JFK
By
Oliver Stone & Zachary Sklar
Based on books by
Jim Marrs & Jim Garrison
FADE IN
Credits run in counterpoint through a 7 to 10 minute sequence
of documentary images setting the tone of John F. Kennedy's
Presidency and the atmosphere of those tense times, 1960
through 1963. An omniscient narrator's voice marches us
through in old time Pathe' newsreel fashion.
VOICE
January, 1961 - President Dwight D.
Eisenhower's Farewell Address to the
Nation -
EISENHOWER ADDRESS
EISENHOWER
The conjunction of an immense military
establishment and a large arms
industry is new in the American
experience. The total influence -
economic, political, even spiritual -
is felt in every city, every
statehouse, every office of the
Federal Government... In the councils
of government we must guard against
the acquisition of unwarranted
influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military industrial complex.
The potential for the disastrous
rise of misplaced power exists and
will persist... We must never let
the weight of this combination
endanger our liberties or democratic
processes. We should take nothing
for granted...
ELECTION IMAGERY
School kids reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. WPA films of
farmers harvesting the Texas plains. Rain, thunderheads, a
dusty car coming from far away on a road moving towards
Dallas. Cowboys round up the cattle. Young marrieds in a
church. Hillsides of tract homes going up. The American
breadbasket, the West. Over this we hear Eisenhower's
address. As we move into the election campaign of 1960, we
see the TV debates, Nixon vs. Kennedy, Mayor Daley, Kennedy
victorious...
Against this is juxtaposed other forces: segregation, J.
Edgar Hoover, military advisors, Castro, Marilyn Monroe,
Lumumba... three frames of the Zapruder film counter-cut...
ending with the Kennedy inauguration and the irony of Earl
Warren administering the oath as he will Kennedy's eulogy.
VOICE 2
November, 1960 - Senator John F.
Kennedy of Massachusetts wins one of
the narrowest election victories in
American history over the Vice-
President Richard Nixon by a little
more than 100,000 votes. Rumors
abound that he stole the election in
Illinois through the Democratic
political machine of Mayor Daley...
(inauguration shots)
At his inauguration, at a time when
American males all wore hats, he let
his hair blow free in the wind.
Alongside his beautiful and elegant
wife of French origin, Jacqueline
Bouvier, J.F.K. is the symbol of the
new freedom of the 1960's, signifying
change and upheaval to the American
public, scaring many and hated
passionately by some. To win the
election and to appease their fears,
Kennedy at first takes a tough Cold
War stance.
BAY OF PIGS IMAGERY
The beach, the bombardment, the rounding up of prisoners,
Kennedy's public apology, Allen Dulles standing next to
J.F.K., both uncomfortable with the small talk...
VOICE 3
He inherits a secret war against the
Communist Castro dictatorship in
Cuba, a war run by the CIA and angry
Cuban exiles out of bases in the
Southern United States, Panama,
Nicaragua and Guatemala. Castro is
a successful revolutionary frightening
to American business interests in
Latin America - companies like Cabot's
United Fruit, Continental Can, and
Rockefeller's Standard Oil. This
war culminates in the disastrous Bay
of Pigs invasion in April 1961, when
Kennedy refuses to provide air cover
for the exile brigade. Of the 1600
men who invade, 114 are killed, 1200
are captured. The Cuban exiles and
the CIA are furious at Kennedy's
irresolution... Kennedy, taking public
responsibility for the failure,
privately claims the CIA lied to him
and tried to manipulate him into
ordering an all-out American invasion
of Cuba. He vows to splinter the
CIA into a thousand pieces and fires
Director Allen Dulles, Deputies
Charles Cabell and Richard Bissell,
the top leadership of the Agency.
SECRET WAR IMAGERY
Cuban rallies, footage of training camps, espionage
activities, boats, cases of weapons, Robert Kennedy... John
Roselli, Sam Giancana, Santos Trafficante, Richard Helms
(the new CIA chief), Bill Harvey, Head of ZR/RIFLE, Howard
Hunt...
VOICE 4
The CIA, however, continues it's
secret war on Castro with dozens of
sabotage and assassination attempts
under it's ZR/RIFLE and MONGOOSE
programs - The Agency collaborates
with organized crime elements such
as John Roselli, Sam Giancana, and
Santos Trafficante of Tampa, whose
casino operations in Cuba, worth
more than a hundred million dollars
a year in income, Castro has shut
down.
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
Khrushchev, Kennedy, Castro on television, meetings with
Cabinet, Russian vessels in Caribbean, U.S. nuclear bases on
alert, civilians going to underground safe areas... the
Russian ship turning around, the country smiling...
VOICE 5
In October 1962, the world comes to
the brink of nuclear war when Kennedy
quarantines Cuba after announcing
the presence of offensive Soviet
nuclear missiles 90 miles off American
shores. The Joint Chiefs of Staff
and the CIA call for an invasion.
Kennedy refuses. Soviet ships with
more missiles sail towards the island,
but at the last moment turn back.
The world breathes with relief but
backstage in Washington, rumors abound
that J.F.K. has cut a secret deal
with Russian Premier Khrushchev not
to invade Cuba in return for a Russian
withdrawal of missiles. Suspicions
abound that Kennedy is "soft on
Communism."
NUCLEAR TEST BAN IMAGERY
Closing down Cuban Camps, McNamara speaking, Khrushchev and
Kennedy, the "hot line" telephone system inaugurated, Kennedy
with Jackie and children sailing off Cape Cod... Vietnam
introduction, early shots, Green Berets, counterinsurgency
programs, De Lansdale, leading up to the Test Ban signings...
then J.F.K. at American University, June 10, 1963.
VOICE 6
In the ensuing months, Kennedy clamps
down on Cuban exile activities,
closing training camps, restricting
covert operations, prohibiting
shipment of weapons out of the
country. The covert arm of the CIA
nevertheless continues its plan to
assassinate Castor... In March '63,
Kennedy announces drastic cuts in
the defense budget. In November
1963, he orders the withdrawal by
Christmas of the first 1000 troops
of the 16,000 stationed in Vietnam.
He tells several of his intimates
that he will withdraw all Vietnam
troops after the '64 election, saying
to the Assistant Secretary of State,
Roger Hilsman, "The Bay of Pigs has
taught me one, not to trust generals
or the CIA, and two, that if the
American people do not want to use
American troops to remove a Communist
regime 90 miles from our coast, how
can I ask them to use troops to remove
a Communist regime 9,000 miles
away?"... Finally, in August 1963,
over the objections of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, the United States,
Great Britain and the Soviet Union
sign a treaty banning nuclear bomb
tests in the atmosphere, underwater
and in space... Early that fateful
summer, Kennedy speaks of his new
vision at American University in
Washington.
JFK
What kind of peace do we seek? Not
a pax Americana enforced on the world
by American weapons of war... We
must re-examine our own attitudes
towards the Soviet Union... If we
cannot now end our differences at
least we can help make the world
safe for diversity. For, in the
final analysis, our most basic link
is that we all inhabit this small
planet. We all breathe the same
air. We all cherish our children's
future. And we are all mortal...
CONCLUDING KENNEDY IMAGERY
Diplomats at the United Nations... Adlai Stevenson, Castor...
Martin Luther King and the March on Washington (a snatch of
his "I Have a Dream" speech)... Bobby Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa
going at it... U.S. Steel Chairman's remarks in the steel
face-off, men going to courtrooms with briefcases,... Teddy
Kennedy, Rose, Joe, the Kennedy family, all teeth and good
looks... and of course John campaigning, always campaigning,
shaking hands, smiling, that supremely warm smile and sense
of grace and ability to convey to crowds their oneness with
him... forever... culminating in the more specific Texas
shots... with Jackie in San Antonio, and Houston... then at
Fort Worth... then at Love Field moving through the clouds
toward the Dallas/Forth Worth plain which suddenly breaks
into view as we descend...
LOUISIANA HIGHWAY - DAY (1963)
A moving car carrying two Cuban males disgorges a rumpled,
screaming woman, Rose Cheramie, a whore in her thirties,
lying there bleeding in the dirt. The car drives off.
HOSPITAL - DAY (1963)
We see Rose, badly cut but quite lucid, trying to reason
with a policeman, Lt. Fruge, and a doctor - in a remote black-
and-white documentary.
ROSE
They're going up to Dallas... to
whack Kennedy. Friday the 22nd,
that's when they're going to do it.
In Dealey Plaza. They're gonna whack
him! You gotta call somebody, these
are serious fuckin' guys.
DOCTOR
(to the police officer)
Higher'n a kite on something. Been
like this since she came in.
BACK TO DOCUMENTARY IMAGES
We see the last close-ups of Kennedy shaking hands on the
tarmac at Love Field, smiling, into the motorcade... the
downtown streets of Dallas, people packing the sidewalks
clear back to the buildings, hanging out of windows ten
stories up, schoolgirls surging out into the street in front
of the car. The President is wildly popular - except for
the occasional posters calling for his arrest for treason...
VOICE 7
More rumors emerge of J.F.K.'s
backdoor efforts outside usual State
Department and CIA channels to
establish dialogue with Fidel Castro
through contacts at the United Nations
in New York. Kennedy is seeking
change on all fronts. Bitter battles
are fought with Southern
segregationists to get James Meredith
into the University of Mississippi.
Three months after Kennedy submits a
sweeping civil rights bill to
Congress, Martin Luther King leads
250,000 in a march on Washington.
Robert Kennedy, as Attorney General,
for the first time ever vigorously
prosecutes the Mafia in American
life, bringing and winning a record
number of cases - 288 convictions of
organized crime figures including 13
grand juries against Jimmy Hoffa and
his Teamsters Union. The President
also takes on Big Business, forcing
back steel prices, winning 45 of 46
antitrust cases during 1963 and he
wants to help everyday taxpayers by
ending age- old business privileges
like the oil depletion allowance and
the fees paid to the Federal Reserve
Bank for printing America's currency.
Revolutionary changes are foreseen
after J.F.K.'s assumed re-election
in 1964. Foremost in the political
consciousness of the country is the
possibility of a Kennedy dynasty.
Robert Kennedy in '68, Teddy Kennedy
in '76. In November, 1963 John
Kennedy travels to Texas, his
popularity sagging to 59% largely
due to his civil rights stand for
which he is particularly hated in
the South. Texas is a crucial state
for him to carry in '64. With him
is Vice-President, Lyndon Johnson
and Texas Governor John Connally.
On November 21, they visit Houston
and San Antonio. On the morning of
November 22, he speaks in Fort Worth,
then flies 15 minutes to Love Field
in Dallas, where he takes a motorcade
through downtown Dallas on his way
to speak at 12:30 at the International
Trade Mart. Later, the motorcade
takes him through Dealey Plaza at
12:30...
DEALEY PLAZA - THAT DAY (NOV. 22, 1963)
We see a massive overhead shot of the Plaza as it lay then.
Credits conclude under shot - and we have the subtitle
"November 22, 1963."
A young epileptic screams and suddenly collapses near the
fountains in front of the Texas School Depository. He has a
violent epileptic fit that attracts surrounding attention.
Dallas policemen run over to him. We hear the siren of an
ambulance roaring up.
TIMECUT TO ambulance loading the epileptic man and taking
off.
AMBULANCE VOICE
We are en route to Parkland.
BACK TO a montage of the shooting. We see Kennedy, in the
last seconds, waving, turning the corner at Houston from
Main... We see TV footage and a piece of Zapruder film from
before the shooting; fragmented images...
CUT TO stages shots of crowd people looking on. The images
are grainy to match the tone of the Zapruder film. People
are on rooftops, hollering. The crowd is wild with
enthusiasm. We pan past Jack Ruby and slam into him in black-
and-white. The camera shows a Cuban man with a radio; a man
with an umbrella; subliminals. Through open windows on the
fifth floor of the Criminal Courts Building, convicts watch
and holler from their jail cells. We see the sixth floor of
the Texas Book Depository with open windows and a vague blur
of a figure and a rifle.
The clock on the Hertz sign reads 12:30.
VOICE
We'll be there in about five minutes.
A motorcycle officer paralleling the Kennedy car tries to
use his radio.
It's jammed. The sound of the jammed Dictabelt drives the
rest of the sequence.
We see Zapruder, a short middle - aged man, shooting his 8mm
film from the Grassy Knoll, and then we see Jackie Kennedy -
floating on film, her voice, high, soft:
JACKIE KENNEDY
(voice restaged)
And in the motorcade, you know I
usually would be waving mostly to
the left side and he was waving mostly
to the right, which is one reason
you're not looking at each other
very much. And it was terribly hot.
Just blinding all of us... We could
see a tunnel in front of us.
Everything was really slow then.
And I remember thinking it would be
so cool under that tunnel.
The camera rests on Jackie for a beat, and then we see the
shot of the little schoolgirl skipping on the grass.
CUT TO the approaching overpass. J.F.K. waves... Mrs.
Connally turns to J.F.K. The shot is crazy, fractured,
surreal.
MRS. CONNALLY (V.O.)
Mr. President, you can't say that
Dallas doesn't love you.
JFK (V.O.)
No, you certainly can't.
Then we hear the shots: the volley sounds like a motorcycle
backfire. We catch a glimpse of a muzzle flash and smoke.
We see a view from the street of the Texas School Book
Depository - all in line with the "official" version of
events. Pigeons by the hundreds suddenly shoot off the roof.
Then the screen goes gray as did CBS TV's first bulletins to
the country.
CBS BULLETIN
(full screen)
We interrupt this program to bring
you this flash bulletin. A burst of
gunfire! Three bursts of gunfire,
apparently from automatic weapons,
were fired at President Kennedy's
motorcade in downtown Dallas.
We hear voices under this from everywhere, colliding in
confusion and horror:
VOICES
OH NO! MY GOD THEY'RE GOING TO KILL
US ALL! Be still. You're going to
be all right. LET'S GET OUT OF HERE.
WE'RE HIT! LAWSON, THIS IS KELLERMAN.
WE ARE HIT. GET US TO THE HOSPITAL
IMMEDIATELY. PULL OUT OF THE
MOTORCADE. TAKE US TO THE NEAREST
HOSPITAL.
JACKIE KENNEDY VOICE
Oh, no, they've shot Jack... I love
you, Jack... Jack... they've killed
my husband...
CBS BULLETIN (V.O.)
The first reports say that President
Kennedy has been seriously wounded
by the shooting. More details just
arrived. United Press say the wounds
to President Kennedy perhaps could
be fatal. Repeating: President
Kennedy has been shot by a would-be
assassin in Dallas. Three bursts of
gunfire, apparently from automatic
weapons...
VOICES
(blending under)
IT CAME FROM THERE. SECURE THAT
AREA BEHIND THE FENCE. IT'S THAT
BUILDING UP THERE.
We hear sirens and screeching tires. The screen is still
gray, randomly intercut with the end of the Nix film showing
the car escaping. There are wildly tracking shots of the
crowd running towards the Grassy Knoll.
The camera pans up the little set of stairs. We see more
faces.
Someone in a suit stops our camera. Secret Service?
We see the briefest glimpse from the Zapruder film. The
camera moves in on the open umbrella next, then to the freeway
sign, then to Mrs. Kennedy out of the car reaching for help,
then to the agent rushing onto the rear fender. The car
finally speeds away. The people on the other side of the
underpass wave at the oncoming hearse from hell. (These are
fragmented, mystifying shots. The main effect is one of
blackout - of not knowing; of being in the dark, as we all
were back then.)
CUT TO JIM GARRISON'S OFFICE - NEW ORLEANS - SAME DAY (1963)
Pause. The lovely old china clock on the wall reads 12:35.
Somewhere a car backfires. We see a close-up of the clock
moving to 12:36. We hear the sound of a pen on paper,
scratching... We see a shot of Jim Garrison as a young air
pilot in World War II; hear the sound of airplanes. The
camera moves to framed photos of Jim as a young, Lincolnesque
lawyer... we hear sounds of political rallies, cheering... a
shot of Jim's grandfather shaking hands with President William
Taft. The sound of bulldozers carries us to a shot of Jim
staring at piles of decaying corpses at Dachau... a photo of
Clarence Darrow... a law degree and an appointment as District
Attorney of the New Orleans Parish... Mother Garrison with
young Jim on the desk... another family - his own. We look
across the thick desk with the chess set, A Complete
Works of William Shakespeare and a Nazi helmet with a bullet
hole in it... to Jim himself writing - pen to paper. We
sense the quiet intellect of the 43 year old man. The clock
ticks in the awful suspended silence.
It's as if the air itself has been sucked from the silent
room. This is the last moment of peace before the World
will rush through the door in all its sound and fury - to
change his life forever. The camera haywires into a close-
up of Jim as he looks up... and knows.
Lou Ivon, Jim's chief investigator, is already standing there
in the room. He is burly, in his 30s - his expression
universal for that day.
JIM
What's wrong, Lou?
LOU
Boss, the President's been shot. In
Dallas. Five minutes ago.
Jim is stunned. His look of horror and shock speaks the
same language as on faces all across America that Black
Friday.
JIM
Oh no!... How bad?
LOU
No word yet. But they think it's in
the head.
Jim gets up, heading rapidly for the door.
JIM
Come on. Napoleon's has a TV set.
NAPOLEON'S RESTAURANT - THE QUARTER - DAY(1963)
The midday customers all stare solemnly at the TV set high
in the corner of the cafe. The manager, ashen, serves drinks
to Jim and Lou.
NEWSMAN 1
Apparently three bullets were found.
Governor Connally also appeared to
be hit. The President was rushed by
the Secret Service to Parkland
Memorial Hospital four miles from
Dealey Plaza.
We are told a bullet entered the base of the throat and came
out of the backside, but there is no confirmation, blood
transfusions are being given, a priest has administered the
last rites.
JIM
There's still a chance, dammit!
Come on, Jack - pull through.
MANAGER
(Italian, distracted)
I don't believe it. I don't believe
it. Here, in this country.
They all look up, expectant, as Walter Cronkite interrupts
on the TV:
WALTER CRONKITE
From Dallas, Texas - the flash
apparently official, President Kennedy
died at 1 p.m. Central Standard
Time, 2 o'clock Eastern Standard
Time, some 38 minutes ago.
(choked pause)
Vice-President Johnson has left the
hospital in Dallas, but we do not
know to where he has proceeded.
Presumably, he will be taking the
oath of office shortly, and become
the 36th President of the United
States.
There are sounds of shock, muttering, some sobbing in the
restaurant. Lou gulps down his drink. Jim sits stunned.
JIM
I didn't always agree with him - too
liberal for my tastes - but I
respected him. He had style... God,
I'm ashamed to be an American today.
He holds back the tears. The food comes. Lou waves it off.
They just sit there.
EXTERIOR KATZENJAMMER'S BAR - SAME DAY(1963)
Katzenjammer's is an Irish working class bar across Canal
St. In a seedy area near the Mississippi River, just off
Lafayette Square.
INTERIOR KATZENJAMMER'S BAR - SAME DAY(1963)
A variety of loud Irish working men sit on stools watching
the TV. There are a few formica tables with chairs against
the walls, and an unused pool table.
NEWSMAN 2
Many arrests have been made here
today. Anyone looking even remotely
suspicious is being detained. Most
of the crowd has gone home but there
are still many stunned people
wandering around in Dealey Plaza
unable to comprehend what happened
here earlier today.
On the TV, we see the scene at Dealey Plaza. The reporter
has several men, women, and children gathered around him.
He puts his microphone in their faces.
BLACK WOMAN
(crying)
It's all so terrible. I jes' can't
stop crying. He did so much for
this country, for colored people.
Why?
MAN
(Bill Newman, with
wife and kids)
I grabbed my kids and wife and hit
the ground. The bullets were coming
over our heads - from that fence
back on the knoll - I was just so
shaken. I saw his face when it hit...
he just, his ear flew off, he turned
just real white and then went stiff
like a board and flopped over on his
stomach, with his foot sticking out.
CUT TO the picket fence above the Grassy Knoll.
WOMAN 2
I thought... it came from up there,
that building.
CUT TO the Book Depository.
MAN 2
I heard shots from over there.
CUT TO the County Records Building.
NEWSMAN 2
How many shots?
WOMAN 3
About 3 to 4... I don't know.
MAN 3
I never thought it could happen in
America.
Back in the bar, the camera moves to two patrons seated at a
table by themselves, far enough away not to be heard. Guy
Banister is a sturdy, imposing ex - FBI agent in his 60's,
steel gray hair, blue eyes, ruddy from heavy drinking. He
wears a small rosebud in his lapel. Jack Martin is a thin,
mousy man in his mid - 50's, wearing a Dick Tracy hat.
They're both drinking Wild Turkey heavily. The TV blares
loudly across the room over their voices.
BANISTER
All this blubbering over that
sonofabitch! They're grieving like
they knew the man. It makes me want
to puke.
MARTIN
God's sake, chief. The President
was shot.
BANISTER
A bullshit President! I don't see
any weeping for all the thousands of
Cubans that bastard condemned to
death and torture at the Bay of Pigs.
Where are all the tears for the
Russians and Hungarians and Chinese
living like slaves in prison camps
run by Kennedy's communist buddies -
All these damned peace treaties!
I'm telling ya Jack, that's what
happens when you let the niggers
vote. They get together with the
Jews and the Catholics and elect an
Irish bleeding heart.
MARTIN
Chief, maybe you had a little too
much to drink.
BANISTER
Bullshit!
(yells across the
room)
Bartender, another round...
(finishes drink)
Here's to the New Frontier. Camelot
in smithereens. I'll drink to that.
NAPOLEON'S RESTAURANT - DAY(1963)
Several hours have elapsed. The clientele has grown,
drinking, watching the tube with the insatiable curiosity
the event engendered. People stare in from the street...
There is a silence in the restaurant.
TELEVISION INSERT: image of a Dallas policeman hauling a
Mannlicher - Carcano rifle with a sniperscope over the heads
of the press gathered in the police station.
NEWSMAN 3
This is the rifle, it is a Mannlicher -
Carcano Italian rifle, a powerful
World War II military gun used by
infantry and highly accurate at
distances of 100 yards.
We see images of the textbook boxes - the sniper's nest in
the sixth story of the Book Depository - and then the view
out the window looking down at Elm Street.
NEWSMAN 3
The assassin apparently fired from
this perch... but so far no word,
much confusion and...
CUT TO Newsman 2 at a different location or in studio.
NEWSMAN 4
A flash bulletin... the Dallas Police
have just announced they have a
suspect in the killing of a Dallas
police officer, J.D. Tippit, who was
shot at 1:15 in Oak Cliff, a suburb
of Dallas.
Police are saying there could be a tie - in here to the murder
of the President.
TELEVISION INSERT: Lee Harvey Oswald, a bruise over his
right temple, is apprehended at the Texas Theatre.
NEWSMAN 4
The suspect, identified as Lee Harvey
Oswald, was arrested by more than a
dozen police officers after a short
scuffle at the Texas movie theatre
in Oak Cliff, several blocks from
where Officer Tippit was killed,
apparently with a .38 revolver found
on Oswald. There is apparently at
least one eyewitness.
TELEVISION INSERT: Oswald is booked at the station. A surly
young man, 24, he claims to the press:
TV OSWALD
No, I don't know what I'm charged
with... I don't know what dispatches
you people have been given, but I
emphatically deny these charges.
VOICE FROM THE BAR
They oughta just shoot the bastard.
The room bursts out with an accumulated fury at the young
Oswald - a tremendous release of tension. On the TV we see
the excitement in the newsmen's eyes; they all sense that
this is the break they're looking for in the case.
Garrison and Ivon watch the TV, and then Garrison stands and
pays the bill.
LOU
One little guy with a cheap rifle -
look what he can do.
JIM
Let's get outta here, Lou. I saw
too much stuff like this in the war.
As they leave, the camera holds on the image of Oswald.
MISSISSIPPI RIVER WATERFRONT - TWILIGHT(1963)
The sun is setting through thunderheads over the Mississippi
River waterfront as Banister and Martin wobble out, drunk,
down the street.
BANISTER
Well, the kid musta gone nuts, right?
(Martin says nothing,
looks troubled)
I said Oswald must've flipped. Just
did this crazy thing before anyone
could stop him, right?
MARTIN
I think I'll cut out here, chief. I
gotta get home.
BANISTER
(strong-arms Martin)
Get home my ass. We're going to the
office, have another drink. I want
some company tonight.
BANISTER'S OFFICE - NIGHT(1963)
Rain pours down outside 531 Lafayette Street as Banister
opens several locks on the door and turns on the lights.
The frosted glass on the door says "W. Guy Banister
Associates, Inc., Investigators." It's a typical detective's
office with spare desks, simple chairs, large filing cabinets
and cubicles in the rear.
BANISTER
(repetitive)
Who'd ever thought that goofy Oswald
kid would pull off a stunt like an
assassination?
(Martin waits)
Just goes to show, you can never
know about some people. Am I right,
Jack?
(Martin, frightened
now, doesn't reply)
Well, bless my soul. Your eyes are
as red as two cherries, Jack. Don't
tell me we have another bleeding
heart here. Hell, all these years I
thought you were on my side.
MARTIN
Chief, sometimes I don't know whether
you're kidding or not.
BANISTER
I couldn't be more serious, Jack.
Those big red eyes have me wondering
about your loyalty.
Banister, going to a file cabinet to get a bottle out, notices
one of the file drawers is slightly ajar. He flies into a
rage.
BANISTER
Who the hell opened my files! You've
been looking through my private files,
haven't you, you weasel?
MARTIN
You may not like this, chief, but
you're beginning to act paranoid. I
mean, you really are.
BANISTER
You found out about Dave Ferrie going
to Texas today and you went through
all my files to see what was going
on. You're a goddamn spy.
MARTIN
(angry)
Goddammit chief, why would I ever
need to look in your files? I saw
enough here this summer to write a
book.
BANISTER
I always lock my files. And you
were the only one here today...
(stops as he hears
Martin)
What do you mean, you son of a bitch?
MARTIN
You know what I mean. I saw a lot
of strange things going on in this
office this summer. And a lotta
strange people.
Enraged, Banister pulls a .357 Magnum from his holster,
cursing as he suddenly slams it into Martin's temple. The
smaller man crumples painfully to the ground.
BANISTER
You didn't see a goddamn thing, you
little weasel. Do you get it? You
didn't see a goddamn thing.
JIM GARRISON'S HOME - THAT NIGHT(1963)
Jim and his wife, Liz, watch the television. She is in her
early 30's, an attractive, quiet southern woman from
Louisiana. They live in a spacious two-story wood house,
suburban in feel.
TELEVISION IMAGE: Reporters are jammed in the Assembly Room
of the Dallas Police Headquarters as Oswald is brought through
the corridor, officers on either side of him.
NEWSMAN 5
(over the din)
Did you shoot the President?
TV OSWALD
I didn't shoot anybody, no sir. I'm
just a patsy.
The camera moves onto Jim with Liz and the children - Jasper,
the oldest at 4, holds his dad's hand. On Liz's lap, Snapper,
the youngest, is asleep. Virginia, the 2-year-old, is
pestering the Boxer dog... and Mattie, the heavyset black
housekeeper, 35, is in tears.
LIZ
My god, he sure looks like a creep.
What's he talkin' 'bout... a patsy?
TELEVISION IMAGE: Oswald in front of the cameras, on a
platform.
TV OSWALD
Well, I was questioned by a judge.
However, I protested at the time
that I was not allowed legal
representation during that very short
and sweet hearing. Uh, I really
don't know what the situation is
about. Nobody has told me anything
except that I am accused of, uh,
murdering a policeman. I know nothing
more than that and I do request that
someone come forward to give me, uh,
legal assistance.
NEWSMAN 5
Did you kill the President?
TV OSWALD
No. I have not been charged with
that. In fact nobody has said that
to me yet. The first thing I heard
about it was when the newspaper
reporters in the hall, uh, asked me
that question.
NEWSMAN 6
You have been charged.
TV OSWALD
Sir?
NEWSMAN 6
You have been charged.
Oswald seems shocked.
NEWSMAN 5
Were you ever in the Free Cuba
Movement or whatever the...
RUBY
(a voice in the back)
It was the Fair Play for Cuba
Committee.
Oswald looks over and spots Ruby in the back of the room, on
a table. Recognition is in his eyes. The police start to
move him out.
NEWSMAN 6
What did you do in Russia? What
happened to your eye?
TV OSWALD
A policeman hit me.
GARRISON
He seems pretty cool to me for a man
under pressure like that.
LIZ
Icy, you mean.
(shudders)
He gives me the willies... come on
sugarplums, it's past your bedtimes...
(to Jim)
Come on, let's go upstairs.
(rises)
Mattie - get ahold of yourself.
MATTIE
Why, Mr. Jim? He was a great man,
Mr. Jim, a great man...
Jim is moved by her.
TELEVISION IMAGE: Texas D.A. Henry Wade addresses the
journalists.
TV WADE
There is no one else but him. He
has been charged in the Supreme Court
with murder with malice. We're gonna
ask for the death penalty.
Jim moves to the phone as Liz starts the kids up the stairs.
The TV cuts to stills of Oswald's life. Two newsmen sit in
a studio, smoking, sharing information.
FRANK
(Newsman 7)
So several hours after the
assassination, a disturbed portrait
is emerging of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Described as shy and introverted, he
spent much of his childhood in New
Orleans, Louisiana and went to high
school there. After a stint in the
Marines, he apparently became
fascinated by Communism and in 1959
defected to the Soviet Union.
BOB
(Newsman 8)
He married a Russian woman there,
Frank, had a child, and then returned
to the United States after 30 months.
But he is still believed to be a
dedicated Marxist and a fanatical
supporter of Fidel Castro and ultra
left wing causes. He spent last
summer in New Orleans and was arrested
in a brawl with anti-Castro Cuban
exiles.
FRANK
(Newsman 7)
And apparently, Bob, Oswald had been
passing out pro-Castro pamphlets for
an organization called Fair Play for
Cuba, a Communist front he reportedly
belongs to.
BOB
(Newsman 8)
And we have Marina Oswald, his Russian-
born wife, who has identified the
rifle found in the Book Depository
as belonging to her husband. And we
have...
TELEVISION IMAGES: Kennedy's casket coming off the plane in
Washington D.C. play under the newsman... Jackie stands there
in her blood-spotted dress... we cut to the photograph of
L.B.J. taking the oath of office earlier that day... and a
still photo of Robert Kennedy's reaction...
JIM
(on the phone)
Lou, I'm sorry to disturb you this
late... yeah, matter of routine but
we better get on this New Orleans
connection of Oswald's right away.
Check out his record, find any friends
or associates from last summer.
Let's meet with the senior assistants
and investigators day after tomorrow,
Sunday, yeah, at 11... Thanks Lou.
GARRISON CONFERENCE ROOM - 2 DAYS LATER - DAY(1963)
Jim is with his key players: Lou Ivon, chief investigator;
Susie Cox, in her 30's, and efficient, attractive Assistant
D.A.; La Oser, Assistant D.A. in his 40's, serious,
spectacled; Bill Broussard, Assistant D.A., handsome,
volatile, in his 30's; Numa Bertell, D.A. in his 30's, chubby
and friendly, and several others. They sit around a
conference table with a black-and-white portable TV on a
side table showing the current Sunday, November 24 news from
Dallas.
MARINA OSWALD
(on TV)
Lee good man... he not shoot anyone.
Camera moves to Lou Ivon, looking at paperwork.
LOU
As far as Oswald's associates, boss,
the one name that keeps popping up
is David Ferrie.
Oswald was seen with him several times last summer.
JIM
I know David - a strange character.
LOU
He's been in trouble before. Used
to be a hot shot pilot for Eastern
Airlines, but he got canned after an
alleged homosexual incident with a
14-year old boy.
BILL
(on phone, excited)
Get Kohlman... he told somebody the
Texas trip... yesterday mentioned to
somebody about Ferrie... find it
out.
On the TV we see the first image of the "backyard photos" of
Lee Harvey Oswald holding the rifle.
NEWSMAN 1
These backyard photos were found
yesterday among Oswald's possessions
in the garage of Janet William's
home in Riving, Texas, where Marina
Oswald and her children are living.
The picture apparently was taken
earlier this year. Police say the
rifle, a cheap World War II Italian-
made Mannlicher-Carcano, was ordered
from a Chicago mailing house and
shipped to Oswald's alias A. Hidell
at a post office box in March, 1963.
This is the same rifle that was used
to assassinate the President.
The camera moves back to the staff, who watch, obviously
influenced.
COX
That ties it up...
NUMA
Another nut. Jesus, anybody can get
a rifle in Texas.
BILL
(hangs up)
So it seems that Dave Ferrie drove
off on a Friday afternoon for Texas -
a source told Kohlman he might have
been a getaway pilot for Oswald.
Members of the team exchange looks of surprise and disbelief.
JIM
Hold your horses. What kinda source?
BILL
(grins)
The anonymous kind, Chief.
OSER
I think I remember this guy Ferrie
speaking at a meeting of some
veteran's group. Ranting against
Castro. Extreme stuff.
NEWSMAN 1
We go back now to the basement of
police headquarters where they're
about to transfer Oswald to County
Prison...
TELEVISION IMAGE: The basement of the Dallas police
headquarters - waiting. Men mill around as Oswald is led
out of the basement by two deputies. Jack Ruby rushes forward
out of the crowd - and into history - putting his sealing
bullet into Oswald. Total chaos erupts...
The camera is on the staff, looking. We hear gasps.
ANNOUNCER
He's been shot! Oswald's been shot!
VARIOUS VOICES
Goddamn! Look at that... Look at
that... I don't believe this... Right
on TV! What is going on? Who is
this guy... oh Jesus.
Jim is silent.
LOU
Seventy cops in that basement. What
the hell were they doing?
NEWSMAN 1
Jack Ruby... Who is Jack Ruby? Oswald
is hurt.
We see images of Oswald being lifted onto the stretcher,
into the ambulance, and the newscaster crouching, whispering.
Everybody in the room is stunned still.
LOU
Well, no trial now. Looks like
somebody saved the Dallas D.A. a
pile of work.
They look to Jim. There's a pause. He is deeply disturbed.
JIM
(quietly)
Well, let's get Ferrie in here anyway.
GARRISON OFFICE - NEXT DAY - DAY(1963)
The portable television plays to Jim alone, sitting in his
chair smoking a pipe. We see searing images of the funeral -
crowds of mourners, the casket being driven through the
streets, the honor guards, the horses, the dignitaries walking
behind, Jackie veiled... the faces of De Gaulle, MacMillan,
Robert Kennedy. We intercut briefly to Lyndon Johnson sitting
down earlier that day with the Joint Chiefs of Staff... and
then a future cut to Johnson in the Oval Office (staged).
The shots are very tight, uncomfortable - noses, eyes, hands -
very tight.
As the door opens following a knock, David Ferrie is brought
into Jim's office by two police officers and Lou Ivon. Jim
stands up, cordial.
LOU
Chief... David Ferrie.
Ferrie suffers from alopecia, a disease that has removed all
his body hair, and he looks like a Halloween character -
penciled eyebrows, one higher than the other, a scruffy
reddish wig pasted on askew with glue, thrift store clothing.
His eyes, however, are swift and cunning, his smile warm,
inviting itself, his demeanor hungry to please.
JIM
(shakes hands)
Come in, Dave. Have a seat, make
yourself comfortable. Coffee?
FERRIE
Do you remember me, Mr. Garrison? I
met you on Carondolet Street right
after your election. I congratulated
you, remember?
JIM
How could I forget? You make quite
a first impression.
(on intercom)
Sharon, could you please bring us
some coffee?
(Ferrie laughs; pause)
I've heard over the years you're
quite a first-rate pilot, Dave.
Legend has it you can get in and out
of any field, no matter how small...
(Jim points to the
pictures on his wall)
I'm a bit of a pilot myself, you
know. Flew grasshoppers for the
field artillery in the war.
Ferrie glimpses the low-volumed TV - and images of the
funeral. He looks away, jittery, and takes out a cigarette.
Sharon brings the coffee in.
FERRIE
Do you mind if I smoke, Mr. Garrison?
JIM
(holds up his pipe)
How could I? Dave, as you know,
President Kennedy was assassinated
on Friday. A man named Lee Harvey
Oswald was arrested as a suspect and
then was murdered yesterday by a man
named Jack Ruby.
(on each name, watching
Ferrie's reaction)
We've heard reports that Oswald spent
the summer in New Orleans and we've
been advised you knew Oswald pretty
well.
FERRIE
That's not true. I never met anybody
named Oswald. Anybody who told you
that has to be crazy.
JIM
But you are aware, he served in your
Civil Air Patrol unit when he was a
teenager.
FERRIE
No... if he did, I don't remember
him. There were lots of kids in and
out... y'know.
JIM
(hands him a current
newspaper)
I'm sure you've seen this. Perhaps
you knew this man under another name?
FERRIE
No, I never saw him before in my
life.
JIM
Well that must've been mistaken
information we got. Thanks for
straightening it out for us.
(puffs on pipe, Ferrie
looks relieved; images
of the funeral
continue on the TV)
There is one other matter that's
come up, Dave. We were told you
took a trip to Texas shortly after
the assassination of Friday.
FERRIE
Yeah, now that's true. I drove to
Houston.
JIM
What was so appealing about Houston?
FERRIE
I hadn't been there ice skating in
many years, and I had a couple of
young friends with me, and we decided
we wanted to go ice skating.
JIM
Dave, may I ask why the urge to go
ice skating in Texas happened to
strike you during one of the most
violent thunderstorms in recent
memory?
FERRIE
Oh, it was just a spur of the moment
thing... the storm wasn't that bad.
JIM
I see. And where did you drive?
FERRIE
We went straight to Houston, and
then Saturday night we drove to
Galveston and stayed over there.
JIM
Why Galveston?
FERRIE
No particular reason. Just to go
somewhere.
JIM
And then Sunday?
FERRIE
In the morning we went goose hunting.
Then headed home, but I dropped the
boys off to see some relatives and I
stayed in Hammond.
JIM
Did you bag any geese on this trip?
FERRIE
I believe the boys got a couple.
JIM
But the boys told us they didn't get
any.
FERRIE
(fidgeting, lighting
another cigarette)
Oh yes, well, come to think of it,
they're right. We got to where the
geese were and there were thousands
of them. But you couldn't approach
them. They were a wise bunch of
birds.
JIM
Your young friends also told us you
had no weapons in the car. Dave,
isn't it a bit difficult to hunt for
geese without a shotgun?
FERRIE
Yes, now I remember, Mr. Garrison.
I'm sorry, I got confused. We got
out there near the geese and it was
only then we realized we'd forgotten
our shotguns. Stupid, right? So of
course we didn't get any geese.
JIM
I see.
(stands up)
Dave thank you for your time. I'm
sorry it has to end inconveniently
for you, but I'm going to have you
detained for further questioning by
the FBI.
FERRIE
(shaken)
Why? What's wrong?
JIM
Dave, I find your story simply not
believable.
Lou and the two cops escort Ferrie out of the office as Jim
turns to the television image of Kennedy's final moments of
rest. The bugler plays taps. John Jr., 3 years old, in an
image which will become famous, salutes his Dad farewell.
The riderless horse stands lonely against the Washington
sky.
FBI OFFICE - NEW ORLEANS - NEXT DAY(1963)
At a small press conference, the FBI spokesman reads a
statement.
FBI SPOKESMAN
Gentlemen, this afternoon the FBI
released David W. Ferrie of New
Orleans. After extensive questioning
and a thorough background check, the
Bureau found no evidence that...
GARRISON'S OFFICE - SIMULTANEOUS WITH PREVIOUS SCENE
In Garrison's office see the same broadcast, on the portable
television. Lou, Broussard, Numa and Jim watch.
FBI SPOKESMAN
(on TV)
...Mr. Ferrie knew Lee Harvey Oswald
or that he has had any connection
with the assassination of President
Kennedy. The Special Agent in Charge
would like to make clear that Mr.
Ferrie was brought in for questioning
by the District Attorney of Orleans
parish, not by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. The Bureau regrets
any trouble this may have caused Mr.
Ferrie...
NEWSMAN 9
In national news, President Johnson
has announced the creation of a blue
ribbon presidential commission to
probe the events in Dallas.
Lou looks at Jim, angry.
LOU
Correct me if I'm wrong. I thought
we were on the same side. What the
hell business is it of theirs to say
that?
BILL
Pretty fast, wasn't it. The way
they let him go.
JIM
They must know something we don't.
(dismisses it)
So, let's get on with our lives,
gentlemen... we got plenty of home
grown crimes to prosecute.
He reaches to turn off the TV and get back to work. The
last image on the TV is:
NEWSMAN 9
The Commission will be headed by
Chief Justice of the United States
Supreme Court, Earl Warren, and is
expected to head off several
Congressional and Texas inquiries
into the assassination. On the panel
are Allen Dulles, ex-chief of the
CIA, Representative Gerald Ford,
John J. McCloy, former head of Chase
Manhattan Bank...
Jim flicks the TV off as the overture ends.
AERIAL SHOT - WASHINGTON, D.C. - DAY(1966)
We look down at the White House from the plane's point of
view. A subtitle reads: "THREE YEARS LATER."
INTERIOR OF PLANE
SENATOR RUSSELL LONG
(looking out the window)
That's a mess down there, Jim. We've
bitten off more "Vietnam" that we
can possibly chew.
Jim, now 46, reads the front page of THE WASHINGTON POST
which details the latest battle in Vietnam. He sits next to
Senator Long from Louisiana, in his 50's, who's drinking a
whiskey. They're on a crowded businessman's shuttle. We
see a close-up of a newspaper article about the Vietnam war:
"more troops asked by Westmoreland."
LONG
(continuing)
Sad thing is the way it's screwing
up this country, all these hippies
running around on drugs, the way
young people look you can't tell a
boy from a girl anymore. I saw a
girl the other day, she was pregnant -
you could see her whole belly, and
you know what she painted on it?
"Love Child." It's fuckin' outa
control. Values've gone to hell,
Jim... Course it figures when you
got somebody like that polecat Johnson
in the White House.
JIM
I sometimes feel things've gone
downhill since John Kennedy was
killed, Senator.
LONG
Don't get me started on that. Those
Warren Commission fellows were pickin'
gnat shit out of pepper. No one's
gonna tell me that kid did the
shooting job he did from that damned
bookstore.
STEWARDESS
Here you go, Senator Long.
The stewardess brings more drinks.
JIM
(surprised)
I thought the FBI test-fired the
rifle to make sure it could be done?
LONG
Sure, three experts and not one of
them could do it! They're telling
us Oswald got off three shots with
world-class precision from a manual
bolt action rifle in less than six
seconds - and accordin' to his Marine
buddies he got Maggie's drawers - he
wasn't any good. Average man would
be lucky to get two shots off, and I
tell ya the first shot would always
be the best. Here, the third shot's
perfect. Don't make sense. And
then they got that crazy bullet
zigzagging all over the place so it
hits Kennedy and Connally seven times.
One "pristine" bullet? That dog
don't hunt.
JIM
You know, something always bothered
me about that from day one, and I
can't put my finger on it.
LONG
If I were investigatin', I'd round
up the 100 best riflemen in the world
and find out which ones were in Dallas
that day. You been duck hunting? I
think Oswald was a good old-fashioned
decoy. What'd he say? "I'm just a
patsy." Out of the mouth of babes
y'ask me.
JIM
You think there were other men
involved, Russell?
Russell looks at Jim quizzically and laughs.
LONG
Hell, you're the District Attorney.
You read the Warren Report - and
then you tell me you're satisfied
Lee Oswald shot the President all by
his lonesome.
JIM
Russell, honestly you sound like one
of those kooky critics spreading
paranoia like prairie fire. I just
can't believe the Chief Justice of
the United States would put his name
on something that wasn't true.
LONG
(to the stewardess)
Honey, another one of these. This
one's as weak as cricket pee-pee.
Yessir, you mark my words, Jim,
Vietnam's gonna cost Johnson '68 and
it's gonna put that other varmint
Nixon in - then watch your hide,
'cause there ain't no offramps on a
freeway to Hell!
GARRISON'S STUDY - NIGHT(1966)
The study is lined with bookshelves up to the ceiling; we
see photos of family, a chess set. Jim, smoking his pipe,
reads in a red leather chair from one of the 26 thick Warren
Commission volumes piled all over the place. Liz enters.
Jasper, now 7, draws on a piece of paper on the floor at
Jim's feet.
LIZ
Jim, dinner's just about ready...
I've got a surprise for you... tried
something new... Jim? Jim, dinner.
JIM
(lost in thought)
Mmmmm... sure smells good... but
Egghead, do you realize Oswald was
interrogated for twelve hours after
the assassination, with no lawyer
present, and nobody recorded a word
of it? I can't believe it. A police
captain with 30 years experience and
a crowd of Federal agents just had
to know that with no record anything
that Oswald said would be inadmissible
in court.
LIZ
Come on now, we'll talk about it at
the table, dinner's getting cold.
(to Jasper)
What are you doing in here?
JASPER
Daddy said it was all right if I was
real quiet.
JIM
(rising to dinner)
Sure it is. Freckle Face, if I ever
handled a minor felon like that,
it'd be all over the papers. I'd
catch hell. And this is the alleged
murderer of the President?
GARRISON DINING ROOM - (1966)
Two-year-old Elizabeth watches "Crusader Rabbit" on TV as
the new one-year-old sits in diapers with Liz at one end of
the dinner table. Jim sits at the other end. There are
five kids now, ages 7, 5, 4, 2 and 1... and Mattie, the
housekeeper. Dinner's finished, they pass plates, the
children horse around... the boxer dog, Touchdown, begs for
a piece of the action. Jim, not a big eater, feeds him ice
cream.
JIM
Again and again they ignore credible
testimony, leads are never followed
up, its conclusions are selective,
there's no index, it's one of the
sloppiest, most disorganized
investigations I've ever seen. Dozens
and dozens of witnesses in Dealey
Plaza that day are saying they heard
shots coming from the Grassy Knoll
area in front of Kennedy and not the
Book Depository behind him, but it's
all broken down and spread around
and you read it and the point gets
lost.
MATTIE
I never did believe it either!
LIZ
(politely listening)
Uh huh... Mattie, I'll do the dishes,
you take Be up now. And Elizabeth,
too, your bedtime, honey.
ELIZABETH JR.
Nahhhh! I don't wanna go to bed!
LIZ
Honey, that was three years ago - we
all tried so hard to put that out of
our minds, why are you digging it up
again? You're the D.A. of New
Orleans. Isn't the Kennedy
assassination a bit outside your
domain? I mean all those important
people already studied it.
JIM
I can't believe a man as intelligent
as Earl Warren ever read what's in
those volumes.
LIZ
Well maybe you're right, Jim. I'll
give you one hour to solve the case...
until the kids are in bed.
(rising, she puts her
arms around him from
behind and kisses
his ear)
Then you're mine and Mr. Kennedy can
wait 'til morning. Come on, everybody
say goodnight to Daddy.
JASPER
(showing his drawing)
Dad, look what I drew.
JIM
(rising)
That's something, Jasper. What is
it?
JASPER
A rhinoceros. Can I stay up another
hour?
Virginia and Snapper each get one of Jim's shoes as he dances
with them, holding one with each hand.
JIM
(dancing)
Pickle and Snapper, my two favorite
dancing partners.
As the children dance, they fall off Jim's feet, laughing
and giggling. He throws each in the air and kisses them.
JIM
Goodnight, my doodle bugs.
KIDS
Goodnight, Daddy.
Liz comes over, smiling. Jim takes her in his arms.
LIZ
One hour, y'hear? Some Saturday
night date you are.
(sighs)
Mama warned me this would happen if
I married such a serious man.
JIM
Oh, she did, huh? When I come up
I'll show you how Saturday night got
invented.
GARRISON STUDY - LATER THAT NIGHT(1966)
The clock on mantelpiece reads 3 A.M. Jim is alone, smoking
his pipe.
In the stillness, his mind crawls all over the place. The
camera closes on the thickly-worded pages of the Warren
Report.
FLASHBACK TO the Warren Commission hearing room in Dallas,
1964. We hear thin, echoey sound as the attorneys question
some of the witnesses.
The overall effect is vague and confusing, as is much of the
Warren Report. A Mr. Ball is questioning Lee Bowers, the
switchman in the railroad yard. Bowers, in his early 40's,
has a trustworthy, working-man face and a crew cut.
BOWERS
I sealed off the area, and I held
off the trains until they could be
examined, and there was some
transients taken on at least one
train.
ATTORNEY
Mr. Bowers... is there anything else
you told me I haven't asked you about
that you can think of?
BOWERS
Nothing that I can recall.
ATTORNEY
Witness is excused.
Jim, upset, reads on... Another witness, Sgt. D.V. Harkness
of the Dallas Police responds to a second attorney.
SGT. HARKNESS
Well we got a long freight that was
in there, and we pulled some people
off of there and took them to the
station.
We see another FLASHBACK - to the Dallas rail yards on the
day of the assassination. Three hoboes are being pulled off
the freight by the Dallas policemen.
ATTORNEY (V.O.)
You mean some transients?
SGT. HARKNESS (V.O.)
Tramps and hoboes.
ATTORNEY (V.O.)
Were all those questioned?
FLASHBACK TO Dealey Plaza an hour or less after the
assassination. The three hoboes are marched by shotgun-toting
policemen to the Sheriff's office at Dealey Plaza. We note
that they do not look much like hoboes.
SGT. HARKNESS (V.O.)
Yes, sir, they were taken to the
station and questioned.
JIM
(astounded)
And?
(writes "incomplete")
ATTORNEY (V.O.)
(switching subjects)
I want to go back to this Amos Euins.
(voices dribble off)
BOWERS (V.O.)
Yes sir, traffic had been cut off
into the area since about 10, but
there were three cars came in during
this time from around noon till the
time of the shooting... the cars
circled the parking lot, and left
like they were checking the area,
one of the drivers seemed to have
something he was holding to his
mouth... the last car came in about
7 to 10 minutes before the shooting,
a white Chevrolet, 4-door Impala,
muddy up to the windows.
The camera's point of view is now from the railroad tower
near Dealey Plaza. We are fourteen feet off the ground,
overlooking the parking lot behind the Grassy Knoll. The
shot includes this last car circling in the lot.
BOWERS
Towards the underpass, I saw two men
standing behind a picket fence...
they were looking up towards Main
and Houston and following the caravan
as it came down. One of them was
middle-aged, heavyset. The other
man was younger, wearing a plaid
shirt and jacket.
Inside the railroad tower, Bowers glances out, busy with the
main board, flashing lights, a train coming in.
BOWERS
There were two other men on the
eastern end of the parking lot.
Each of 'me had uniforms.
We see the parking lot from Bower's point of view - at a
distance, but we have a sense of the cars and see the men at
a distance, tow uniformed men. The parking lot is bumper-to-
bumper with a sea of cars. Rain that morning has muddied
the lot. These brief images are elaborated on later.
BOWERS
At the time of the shooting there
seemed to be some commotion... I
just am unable to describe - a flash
of light or smoke or something which
caused me to feel that something out
of the ordinary had occurred there
on the embankment...
We feel the growing intensity: music, drums - but all blurred.
We see a puff of smoke but no sound because of the window
Bowers is glancing through. A motorcycle cop shoots up the
Grassy Knoll incline. People run, blurring into a larger
mosaic of confusion. Bowers is confused, seeing this.
INTERCUT with Jim's heart pounding as he reads.
Back in Dealey Plaza, S.M. Holland, an elderly signal
supervisor, stands on the parapet of the railway.
HOLLAND (V.O.)
Four shots... a puff of smoke came
from the trees... behind that picket
fence... close to the little plaza -
There's no doubt whatever in my mind.
We see the scene from Holland's point of view - the puff of
smoke lingering under the trees along the picket fence after
the shooting.
GARRISON BEDROOM - ANOTHER NIGHT(1966)
Jim is asleep, having a tortured dream.
DREAMSCAPE FLASHBACK: We see the Zapruder film, in slow-motion
and J.F.K.'s face just before he goes behind Stemmons Freeway
sign. Jim sits up suddenly.
JIM
NO!
Liz stirs, shaken.
LIZ
Honey, you all right?
(looks at watch)
JIM
It's incredible, honey - the whole
thing. A Lieutenant Colonel testifies
that Lee Oswald was given a Russian
language exam as part of his Marine
training only a few months before he
defects to the Soviet Union. A
Russian exam!
LIZ
(sitting up, angered)
I cannot believe this. It's four-
thirty, Jim Garrison. I have five
children are gonna be awake in another
hour and ...
JIM
Honey, in all my years in the service
I never knew a single man who was
given a Russian test. Oswald was a
radar operator. He'd have about as
much use for Russian as a cat has
for pajamas.
LIZ
These books are getting to your mind,
Mr. Garrison. I wish you'd stop
readin' them.
JIM
And then this Colonel tries to make
it sound like nothing. Oswald did
badly on the test, he says. "He
only had two more Russian words right
than wrong." Ha! That's like me
saying Touchdown here...
(points to the dog)
...is not very intelligent because I
beat him three games out of five the
last time we played chess.
LIZ
(gives up)
Jim, what is going on, for heaven's
sake! You going to stay up all night
every night? For what? So you'll
be the only man in America who read
the entire 26 volumes of the Warren
Report?
JIM
Liz, do I have to spell it out for
you? Lee Oswald was no ordinary
soldier. That was no accident he
was in Russia. He was probably in
military intelligence. That's why
he was trained in Russian.
LIZ
(with a quizzical
look)
Honey, go back to sleep, please!
JIM
Goddammit! I been sleeping for three
years!
She takes him now, gently, and pulls him down on top of her
and kisses him.
LIZ
Will you stop rattling on about
Kennedy for a few minutes, honey...
come on.
LAFAYETTE SQUARE - NEW ORLEANS - MORNING(1966)
A Sunday, early. We see a statue of Ben Franklin in an empty
square frequented by drunks who doze on benches in a little
leafy park in the center of the Square. The camera moves to
Jim by himself and then moves to a sedan, pulling up, which
disgorges Lou Ivon and Bill Broussard.
JIM
Morning, boys. Ready for a walking
tour?
BILL
At 7:30 Sunday morning? It's not
exactly fresh blood we're sniffing
here, boss.
JIM
(points)
Old stains, Bill, but just as telling.
TIME CUT TO Jim indicating 531 Lafayette Street, a seedy,
faded, three-story building across the street from the square.
JIM
Remember whose office this was back
in '63? 531 Lafayette Street.
LOU
Yeah, Guy Banister. Ex-FBI man. He
died couple years ago.
FLASHBACK TO the exterior of the Banister Office on a day in
1963. The door is now clearly labelled "W. GUY BANISTER,
INC. INVESTIGATORS." It opens and Banister comes out in
slow motion, neatly dressed, rose in his lapel - the same
office and same man we saw three years before when he pistol-
whipped Jack Martin. Banister seems to be smiling right at
us, greeting us.
JIM (V.O.)
Headed the Chicago office. When he
retired he became a private eye here.
I used to have lunch with him. John
Birch Society, Minutemen, slightly
to the right of Attila the Hun.
Used to recruit college students to
infiltrate radical organizations on
campus. All out of this office.
Now come around here, take a look at
this...
Back to the Lafayette Square of 1966. Jim walks Ivon and
Bill to the corner, to another entrance to the same building -
this one with a sign that says "544 Camp Street."
JIM
544 Camp Street. Same building as
531 Lafayette, right... but different
address and different entrances both
going to the same place - the offices
on the second and third floors.
Bill studies the present sign: "Crescent City Dental
Laboratory", and gives Jim a puzzled look.
JIM
Guess who used this address?
Lou gets it and glances up. We FLASHBACK TO the exterior of
544 Camp Street in 1963. Lee Oswald comes out the door into
a full close-up, now clearly seen by us, and heads out into
the street as Guy Banister intercepts him on the sidewalk,
holding a leaflet and point to "544 Camp Street stamped on
it. Guy seems miffed at Oswald, tells him something quickly,
and then moves on.
BANISTER
(under)
See this? What the hell is this
doing on this piece of paper?
(he moves away)
Asshole.
LOU (V.O.)
My God! Lee Harvey Oswald.
JIM (V.O.)
Bull's-eye. How do we know he was
here? Cause this office address was
stamped on the pro-Casto leaflets he
was handing out in the summer of '63
down on Canal street. They were the
same leaflets that were found in his
garage in Dallas.
FLASHBACK to Canal Street in New Orleans on a summer day in
1963. Oswald, in a thin tie and white short-sleeved shirt,
and wearing a homemade placard reading "Hands Off Cuba";
"Viva Fidel!", is hawking leaflets to pedestrians with two
young helpers.
A large white-haired businessman in a white suit, very
distinguished, walks with a friend on Canal Street. Oswald
glances at him and meets his eyes. The businessman enters
an office building. This man is Clay Bertrand, later known
as Clay Shaw.
Some Cubans, led by Carols Bringuier, now appear. One of
them, "the Bull", is heavy-set with dark glasses. More of
him will also be seen.
JIM
He was arrested that day for fighting
with some anti-Castro Cubans... but
actually he had contacted them a few
days earlier as an ex-Marine trying
to join the anti-Castro crusade.
When they heard he was now pro-Castro,
they paid him a visit.
CARLOS
(haranguing passerby)
He's a traitor, this man! Don't
believe a word he tells you!
(to Oswald)
You sonofabitch, you liar, you're a
Communist, go back to Moscow.
Carlos throws Oswald's leaflets in the air and pulls off his
glasses, prepared to fight. Oswald only smiles, and puts
his arms down in an X of passivity.
OSWALD
Okay, Carlos, if you want to hit me,
hit me.
There is no real fight, but the police, as if pre-alerted,
arrive.
Arrests are made. We see Oswald in a room in the police
station, talking with FBI Agent John Quigley. A calendar on
the wall shows that it's August, 1963.
JIM (V.O.)
There was no real fight and the
arresting Lieutenant later said he
felt it was a staged incident. In
jail, Oswald asked to talk to Special
Agent John Quigley of the FBI who
showed up immediately. They have a
private session. Oswald is released
and Quigley destroys his notes from
the interview.
In a television studio in 1963, Oswald debates Carlos
Bringuier with two moderators.
JIM
But the arrest gets him a lot of
publicity and as a result Oswald
appears on a local TV debate that
established his credentials as a
Communist.
BRINGUIER
But you're a Communist, are you not,
and you defected to Russia.
OSWALD
No, I am not a Communist. But I am
a Marxist-Leninist.
BRINGUIER
What did you do when you were in
Russia?
OSWALD
(defensive)
I worked while I was there. I was
always under the protection of...
that is to say, I was not under the
protection of the U.S. Government.
Back in 1966, Jim walks with his two assistants.
BILL
What the hell's a Communist like Lee
Oswald doing working out of
Banister's?
JIM
Y'ever heard of a double agent, Bill?
I'm beginning to doubt Oswald was
ever a Communist... after the arrest,
544 Camp Street never appeared on
the pamphlets again. Now here's
another one for you: What would you
say if I told you Lee Oswald had
been trained in the Russian language
when he was a Marine?
LOU
I'd say he was probably getting
intelligence training.
JIM
Lou, you were in the Marines. Who
would be running that training?
LOU
The Office of Naval Intelligence.
JIM
Take a look across the street.
We see the Post Office building across the street.
LOU
Post Office.
JIM
Upstairs. In 1963 that was the Office
of Naval Intelligence - And just by
coincidence, Banister, before he was
FBI, was ONI. What do they say?
LOU
"Once ONI, always ONI"?
BILL
Well, he likes to work near his old
pals.
Jim makes a gesture encompassing the whole Square.
JIM
Bill, Lou, we're standing in the
heart of the United States
Government's intelligence community
in New Orleans. That's the FBI there,
the CIA, Secret Service, ONI. Doesn't
this seem to you a rather strange
place for a Communist to spend his
spare time?
LOU
What are you driving at, boss?
JIM
We're going back into the case, Lou -
the murder of the President. I want
you to take some money from the Fees
and Fines Account and go to Dallas -
talk to some people. Bill, I want
you to get Oser on the medical, the
autopsy, Susan on Oswald and Ruby
histories, tax records...
BILL
Lord, wake me, please. I must be
dreaming.
JIM
No, you're awake, Bill, and I'm dead
serious. And we're going to start
by tracking down your anonymous source
from three years ago. How did you
find out Dave Ferrie drove to Texas
that day?
RACETRACK - DAY(1966)
A straggly group of people watch from the grandstands eating
hotdogs and talking in small clusters. The horses are running
early morning laps. Three men sit apart in the bleachers.
A scared Jack Martin, three years older than when last seen,
still wearing the Dick Tracy hat, sucks up coffee like a
worm does moisture. He has the red puffy cheeks of an
alcoholic and deeply circled, worried eyes. Bill and Jim
wait.
JIM
You're not under cross-examination
here, Jack.
What I need is a little clarification about the night Guy
Banister beat you over the head with his Magnum. You called
our office hopping mad from your hospital bed. Don't tell
me you don't remember that?
Jack looks away and doesn't respond.
JIM
Here's my problem, Jack. You told
me you and Guy were good friends for
a long time?
MARTIN
More than ten years.
JIM
And he never hit you before?
MARTIN
Never touched me.
JIM
Yet on November 22, 1963 - the day
of the President's murder - our police
report says he pistol-whipped you
with a .357 Magnum.
(Martin's eyes are
fixed on Jim)
But the police report says you had
an argument over the phone bill.
Here, take a look at it.
(Martin looks at the
report)
Now, does a simple argument over
phone bills sound like a believable
explanation to you?
SUDDEN FLASHBACK to the night of the pistol-whipping. The
camera shows Banister laying Martin's head open / the beating
the humiliation.
MARTIN
(shaking his head
slowly, dreamily)
No, it involved more than that.
Bill looks at Jim.
JIM
How much more?
MARTIN
(waits)
I don't know if I should talk about
this.
JIM
Well, I'd ask Guy - we were friendly,
you know - heart attack, wasn't it?
MARTIN
If you buy what you read in the paper.
JIM
You have other information?
MARTIN
I didn't say that. All I know is he
died suddenly just before the Warren
Report came out.
JIM
Why did Guy beat you, Jack?
MARTIN
Well, I guess now that Guy's dead,
it don't really matter... it was
about the people hanging around the
office that summer. I wasn't really
part of the operation, you know. I
was handling the private-eye work
for Guy when that came in - not much
did - but that's why I was there...
it was a nuthouse. There were all
these Cubans coming and going. They
all looked alike to me.
FLASHBACK to Banister's office in 1963. There are Cubans in
battle fatigues and combat boots; duffle bags are lying
around. David Ferrie, in fatigues, directs the Cubans as
they carry crates of ammunition and weapons into a back room.
Martin observes from another desk.
MARTIN
Dave Ferrie - you know about him?
JIM (V.O.)
Was he there often?
MARTIN (V.O.)
Often? He practically lived there.
It was real cloak and dagger stuff.
They called it Operation Mongoose.
The idea was to train all these Cuban
exiles for another invasion of Cuba.
Banister's office was part of a supply
line that ran from Dallas, through
New Orleans to Miami, stockpiling
arms and explosives.
Still in 1963, we see the exterior of Banister's office. A
dozen Cubans follow Ferrie downstairs into the street, and
pile into several cars, duffels thrown in with them. Ferrie
drives the lead car.
JIM (V.O.)
All this right under the noses of
the intelligence community in
Lafayette Square?
We see the cars cross the long Lake Pontchartrain Bridge and
enter a remote guerrilla training camp. Bayou and jungle
are all around.
MARTIN (V.O.)
Sure. Everybody knew everybody. It
was a network. They were working
for the CIA - pilots, black operations
guys, civilians, military - everybody
in those days was running guns
somewhere... Fort Jefferson, Bayou
Bluff, Morgan City... McAllen, Texas
was a big gun-running operation.
At the guerrilla training camp at Lake Pontchartrain in 1963,
we see scenes of basic training - shooting, obstacle courses,
callisthenics - led by Ferrie and other trainers. Scattered
among the Cubans are several white American mercenaries. We
catch a glimpse of Oswald and glimpses of several other men
we will see again, in sprinklings.
JIM (V.O.)
Where is Banister in all this?
MARTIN (V.O.)
Banister was running his camp north
of Lake Pontchartrain. Ferrie handled
a lot of the training. There was a
shooting range and a lot of tropical
terrain like in Cuba. A few Americans
got trained, too. Nazi types.
Mercenaries. But Ferrie was the
craziest.
It's night at the training camp. FBI agents race up in cars
in the middle of the night, swarming over the camp, rounding
up the trainees.
MARTIN
Anyway, late summer the party ended.
Kennedy didn't want another Bay of
Pigs mess, so he ordered the FBI to
shut down the camps and confiscate
the napalm and the C-4. There were
a buncha Cubans and a couple Americans
arrested, only you didn't read about
it in the papers. Just the weapons
got mentioned... 'cause the first
ones behind bars would've been
Banister and Ferrie, but I think the
G-men were just going through the
motions for Washington. Their hearts
were with their old FBI buddy
Banister.
We see FBI agents loading dynamite, bomb casings, arms 155mm
artillery shells, etc.
Back at the racetrack in 1966, Jim listens.
MARTIN
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