Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963)

  • NR
  • 10/21/1963 (US)
  • Documentary
  • 52m

Overview

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.

Robert Drew

Director

Cast

James Lipscomb's headshot

James Lipscomb

Narrator
John F. Kennedy's headshot

John F. Kennedy

Self
George Wallace's headshot

George Wallace

Self
Robert F. Kennedy's headshot

Robert F. Kennedy

Self
Vivian Malone's headshot

Vivian Malone

Self
James Hood's headshot

James Hood

Self

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