1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jfk_crisis_film_1963.jpg]] |
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3 | ''Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment'' is a 1963 documentary film by Robert Drew. |
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5 | It is a record of the June 1963 "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_in_the_Schoolhouse_Door Stand in the Schoolhouse Door]]", regarding the judicially-mandated racial integration of the University of Alabama, the opposition to the same from Governor George Wallace, and the subsequent intervention by President UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. |
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7 | The first two black students at the university, Vivian Malone and James Hood, were arriving for enrollment on June 10. A similar moment when James Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi a year earlier had led to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ole_Miss_riot_of_1962 a white racist riot]] ending in two deaths and much destruction of property, so President Kennedy – along with his brother, U.S. Attorney General UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy – sought for a way to get Malone and Hood safely enrolled in accordance with the judge's order while allowing Wallace to save face and avoid violence. |
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9 | Drew's cameras were granted unlimited access to the Kennedy brothers, as well as George Wallace, as events unfolded. ''Crisis'' was first shown on Creator/{{ABC}} television in October 1963, four months after it was filmed and only a month before JFK's assassination. The film was added to the UsefulNotes/NationalFilmRegistry in 2011. |
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11 | Compare ''Film/{{Primary}}'', a Drew documentary about the 1960 Wisconsin Democratic primary in which Drew had similar fly-on-the-wall access to JFK as well as his opponent UsefulNotes/HubertHumphrey. |
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14 | !!Tropes used in this film: |
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16 | * {{Documentary}}: A TV documentary short about the integration of the University of Alabama on June 10–11, 1963. |
17 | * EthnicMenialLabor: The film doesn't dwell on it, but the scene of Wallace in the governor's mansion showing the cameraman around does include a shot of the black maid looking after Wallace's young daughter, a reflection of the social hierarchy in Alabama. |
18 | * ExtremelyShortTimespan: The opening narration says events take place over only 30 hours. |
19 | * HeatWave: Deputy AG Nicholas Katzenbach tells Robert Kennedy's little daughter that it's 98 degrees in Alabama and "we're all gonna get hardship pay." |
20 | * HitlerCam: Used for some early shots of Wallace, and appropriate as he is the villain of the piece. |
21 | * {{Narrator}}: James Lipscomb, who was a cinematographer on the project, also provides narration. |
22 | * OffIntoTheDistanceEnding: Ends with RFK placing a triumphal good night phone call to his brother, then striding away from the camera, taking off his tie as he goes. |
23 | * PetTheDog: Wallace is shown being affectionate to his toddler grandchild. |
24 | * TitleDrop: "This is an account of a crisis, and a story behind a presidential commitment." |
25 | * VillainOpeningScene: The first shots are of George Wallace at the Alabama state capitol. |
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