On E List of Movie Reviews
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Executive Action (1973)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
5/21
5/21:
Before there was Oliver Stone's JFK, there was Executive Action.
It's a highly interesting, albeit frustrating, picture about the day John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas and what led
to his assassination. This version claims Lee Harvey Oswald had nothing to do it and was merely set up as the fall
guy. To this day, nobody, except for those in the inner circle (and many died immediately afterwards), knows what exactly
happened, hence the frustration.
Having read about some conspiracy theories, I believe it was a CIA-Mafia joint operation. The main reason is
this: to get back at JFK for the chain of three significant events (the Mafia being stabbed in the back when RFK went after
them after giving JFK the presidency by stuffing the ballots in Chicago; the loss of Mafia empire in Cuba which included
hotels, casinos, and brothels and it was the exporting base of heroin and cocaine into the United States; and the Bay of Pigs
fiasco [although plans for it were actually started during Eisenhower's term]). JFK's intention to get the troop out of Vietnam
permanently warrants attention because big money was being made in Asia through drugs, most specifically heroin that's cultivated
from the opium poppy seeds.
Whatever the answer is, it doesn't matter; the bottom line is: JFK was evil and he deserved to die. His list of criminal
activities is lengthy which wasn't reported in the news. Instead, he's exalted as the greatest president of the
century, yet it was his looks that made people think of this way. To get the full truth of who JFK really was, you'll have
to read Seymour M. Hersh's The Dark Side of Camelot.
JFK cared about civil rights? Ha! He was all talk and no action, voting for nothing of that kind and didn't bring such a
bill to the table during his career in Congress. The landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 was eventually signed into law by LBJ.
The real reason why JFK didn't help the blacks out is that he needed the white southern voters to be re-elected. He never
sent federal troops to the South to enforce desegregation; hence, the movie
Mississippi Burning is a total myth. Foreign
affairs dominated JFK's attention as he had the CIA's backing to carry out the assassinations of foreign leaders; however, Fidel
Castro wasn't one of them as he left him alone for good.
Back to Executive Action, it's an interesting movie in many ways. There are several details I never knew
before such as some of the Secret Service agents were drunk the night before and stayed up too late, the complete layout
of the Dealey Plaza and where everybody was situated, and Donald Sutherland originated the project but failed to
secure financing and moved on yet made up for it by appearing in JFK.
The acting is good which is meant to be straightforward in a documentary manner. It's why the once-banned film can come off as dull
for some. The involvement of Burt Lancaster helps, but the topic is bigger than him. It's Robert Ryan's final film as he
died of cancer shortly afterwards.
All in all, like JFK, Executive Action is among the best in the conspiracy theory genre.