Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment
Directed byRobert Drew
Produced byRobert Drew
Gregory Shuker
StarringJohn F. Kennedy
George Wallace
Robert F. Kennedy
Vivian Malone
James Hood
Nicholas Katzenbach
James Lipscomb (narrator)
CinematographyRichard Leacock
D. A. Pennebaker
James Lipscomb
Hope Ryden
Production
companies
ABC News
Drew Associates
Release date
  • October 28, 1963 (1963-10-28)
Running time
52 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment is a 1963 direct cinema documentary film directed by Robert Drew. The film centers on the University of Alabama's "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door" integration crisis of June 1963. Drew and the other filmmakers, including D. A. Pennebaker and Richard Leacock, were given expanded access to key areas, including United States President John F. Kennedy's Oval Office and the homes of United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Governor George Wallace of Alabama.[1] The film first aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as an installment of Close-Up! four months after the incident, on October 28, 1963.[2] It was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress on December 28, 2011.[3][4]

  1. ^ Kaplan, Fred (January 16, 2009). "When the Kennedys Took on Wallace Over Integration". The New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  2. ^ Edgerton, Gary R. The Columbia History of American Television. New York City: Columbia University Press, 2007.
  3. ^ "2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates," Library of Congress, Wednesday, December 28, 2011.
  4. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2020-09-23.