Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment
Encyclopedia
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment is a 1963 cinéma vérité
documentary film directed by Robert Drew
. The film centers on the University of Alabama
integration crisis
of June 1963. Drew and the other filmmakers, such as D. A. Pennebaker
and Richard Leacock
, were given access to all the key areas, including John F. Kennedy
's Oval Office in the White House and the homes of Robert F. Kennedy
and George Wallace
. The film first aired on ABC four months after the incident.
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.
They come up with a plan to quickly federalize the Alabama National Guard and return later the same day, if Wallace indeed refuses to step out of the way despite the court order. The plan works; Wallace steps aside under orders from General Henry V. Graham, but is given the chance to save face and leave before the students enter the building. President Kennedy later gives a speech on equality on national television, and a third black student, Dave McGlathery
, enrolls without incident.
. Peter von Bagh
rated it ahead of Drew's earlier work Primary
, considering it the most touching and intimate portrait of the Kennedy brothers on film. Fred Kaplan
wrote on The New York Times
that "though we now know the story’s ending — the students were finally let in — the suspense is gripping." He dubbed it "the first movie that Barack Obama should watch in the White House screening room."
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
documentary film directed by Robert Drew
Robert Drew
Robert Lincoln Drew is an American documentary filmmaker known as a pioneer of cinéma vérité, or direct cinema, in the United States....
. The film centers on the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
integration crisis
Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. George Wallace, the Governor of Alabama, in a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" and stop the desegregation of...
of June 1963. Drew and the other filmmakers, such as D. A. Pennebaker
D. A. Pennebaker
Donn Alan Pennebaker is an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of Direct Cinema/Cinéma vérité. Performing arts and politics are his primary subjects.-Biography:...
and Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock
Richard Leacock was a British-born documentary film director and one of the pioneers of Direct Cinema and Cinéma vérité.-Early life and career:...
, were given access to all the key areas, including John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's Oval Office in the White House and the homes of Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
and George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
. The film first aired on ABC four months after the incident.
Plot
During a two-day period before and after the University of Alabama integration crisis, the film uses four camera crews to follow President John F. Kennedy, attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, Alabama governor George Wallace, deputy attorney general Nicholas KatzenbachNicholas Katzenbach
Nicholas deBelleville Katzenbach is an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney General during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.-Early life:...
and the students Vivian Malone and James Hood
James Hood
James Hood was one of the first African Americans to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963 and was made famous when Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked him from enrolling at the all-white university....
. 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.
They come up with a plan to quickly federalize the Alabama National Guard and return later the same day, if Wallace indeed refuses to step out of the way despite the court order. The plan works; Wallace steps aside under orders from General Henry V. Graham, but is given the chance to save face and leave before the students enter the building. President Kennedy later gives a speech on equality on national television, and a third black student, Dave McGlathery
Dave McGlathery
Dave Mack McGlathery, an African American enrolled at the University of Alabama without incident a day after the Stand in the School House Door when Governor Wallace tried to prevent black students enrolling. He was at the time a 27-year-old working as a mathematician at the National Aeronautics...
, enrolls without incident.
Reception
Although opinions on Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment were sharply divided after the October 1963 broadcast, it is now considered among the landmark films of cinéma vérité, or direct cinemaDirect Cinema
Direct Cinema is a documentary genre that originated between 1958 and 1962 in North America, principally in the Canadian province of Quebec and the United States...
. Peter von Bagh
Peter von Bagh
Kari Peter Conrad von Bagh is a Finnish film historian and director. He currently works as a professor of film history in the University of Art and Design Helsinki. He has written around 20 books about film and worked as a presenter for numerous television and radio programs about film and other...
rated it ahead of Drew's earlier work Primary
Primary (film)
Primary is a 1960 Direct Cinema documentary film about the 1960 Wisconsin Primary election between John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey for the United States Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States....
, considering it the most touching and intimate portrait of the Kennedy brothers on film. Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan
Fred Kaplan is a journalist and contributor to Slate magazine. His "War Stories" column covers international relations and US foreign policy.-Career:...
wrote on The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
that "though we now know the story’s ending — the students were finally let in — the suspense is gripping." He dubbed it "the first movie that Barack Obama should watch in the White House screening room."