Movie Recommendation 'Executive Action' JFK Conspiracy movie from 1973 Burt Lancaster.

Greetings-

I just got through watching the tail end of "Executive Action" A JFK conspiracy movie from 1973

www.imdb.com...

A trailer:

www.youtube.com...

Actual movie:

www.dailymotion.com...

I caught it late. When I started watching it, there was a group of Muckity Mucks (CIA; FBI: SECRET; SECRET) who were kissing the arse of an older guy (Will Geer from The Waltons) and they are just "spitballing" until Will Geer gets pissed because Kennedy withdraws US troops from Vietnam and Will Geer makes His $$$ in war and oil (go figure)...

The guide rated this a 2• Star 'dog' but it is way better than that. If You get the chance it isn't a waste...

I was trying to track this movie down for years in the pre-internet era, and when it finally showed up on UK TV in 2003 it was in some graveyard slot in the early morning - and I didn't have a video recorder (remember those?) So I set the alarm clock and got up in the middle of the night to watch it. I'm glad I did. It really is an excellent movie, and I endorse the OP's recommendation.

It's probably most interesting for being a 'fly in amber' from the first generation of JFK conspiracy thinking, in that it concerns itself mainly with the planning and execution, rather than the geopolitical implications, webs of espionage and political double-crosses, and the general grand canvas of Oliver Stone's movie.

Executive Action is a far more 'intimate' film, its characters and settings quite small-scale, and the rationale for the murder is dealt with almost in passing. The scene in which the oil-baron character makes a phone call to signal his assent to the murder, which must last 10 seconds at most, is a real gem. And there are some interesting thoughts (the Oswald impersonator being coached with cinema newsreel footage of the real Oswald sticks in the mind).

Oliver Stone set out to make A Great Movie. Executive Action is just a great movie.

a reply to: audubon


I had typed out a bit about when Will Geer (Oil Turd) finally calls Robert Ryan to give the 'go ahead' That was when Kennedy talked about removing the US troops from Vietnam and trying to get more "others" involved, but because that was where I started watching I wasn't sure if that was the main 'trigger'
Remember when Robert Ryan was talking w/Burt Lancaster about population control? He mentioned "looking at the data" which He said was basically "Whitey will get 'out birthed' but not to fret "low wage earning whites" would also find their demise..

It must've been 'Conspiracy Day' on TurnerClassicMovies™ because right before this movie, they were showing the George Patton (George Kennedy) movie where Patton gets shot while in a staged car accident by a German triple agent.

a reply to: JimNasium


Thanks for posting this Jim, I've been wanting to see this movie for some time. I was 15 in '73 but somehow never saw it then. Strangely enough, though there was a disclaimer at the beginning about it being a work of fiction, they got a whole ton of the facts right. And where they filled in the blanks was pretty plausible. Thanks again, I liked it.

a reply to: wtbengineer


Yeah, that was the thing that had Me stuck watching. I turned it on when they were all sitting around kissing Will Geer's keester. Then the way Judas, I mean Lee Harvey fell into their lap to be used as a Sap, really had Me thinking back to hearing Oswald saying He was a 'fall guy'.. Did You catch the details about 'the grassy knoll'?

The movie w/George Kennedy looked to be a good one too.

Here is the info about that movie "Brass Target"

www.imdb.com...

Brass Target trailer:

www.youtube.com...

"Save Me the aisle seat"- Gene Siskel

a reply to: JimNasium

Yeah, I've studied a lot about Oswald and they included a whole bunch of facts about his life that I wouldn't have expected from 1973, but then again, I saw Mark Lane's name in the credits and he was on it back in those early days. I liked the way they weaved it all in to the fictional account they cooked up for how the patsy was targeted. Made sense.

What details are you talking about specifically about the 'grassy knoll'? You talking about how the shooter and accomplice set up and made the shots then wrapped the rifle and tossed it in the trunk and when greeted by police they showed their secret service credentials? That was pretty much what Lee Bowers testified he saw happening there at the time of the assassination.

I hadn't heard of the "Brass Target" movie, I'll check that one out too. Thanks!

Just watched the trailer, that one looks good too! Ah, Sophia Loren...