New JFK film 'THE COMMISSION'

[joe1991]

http://www.thecommissiononline.com/menu.htm

Starring Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston, Martin Landau, Edward Asner, Henry Gibson,Jack Betts, Corbin Bernsen, Joe Don Baker.

In the aftermath of the brutal assassination of US President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, 7 Americans of "unimpeachable" integrity were selected by US President Lyndon B. Johnson to report to the American public on all of the facts regarding the assassination, "as far as they can be known". At the end of the term of "The President's Commission," (known unofficially as "The Warren Commission"), all transcripts of the secret meetings of the 7 Commissioners were originally classified as TOP SECRET for 75 years, to have remained sealed from the public until the year 2039!

Through the legal challenges of private citizens over a period of years, these transcripts were gradually declassified without publicity or fanfare. Never published for the public at large, the many hundreds of pages of verbatim discussion have languished within the US National Archives for 40 years --- largely forgotten by history, awaiting a reader. "THE COMMISSION" takes the audience behind those closed doors to discover why US National Security demanded that the matter remain Top Secret for 75 years. What unfolds will doubtless shock many. Some may become angered. Some will cry. And afterwards, our view of the integrity of "the greatest murder investigation in the history of the world" will never again be the same.

More than history, "THE COMMISSION" is a powerful commentary on the integrity of the Political and Justice System both today, and well into the foreseeable future. Every American, regardless of age, should see this film --- "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

[harrison]

1. Everyone please check this out. This looks fascinating and

it is the first I have heard of it. As they say on the site, we have to get a little buzz going.

[DAGDA56]

2. Yeah, some big names, but no publicity...

...for once Martin Sheen isn't playing a Kennedy...Corbin Bernsen as Jerry Ford and someone, who's name I missed, as "Mr. Spector".

[jimshoes]

3. Wow, first I heard of it

Here's hoping they will do "justice" to the subject matter. I will keep tabs on its progress.

[ConcernedCanuk]

4. For those that like to read - read on!

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http://www.thecommissiononline.com/notes.htm

Note at bottom of page:

"Permission is granted to quote from all or part of the above in articles and reviews."

(c) Mark Sobel Films MMIII

Notes from The Filmmaker

/snip/

As recently as 1995 we find the deliberate and illegal destruction of documents relating to Presidential Protection in the fall of 1963, including "Dallas related files." This was discovered by the 1992-1998 Assassination Records Review Board --- a panel appointed to begin early declassification of assassination documents for the express purpose of "restoring" public faith in Government, following doubts created by the release of the motion picture "JFK"!

And yet even over 30 years after the event in Dallas, Top Secret documents still existed that were considered too 'hot' to be allowed to exist, in spite of the fact that their destruction could have led to massive re-investigation if reported loudly by the press. (It wasn't, and so it didn't).

/snip/

The FBI photo expert testified that the Commission had not requested enlargements of the first two seconds of images of the assassination sequence ... over 35 images! The explanation boiled down to the FBI and Commission Legal staff knowing from watching the film that nothing had happened during that 2 seconds. (As a result, the Commission was not compelled to publish these 35 or so images ---- to this very day if one goes to the National Archives to view copies of the slides of the Zapruder film in a viewing room, those first 35 or so images are not available to be seen since they were "never a part of the Commission's slide set.". Very convenient --- it has worked for 40 years, and still counting!)

Since today most people who have studied the film in detail believe that a shot was indeed fired during this time and missed the car, the story that such frames were "never requested" does seem to strain credibility.

/snip/

5 The witness transcripts were published in November 1964 as part of a 26-volume set of Testimony and Exhibits; although a mere 2700 copies were printed for sale to the general public in a country of 180 million, even more tragic is the fact that it took 8 years for these 2700 copies to sell out! (One of the scenes cut from the movie is a somewhat humorous meeting in which the Commissioners are called upon to determine what the size the Report should be, and whether they were really under an obligation to print the testimony given their limited financial resources).

ABOVE: Principal Cast (TOP Left-to-Right: Martin Sheen, Martin Landau, Sam Waterston; BOTTOM Left-to-Right: Corbin Bernsen, Edward Asner, Joe Don Baker, Lloyd Bochner)

/snip/

6 After reading the transcripts, there is only one person that I feel wanted 100% of the truth to come out regardless of what it might turn out to be --- the late Congressman Hale Boggs. As more facts came out in the late 1960s, Boggs is said to have become distressed over ever being involved with the Commission --- per his wife in testimony before the Assassination Records Review Board in 1997.

/snip/

Hale Boggs was the only member of Congress ever to call for J. Edgar Hoover's resignation. In a stirring speech on the House floor in 1971, Boggs accused Hoover of employing tactics used by Hitler's Gestapo and the Soviet Union's KGB, saying that as a result, America was no longer "free." On the other side of the aisle, Hoover was defended by Congressman Ford, challenging Boggs to prove his claims.

In 1972 Boggs was aboard a private plane flying over Alaska when the plane disappeared from radar. No trace of it was ever found. With absolutely no implication whatsoever, I have read (subject to verification) that Boggs had been driven to the airport to leave on his Alaska trip by a then-intern named William Jefferson Clinton.

/snip/

(Roger Craig chronicled his assassination-related ordeal in a 1971 manuscript entitled "When They Kill A President," finally published in the late 1990s by www.JFKlancer.com. ) In great physical pain, as well as emotional distress, Craig committed suicide via a shotgun blast to the chest in 1975, at the age of 39).

/snip/

9 As an example, the idea behind "Separation of Powers" was a recognition before-the-fact that absolute power placed in a single pair of hands was inherently destined to lead to corruption. In this way the founding fathers used their fore-knowledge of the failings of human nature to carve out a system that they believed would compensate
__________________________________________________________________

I wonder how this will be received by the general public.

Of course, the timing, with a title like "The Commission" should raise some interest?

And I'd be curious to know what percentage of the voting public is REALLY paying attention to the 911 Commission?

OH,

definitely worth visiting the movie's website!

[dae]

6. Interesting remark from Lindy Boggs, who was a successful Congress-

woman for many years after her husband's mysterious disappearance. It would also be interesting to see how Cokie Roberts, Hale & Lindy Boggs' daughter reconciles that with a remark she made years ago on here weekly format shared with three other talking heads.
She was criticizing Oliver Stone's movie "JFK" and how her Daddy had been part of it and it was "the whole truth and anything else was fiction".

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

5. Interview with the director

Part 1:
http://www.blackopradio.com/black168a.ram

Part 2:
http://www.blackopradio.com/black168b.ram

I REALLY hope this gets some press so it'll come over to the UK. I'm still waiting for "Interview with the Assassin" to get at least a DVD release :(.