances from Ed Lauter , John Anderon , Richard Bull , Paul Carr , Rutanya Alda, Lloyd Gough , Joaquín Martínez , Dick Miller , among others .
It contains an atmospheric and adequate cinematography by Robert Steadman . As well as impressive and thrilling musical score by Randy Edelman . This speculative agitprop picture was compellingly directed by David Miller .Filmmaker David Miller was a good professional , a fine craftsman who made a few and nice films , and some of them were successful enough . He directed all kinds of genres , such as : ¨Bittersweet Love¨ , ¨Executive action¨ , ¨Heroes¨ , ¨Hammerhead¨ , ¨Captain Newman¨ , ¨Back Street¨, ¨Midnight lace¨ , ¨Happy anniversary¨ , ¨Billy the Kid¨ , ¨The story of Esther Costello¨ . Being his two greatest hits : ¨Executive action¨ and this ¨Lonely are the brave¨ . Rating : 7.5/10 . Better than average . Worthwhile seeing . Essential and indispensable watching for political film lovers .
- JamesHitchcock
- Mar 5, 2009
- Permalink
With a running time of less than half of that of Oliver Stone's also excellent "JFK," this movie is more to the point. It doesn't bombard you as much with facts/theories as "JFK," leaving some to the imagination of the viewer. It was released in the fall of 1973, while the 10th anniversary of the assasination approached, and the Watergate scandal was in full swing. I was 13 when it came out, and the idea that there even could have been a conspiracy was frightening. Almost thirty years later, it still is, although with all the subsequent revelations and scandals in D. C., it does not suprise me anymore.
The movie moves along rapidly, and the acting by the late trio of Landcaster Ryan, and Will Geer (grandpa Walton as a bad guy, I love it!)is excellent. This was Robert Ryan's last film. It was an excellent final cinema performance by one of Hollywood's most under-rated actors. One can tell were Oliver Stone got his inspiration to cutting back and forth between black-and-white and color sequences. In that respect, Executive Action was ahead of its time. For almost twenty years, it was THE movie on the assassination. It is still an excellent companion piece to "JFK," and for those less interested in the subject this movie might actually be preferable, and it's theories are not dissimilar to Stone's. Unfortunately, the movie did not get it's due at the time of the release. At only ten years removed from the assasination, it was was still too painful a subject for many at the time. Finally, how Leonard Maltin finds this move "excruciatingly dull" is beyond me.
The movie moves along rapidly, and the acting by the late trio of Landcaster Ryan, and Will Geer (grandpa Walton as a bad guy, I love it!)is excellent. This was Robert Ryan's last film. It was an excellent final cinema performance by one of Hollywood's most under-rated actors. One can tell were Oliver Stone got his inspiration to cutting back and forth between black-and-white and color sequences. In that respect, Executive Action was ahead of its time. For almost twenty years, it was THE movie on the assassination. It is still an excellent companion piece to "JFK," and for those less interested in the subject this movie might actually be preferable, and it's theories are not dissimilar to Stone's. Unfortunately, the movie did not get it's due at the time of the release. At only ten years removed from the assasination, it was was still too painful a subject for many at the time. Finally, how Leonard Maltin finds this move "excruciatingly dull" is beyond me.
I think it is an excellent movie to watch so long as you remember it is just a movie. The fact so many people would be involved make sit unrealistic. Too many cover stories to cover up.
At the same time, how an one would go about planning and covering up the murder is easy to believe if you consider the situation in 1960.
The Secret Service was by no means that great of an organization in those days as the Movie depicts.
A murder in Dallas was a State Investigation and the Federal Governmnet had no powers to take the body in those days either. Police forces
However, in the end , if you make a trip to Dealy Plaza and the Book Despository Bulding in person and Grassy Knoll Fence, one can easily see how short of distance Oswald had to shoot from the sixth floor. It is very close and very easy to put three shots out.
And as for the Grassy Knoll it is a easy jog of 10 seconds or less to view an entire parking lot if any gun men hid or left there.
I highly recommend everyone watch this movie and it is much better than JFK! The only that benefited from JFK's death was LB Johnson rise to the Presidnecy and huge Democratic majorities in House and Senate in the election of 1964. Not a Right Wing Corporation.
At the same time, how an one would go about planning and covering up the murder is easy to believe if you consider the situation in 1960.
The Secret Service was by no means that great of an organization in those days as the Movie depicts.
A murder in Dallas was a State Investigation and the Federal Governmnet had no powers to take the body in those days either. Police forces
However, in the end , if you make a trip to Dealy Plaza and the Book Despository Bulding in person and Grassy Knoll Fence, one can easily see how short of distance Oswald had to shoot from the sixth floor. It is very close and very easy to put three shots out.
And as for the Grassy Knoll it is a easy jog of 10 seconds or less to view an entire parking lot if any gun men hid or left there.
I highly recommend everyone watch this movie and it is much better than JFK! The only that benefited from JFK's death was LB Johnson rise to the Presidnecy and huge Democratic majorities in House and Senate in the election of 1964. Not a Right Wing Corporation.
JFK's assassination was a crisis point for American liberalism. Liberals were unwilling to accept the simple truth, that he had been shot and killed by a Communist (although Oswald preferred to call himself a "Marxist") in protest over his policies toward Castro's Cuba. They didn't want JFK to be a martyr to the Cold War; they wanted him to be a martyr to the Civil Rights movement, even though his record on Civil Rights featured much talk and little action. So they cultivated one conspiracy theory after another in the years that followed the 1963 events in Dallas, desperate to believe that their icon had been murdered by a villainous right-wing conspiracy and not, as overwhelming evidence suggests, by a lone nut who had lived in the Soviet Union. This film, made 10 years after the assassination, was just one of many attempts to persuade the public that JFK had to have been bumped off by Texas right-wingers and not by Lee Harvey Oswald. Dalton Trumbo, who wrote the screenplay, was a famous member of the '50s "blacklist" and a dedicated member of the old political left that would have wished Kennedy's memory to be enshrined as a Civil Rights hero, not a Cold War victim. The film is low-budget and is essentially twaddle; none of its assertions has ever been even remotely proved, and its "disclaimer," which states that its makers only wished to show how such a conspiracy "could have existed," is disingenuous at best. I found this movie intriguing when I first saw it at age 18; today I just find it silly.
This movie was made almost twenty years before Oliver Stone's JFK so of course people are going to say that it is trite, inferior and dated. I really enjoyed it though because it is a good thriller. Was the Kennedy assassination planned by a group of disgruntled rich guys who didn't want him to obtain cival rights and pull out of Vietnam? Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan are both superb as the big bosses. They honestly believe they are doing the country a favor by killing Kennedy. They believe they are being true patriots. Its really suspenseful watching the plot unfold and come together. The liberal use of newsreel footage adds to the realism and the scenes leading up to the assassination are particularly good and suspenseful. You can feel your pulse raising as the president rides to his doom. Sadly, Ryan died shortly after this film came out. Also, its fun seeing Will Geer, the lovable Grandfather Walton, in a slightly sinister role.
This is a quite good film; I based that on a) when we played the DVD in our home, it was not stopped or interrupted for any reason, we were engaged enough to not be distracted, and b) you will note that those IMDb reviews which "hate" the film are not taking issue with the film itself, but that they do not believe there is a conspiracy and are therefore compelled to belittle or insult anyone offering a differing opinion.
On the movie's merits alone, it does present a provocative case, it certainly gives rise to at least room for question. I was a bit surprised at some of the conspiracy evidence raised, being it was 1973, but one does tend to forget that we really knew almost as much then as we know today. Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, and Will Geer are excellent in their respective roles as rather loosely defined business tycoons and intelligence establishment types who plan and execute the assassination of President Kennedy, based on sincere albeit misguided and backward motivations. This is liberally inter-cut with documentary and newsreel footage of actual events to place our characters in specific time and place, and this is also done quite well.
The viewer, however, will never for a moment believe our characters are actually IN 1963. While it has no bearing on the validity of the points being raised, it is obvious the filmmakers put forth a wholly inadequate effort to make 1973 Dallas look like 1963 Dallas, not at all. The styles of men's fashions (all of the characters are men), haircuts, eyeglasses, shoes, etc., were dramatically different in '73 than '63, but throughout the film our characters are dressed in garish ill-fitting 1970's fashions and wearing shaggy unattractive 1970's haircuts (indeed, both Lancaster and Ryan are sporting the worst do's of their entire careers here). Post 1963 model cars populate the streets in the background. While the central characters are given period correct cars (1959 and 1962 Chevrolets), they are beaten into a state of disrepair quite unlikely for 1963, when they would have still been relatively new cars. Dealey Plaza is used only in long shot, the close shots of the characters entering the Texas School Book Depository or the Dallas County Records Building substitute inaccurate and poorly matched back-lot facades. I do not believe the mansion where they meet is located in Dallas (it actually looks like stately Wayne Manor from Batman). The hit-men arrive in Dallas and lodge in what is obviously a 1970's hotel room. Most "period" pieces in the 1970's are abysmally done, look at American Graffiti or Grease. If this sort of immaterial detail bothers you, this film will drive you nuts.
This aside, this is an excellent study that proposes a theory which is in no way precluded by the known facts. It could have happened in this manner and is indeed believed to have by many well studied researchers.
On the movie's merits alone, it does present a provocative case, it certainly gives rise to at least room for question. I was a bit surprised at some of the conspiracy evidence raised, being it was 1973, but one does tend to forget that we really knew almost as much then as we know today. Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, and Will Geer are excellent in their respective roles as rather loosely defined business tycoons and intelligence establishment types who plan and execute the assassination of President Kennedy, based on sincere albeit misguided and backward motivations. This is liberally inter-cut with documentary and newsreel footage of actual events to place our characters in specific time and place, and this is also done quite well.
The viewer, however, will never for a moment believe our characters are actually IN 1963. While it has no bearing on the validity of the points being raised, it is obvious the filmmakers put forth a wholly inadequate effort to make 1973 Dallas look like 1963 Dallas, not at all. The styles of men's fashions (all of the characters are men), haircuts, eyeglasses, shoes, etc., were dramatically different in '73 than '63, but throughout the film our characters are dressed in garish ill-fitting 1970's fashions and wearing shaggy unattractive 1970's haircuts (indeed, both Lancaster and Ryan are sporting the worst do's of their entire careers here). Post 1963 model cars populate the streets in the background. While the central characters are given period correct cars (1959 and 1962 Chevrolets), they are beaten into a state of disrepair quite unlikely for 1963, when they would have still been relatively new cars. Dealey Plaza is used only in long shot, the close shots of the characters entering the Texas School Book Depository or the Dallas County Records Building substitute inaccurate and poorly matched back-lot facades. I do not believe the mansion where they meet is located in Dallas (it actually looks like stately Wayne Manor from Batman). The hit-men arrive in Dallas and lodge in what is obviously a 1970's hotel room. Most "period" pieces in the 1970's are abysmally done, look at American Graffiti or Grease. If this sort of immaterial detail bothers you, this film will drive you nuts.
This aside, this is an excellent study that proposes a theory which is in no way precluded by the known facts. It could have happened in this manner and is indeed believed to have by many well studied researchers.
- writers_reign
- Aug 29, 2016
- Permalink
I saw this movie when I was 15, and believed every word of its hysterical, conspiracy-theory nonsense.
Then I grew up.
Don't get me wrong--EXECUTIVE ACTION is effective nonsense, but it's still so much fuss and feathers, based on bad history and worse science.
Now that you know where I stand on the JFK assassination, please read the following:
I watched EA again last night and thought it was a humdinger of a small-budget piece of fiction. The documentarian feel is chilling, the principles are all grim and sickeningly sure of themselves, and, with the exception of the glaringly modern haircuts, the movie feels authentic.
Now, do yourself two favors--read Case Closed by Gerald Posner and watch the JFK conspiracy piece by ABC News first broadcast in November of 2003. You'll know what really happened and you'll have seen a pretty decent movie about what didn't happen.
Then I grew up.
Don't get me wrong--EXECUTIVE ACTION is effective nonsense, but it's still so much fuss and feathers, based on bad history and worse science.
Now that you know where I stand on the JFK assassination, please read the following:
I watched EA again last night and thought it was a humdinger of a small-budget piece of fiction. The documentarian feel is chilling, the principles are all grim and sickeningly sure of themselves, and, with the exception of the glaringly modern haircuts, the movie feels authentic.
Now, do yourself two favors--read Case Closed by Gerald Posner and watch the JFK conspiracy piece by ABC News first broadcast in November of 2003. You'll know what really happened and you'll have seen a pretty decent movie about what didn't happen.
- inspectors71
- Jan 10, 2005
- Permalink
Interesting and effective film about the JFK assassination released ten years after the tragic event and seventeen years before the far more popular movie "JFK". With hardly any of the controversy of the Oliver Stone & Kevin Costner version.
A number of big oil-men get together in June 1963 to plan to assassinate JFK because his policies, domestic as well as foreign, are a threat to their money and power. The oil men start to put into effect the plan that eventually led to the tragic events of November 22, 1963. Good acting and directing makes this movie grab your attention and see it through it's tragic ending. Even though everyone watching the movie knows what the ending is which is anticlimactic.
What really makes the movie is the build-up and plans that lead to the events that happened in Dallas on that fateful November day. One of the most chilling scenes in the movie is when Farrington, Burt Lancaster, meets up in a diner with Operations Chief played by actor Ed Lauter. Farrington explains to him what he'll get for the "hit" in money and expenses without telling him who is to be "hit". Lauter realizes who it is without Farrington even telling him just by the money and effort involved and tells him surprisingly as well as shockingly "You've just told me who's going to get to hit!": Which is the President of the United State John Fitzgerald Kennedy without even once mentioning him!
Also very effective, besides the scene when the actual assassination takes place, is how the killers planned the "hit" and how they came to the conclusion, after hours and hours of practice shooting on a moving and difficult target, that one shooter doing it would be impossible. The killers instead opted to use at least three riflemen in different places. Unlike the version what we got from the official report by the by now totally discredited, by almost 90% of the American public, Warren Commission of a one man one gun assassin. "Executive Action" was also Robert Ryans last major role.
A number of big oil-men get together in June 1963 to plan to assassinate JFK because his policies, domestic as well as foreign, are a threat to their money and power. The oil men start to put into effect the plan that eventually led to the tragic events of November 22, 1963. Good acting and directing makes this movie grab your attention and see it through it's tragic ending. Even though everyone watching the movie knows what the ending is which is anticlimactic.
What really makes the movie is the build-up and plans that lead to the events that happened in Dallas on that fateful November day. One of the most chilling scenes in the movie is when Farrington, Burt Lancaster, meets up in a diner with Operations Chief played by actor Ed Lauter. Farrington explains to him what he'll get for the "hit" in money and expenses without telling him who is to be "hit". Lauter realizes who it is without Farrington even telling him just by the money and effort involved and tells him surprisingly as well as shockingly "You've just told me who's going to get to hit!": Which is the President of the United State John Fitzgerald Kennedy without even once mentioning him!
Also very effective, besides the scene when the actual assassination takes place, is how the killers planned the "hit" and how they came to the conclusion, after hours and hours of practice shooting on a moving and difficult target, that one shooter doing it would be impossible. The killers instead opted to use at least three riflemen in different places. Unlike the version what we got from the official report by the by now totally discredited, by almost 90% of the American public, Warren Commission of a one man one gun assassin. "Executive Action" was also Robert Ryans last major role.
The appeal of this motion-picture for me--and, I surmise, the reason it was made--is not so much to be a profitable work of art, but rather, a courageous effort to search for the truth.
The obscurity of the film shows that, despite the efforts of courageous progressives who put their money where their hearts were- -Kirk Douglas, Robert Ryan, Burt Lancaster, to name just a few--the reactionary, established powers had the last laugh.
Because the established order of the financial-military mafia that rules this country can only be sustained through fiction and, consequently, any social commentary trending towards fact must be marginalized or lampooned as 'conspiracy theory.'
Now, down to a couple of brass tacks. I already had studied the JFK assassination quite a bit when first I saw this film, but I was surprised that a movie made in 1973 could capture so many of the key elements of the conspiracy, and do it so seamlessly, without getting lost in a morass of details.
Two of these key elements treated compellingly in this film are:
1) the set-up of Oswald, the 'patron', as he is termed in the movie. Step by step Farington (the character played by Lancaster) briefs Robert Ryan (one of the principal conspirators) about Oswald's very, very curious background and CV--his activities in the USMC, his Russian language training, his abrupt departure, the inconsistencies of his emergency leave, his circuitous route to Moscow, his melodramatic defection, then his return to the US, his fair-play for Cuba activities--and, all along, the almost magical manner in which these gyrations went off without a hitch, and were even expedited and facilitated by various US agencies. As Ryan concludes: obviously was an agent of the CIA or ONI, his bizarre activities were machinations to send to the USSR as a 'mole', or 'trojan horse', but the Soviets were past masters in espionnage, and didn't take the bait.
2) a point so obvious that it sometimes is forgotten, or simply defies belief: a scene in the movie where a table-ful of reporters incredulously ask a Dallas police official what records, what transcripts or tapes have been made of Oswald's hours-long interrogations, only to be told--with no hint of embarrassment--that there are none. This is just one compelling example of another basic proof of the JFK conspiracy: the incredibly incompetent manner in which the official investigation of the crime was conducted. And yes, I mean incredible in the literal sense: a bit of investigatory incompetence here and there would be understandable--but the consistency of these 'errors' shows conclusively a deliberate effort to mask what really happened.
Please remember that Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster also were part of Seven Days in May, which JFK asked Frankheimer to make, a movie about a right-wing military takeover of the USA.
So for all those who poo-poo the idea of a JFK conspiracy and commonly dismiss believers in such a conspiracy as lunatics, consider the fact that such outstanding individuals as Douglas, Lancaster, and Frankenheimer, intelligent, and with many contacts-- BUT with a lot of DISincentives, nevertheless repeatedly made pointed efforts suggesting the existence of an organized plot to subvert democracy in the USA, doesn't this give you pause?
This is a reasonable representation of how the JFK conspiracy assassination may have been planned and executed; it's muted and almost documentary in approach, but this undramatic approach only makes it more powerful.
The obscurity of the film shows that, despite the efforts of courageous progressives who put their money where their hearts were- -Kirk Douglas, Robert Ryan, Burt Lancaster, to name just a few--the reactionary, established powers had the last laugh.
Because the established order of the financial-military mafia that rules this country can only be sustained through fiction and, consequently, any social commentary trending towards fact must be marginalized or lampooned as 'conspiracy theory.'
Now, down to a couple of brass tacks. I already had studied the JFK assassination quite a bit when first I saw this film, but I was surprised that a movie made in 1973 could capture so many of the key elements of the conspiracy, and do it so seamlessly, without getting lost in a morass of details.
Two of these key elements treated compellingly in this film are:
1) the set-up of Oswald, the 'patron', as he is termed in the movie. Step by step Farington (the character played by Lancaster) briefs Robert Ryan (one of the principal conspirators) about Oswald's very, very curious background and CV--his activities in the USMC, his Russian language training, his abrupt departure, the inconsistencies of his emergency leave, his circuitous route to Moscow, his melodramatic defection, then his return to the US, his fair-play for Cuba activities--and, all along, the almost magical manner in which these gyrations went off without a hitch, and were even expedited and facilitated by various US agencies. As Ryan concludes: obviously was an agent of the CIA or ONI, his bizarre activities were machinations to send to the USSR as a 'mole', or 'trojan horse', but the Soviets were past masters in espionnage, and didn't take the bait.
2) a point so obvious that it sometimes is forgotten, or simply defies belief: a scene in the movie where a table-ful of reporters incredulously ask a Dallas police official what records, what transcripts or tapes have been made of Oswald's hours-long interrogations, only to be told--with no hint of embarrassment--that there are none. This is just one compelling example of another basic proof of the JFK conspiracy: the incredibly incompetent manner in which the official investigation of the crime was conducted. And yes, I mean incredible in the literal sense: a bit of investigatory incompetence here and there would be understandable--but the consistency of these 'errors' shows conclusively a deliberate effort to mask what really happened.
Please remember that Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster also were part of Seven Days in May, which JFK asked Frankheimer to make, a movie about a right-wing military takeover of the USA.
So for all those who poo-poo the idea of a JFK conspiracy and commonly dismiss believers in such a conspiracy as lunatics, consider the fact that such outstanding individuals as Douglas, Lancaster, and Frankenheimer, intelligent, and with many contacts-- BUT with a lot of DISincentives, nevertheless repeatedly made pointed efforts suggesting the existence of an organized plot to subvert democracy in the USA, doesn't this give you pause?
This is a reasonable representation of how the JFK conspiracy assassination may have been planned and executed; it's muted and almost documentary in approach, but this undramatic approach only makes it more powerful.
- guerre1859
- Sep 20, 2015
- Permalink
The major problem I have with "Executive Action" is it isn't believable (which is a HUGE problem when one is trying not just to entertain but to present factual-based information.) I sat through an hour of this movie not believing one word of it! How anybody can point to this film as the truth concerning JFK's assassination is beyond me. At least in Oliver Stone's pseudo-historical drama "JFK", the story-telling was top-notch. While the acting was fine, "Executive Action" was woefully directed and scripted poorly.
If this had been more on the line of a roman a' clef dramatization, I would have moved it a few points upward from the one I gave it. But I can't give credence to a dramatic offering where purported "facts" are thrown around as gospel. Since no credible historian trumpets the list of accusations that the film makers make, I have to declare the whole project suspect.
Judging from the talent (and they are talented!)in the movie, one would have to gather this movie is more of an effort to avenge their accused Hollywood colleagues during the Blacklist era of the late forties and early fifties. In fact, Dalton Trumbo and Will Geer are two names that were prominent members of that group that were either imprisoned or lost film work. I would have no problem with this effort if the creators of "Executive Action" tried to make an honest movie from reliable information. That they chose not to do this but to display a polemical drama as pure history might be their greatest film making error!
If this had been more on the line of a roman a' clef dramatization, I would have moved it a few points upward from the one I gave it. But I can't give credence to a dramatic offering where purported "facts" are thrown around as gospel. Since no credible historian trumpets the list of accusations that the film makers make, I have to declare the whole project suspect.
Judging from the talent (and they are talented!)in the movie, one would have to gather this movie is more of an effort to avenge their accused Hollywood colleagues during the Blacklist era of the late forties and early fifties. In fact, Dalton Trumbo and Will Geer are two names that were prominent members of that group that were either imprisoned or lost film work. I would have no problem with this effort if the creators of "Executive Action" tried to make an honest movie from reliable information. That they chose not to do this but to display a polemical drama as pure history might be their greatest film making error!
- LarrupinLou
- Jan 19, 2002
- Permalink
It's great when you find a rarely seen film that you've long wanted to view hidden away in the schedules of early morning TV. This fascinating movie must have been one of the first to address openly the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination and deserves kudos for that alone, although its merit as purely cinematic entertainment, viewed from 35 years hence are slightly more questionable now.
Not unnaturally, the film suffers somewhat in comparison to the plethora of subsequent TV documentaries and film-"faction" interpretation of events any one of which can convince me on a good day that theirs is the truth! The polemic here is that a crack "assassination squad" with Burt Lancaster at the helm (on a strictly non-participatory basis, of course) is bankrolled by a high-roller Southern politician (Will Geer) and syphoned through chief coordinator Robert Ryan on the premise that a possible Kennedy dynasty, moving from JFK to Robert and then Teddy Kennedy, standing for amongst other things civil rights and withdrawal from Vietnam, would derail the American Dream to the extent that "executive action" (in other words assassination) is required to halt them in their tracks. Unbelievable perhaps, (I've always tended more to the "mob" theory of ultimate guilt myself) but no more unbelievable than the actual deed itself, truth as ever being stranger than fiction.
The film starts slowly with an almost interminable set of title credits which perhaps deliberately sleepwalks you into a scene where you ultimately realise with a start that these respectable looking men having drinks and making conversation are in fact contemplating the most shocking murder of the 20th century. The film then moves on, the clock now ticking as superimposed dates edge us towards November 22nd as their carefully laid plan takes shape and comes to its inevitable unavoidable conclusion.
By imaginatively intermingling verite video footage of JFK in his last days into the conspiracy narrative, the piece gets some dramatic propulsion, although I'd have to say the dialogue coming from JFK's lips is better than that from the plotters. The most compelling scenes for me are those where we see the assassination team coldly and systematically rehearsing ad infinitum their drill for the shoot and of course the recreation of the murder on Deeley Plaza in the otherwise nondescript urban settings since forever indelibly ingrained on our collective psyche.
One or two aspects of the narrative don't quite ring true however, particularly the statement made to the effect that the plotters could find nothing in his background to discredit Kennedy (history now tells us different of course). The ending though is effective, highlighting the mysterious deaths (18 up to 1967) of material witnesses as further evidence of a cover-up, which in itself became a major plot device in Allan J Pakula's almost contemporaneous thriller starring Warren Beatty, the excellent "The Parallax View".
Despite the heavyweight cast, I found the acting only just passable, almost as if the actors themselves were holding something back from their performances in deference to the event. The supporting roles hold up better, particularly the Lee Harvey Oswald lookalike and drill-commander of Lancaster's unit.
As hinted above, with the welter of material now in the public domain and on celluloid, "Executive Action" can seem a little underpowered, especially compared to Oliver Stone's gargantuan but flawed "JFK". At just over 90 minutes long, this much shorter feature does enough however to make its point and starts the debate all over again, as it should.
Truth will out someday on this shameful episode in American history - it will be interesting to see just whose filmed version of the story actually got closest to it...
Not unnaturally, the film suffers somewhat in comparison to the plethora of subsequent TV documentaries and film-"faction" interpretation of events any one of which can convince me on a good day that theirs is the truth! The polemic here is that a crack "assassination squad" with Burt Lancaster at the helm (on a strictly non-participatory basis, of course) is bankrolled by a high-roller Southern politician (Will Geer) and syphoned through chief coordinator Robert Ryan on the premise that a possible Kennedy dynasty, moving from JFK to Robert and then Teddy Kennedy, standing for amongst other things civil rights and withdrawal from Vietnam, would derail the American Dream to the extent that "executive action" (in other words assassination) is required to halt them in their tracks. Unbelievable perhaps, (I've always tended more to the "mob" theory of ultimate guilt myself) but no more unbelievable than the actual deed itself, truth as ever being stranger than fiction.
The film starts slowly with an almost interminable set of title credits which perhaps deliberately sleepwalks you into a scene where you ultimately realise with a start that these respectable looking men having drinks and making conversation are in fact contemplating the most shocking murder of the 20th century. The film then moves on, the clock now ticking as superimposed dates edge us towards November 22nd as their carefully laid plan takes shape and comes to its inevitable unavoidable conclusion.
By imaginatively intermingling verite video footage of JFK in his last days into the conspiracy narrative, the piece gets some dramatic propulsion, although I'd have to say the dialogue coming from JFK's lips is better than that from the plotters. The most compelling scenes for me are those where we see the assassination team coldly and systematically rehearsing ad infinitum their drill for the shoot and of course the recreation of the murder on Deeley Plaza in the otherwise nondescript urban settings since forever indelibly ingrained on our collective psyche.
One or two aspects of the narrative don't quite ring true however, particularly the statement made to the effect that the plotters could find nothing in his background to discredit Kennedy (history now tells us different of course). The ending though is effective, highlighting the mysterious deaths (18 up to 1967) of material witnesses as further evidence of a cover-up, which in itself became a major plot device in Allan J Pakula's almost contemporaneous thriller starring Warren Beatty, the excellent "The Parallax View".
Despite the heavyweight cast, I found the acting only just passable, almost as if the actors themselves were holding something back from their performances in deference to the event. The supporting roles hold up better, particularly the Lee Harvey Oswald lookalike and drill-commander of Lancaster's unit.
As hinted above, with the welter of material now in the public domain and on celluloid, "Executive Action" can seem a little underpowered, especially compared to Oliver Stone's gargantuan but flawed "JFK". At just over 90 minutes long, this much shorter feature does enough however to make its point and starts the debate all over again, as it should.
Truth will out someday on this shameful episode in American history - it will be interesting to see just whose filmed version of the story actually got closest to it...
David Miller directed this speculative conspiracy film dealing with the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy on Nov.22,1963, which this film theorizes was a combination of government and business interests, threatened by the social change and end of the Vietnamese war they feared would lead to disaster. Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Will Gear, John Anderson, and Ed Lauter round out the cast of conspirators. Despite the explosive nature of this material(explored far better in later film "JFK") this film is inexplicably tame, presented in a coldly indifferent fashion most unsuited to the premise. Good cast keeps you interested, but film is ultimately a misfire.
- AaronCapenBanner
- Nov 19, 2013
- Permalink