|
The Zapruder film is a silent, 8 mm color home movie shot by Abraham Zapruder in Dallas, Texas, in Dealey Plaza while standing near "the grassy knoll" during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. It is the definitive, most authoritative footage of the assassination.
Background
History Three copies of the film were made on the afternoon of November 22 for investigative authorities. Within three days, ''Life'' magazine purchased the original film and all rights to it for $150,000 (equivalent to $916,000 in 2006), payable in six annual payments of $25,000. Zapruder donated the initial payment of $25,000 to the widow and children of murdered Dallas Policeman J.D. Tippit. After acquiring the film, Life Bureau Head Will Lang Jr. ordered the creation of large photo prints of the individual frames for a special article on the film and the Warren Commission report. At some stage during the photo processing, several film frames were accidentally damaged—though private copies were made for Life executives. Many frames of the film have been printed over the years, but generally the film was kept locked away from public scrutiny and was never publicly shown in motion by Life. CBS News Southern bureau chief Dan Rather was one of the few reporters to see the Abraham Zapruder film on Monday afternoon, November 25. In his narration of the film as part of CBS nationwide television coverage that day, Rather said the President's head "went forward with considerable violence." This narration confirmed the so-called "Oswald position" for the nation, but he said nothing about the violent backward motion of the President's head which would have suggested a second gunman to conspiracy believers. Rather apologized later in 1970s when the Zapruder film was shown on television by saying it was "an honest error." In 1966 Dr. Josiah Thompson, while working for Life, tried to negotiate with Life for the rights to print important individual frames in a book he wrote called Six Seconds in Dallas. Life refused to approve the use of any of the frames, even after Thompson offered to give all profits from the book sales to Life. When Thompson's published book included very photo-like detailed charcoal drawings of important individual frames, Life filed a lawsuit against Thompson and his publishing company. Prior to the 1969 trial of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw for conspiracy in connection with the assassination, a copy of the film was subpoenaed by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison for use during the trial. Unauthorized copies of the film were allowed to be made and were soon being further copied and shown throughout the United States and the rest of the world. In March 1975, during the late-night TV show Good Night America (hosted by Geraldo Rivera) assassination researchers Robert Groden and Dick Gregory presented the first-ever mass audience network TV showing of the Zapruder home movie. The public's response and outrage to that first public showing quickly led to the forming of the Hart-Schweiker investigation, contributed to the Church Committee Investigation on Intelligence Activities by the United States, and resulted in the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation. In 1975 Life sold the film back to the Zapruder family for the token sum of $1. The Zapruder family asked the U.S. government to store the film safely and help protect it from deterioration. The U.S. government now preserves the film in the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. In 1997, the film was digitally replicated and restored. The 1988 documentary Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film shows the history of the film, as well as various versions of the restored film. In 1998, the original film was "taken" by the United States government under the doctrine of eminent domain and, as required by the U.S. Constitution, pay to Zapruder's heirs was attempted. Because the film is unique, the film's value was difficult to ascertain; eventually, following arbitration, the government purchased the film for $16,000,000. Following the taking, the Zapruder family donated the film's copyright to The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, along with all copies of the films once held by Life magazine. The Zapruder family retains no rights of any kind to the film, which is administered by the Museum. Cultural impact The film has had a great impact on American culture, typically signifying "tinfoil hat" conspiracy theorism or a mistrust of the word of authority. The film itself is sometimes featured in films or other media, such as the Oliver Stone film JFK, which used an early generation copy of the Zapruder film, with the result that the film may be one of the clearest sources available to the public. For example, after the final shot, Jacqueline Kennedy can be seen mouthing what appears to be the words "Oh, my God!" Other references to the film include the name of Andrew Denton's production company, Zapruder's Other Films Pty Ltd., or a line in the film Enemy of the State, where Will Smith's character jokes that he owns a copy of the film. Some critics have stated that the violence and shock of this home movie have lead to a new way of representing violence in the American 1970s cinema, in mainstream, as in indie and underground horror movies . | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
 |
|
| |