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The Missiles of October (1974) (TV)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
18 December 1974 (USA) morePlot:
Based in part on Robert F. Kennedy's book, "Thirteen Days," this film profiles the Kennedy Administration's actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. more | add synopsisAwards:
Won Primetime Emmy. Another 1 win & 8 nominations moreUser Comments:
A TV Drama Classic moreCast
(Credited cast)| William Devane | ... | President John F. Kennedy | |
| Ralph Bellamy | ... | U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson | |
| Howard Da Silva | ... | Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev | |
| James Hong | ... | U.N. Secretary-General U Thant | |
| Martin Sheen | ... | Att. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| James T. Callahan | ... | David Powers, Special Assistant to the President | |
| Peter Canon | ... | Admiral's Aide | |
| Keene Curtis | ... | John McCone, Director CIA | |
| Charles Cyphers | ... | Press Photographer | |
| Clifford David | ... | Theodore Sorensen, Special Counsel | |
| John Dehner | ... | Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson | |
| Francis De Sales | ... | Senator | |
| Peter Donat | ... | David Ormsby-Gore, British Ambassador to U.S. | |
| Andrew Duggan | ... | Gen. Maxwell Taylor, Army Chief of Staff | |
| Richard Eastham | ... | Gen. David M. Shoup, USMC Commandant | |
| Dana Elcar | ... | Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara | |
| Gene Elman | ... | Russian Presidium Member | |
| Ron Feinberg | ... | Gen. Charles De Gaulle | |
| Michael Fox | ... | Soviet Marshal | |
| Arthur Franz | ... | Congressman Charles A. Halleck | |
| Larry Gates | ... | Secretary of State Dean Rusk | |
| Jerome Guardino | ... | Reporter | |
| Ted Hartley | ... | American General | |
| Bern Hoffman | ... | Russian Presidium Member | |
| Richard Karlan | ... | Chief of the Presidium | |
| Stacy Keach Sr. | ... | W.E. Knox, President Westinghouse International | |
| Wright King | ... | Sen. Richard Russell | |
| Will Kuluva | ... | Valerian Zorin | |
| Paul Lambert | ... | John Scali, ABC Correspondent | |
| Doreen Lang | ... | Mrs. Evelyn Lincoln, President Kennedy's Secretary | |
| Michael Lerner | ... | Pierre Salinger, Whitehouse Press Secretary | |
| Robert P. Lieb | ... | Gen. Curtis LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff | |
| John McMurtry | ... | Yefgani Yeftashanko | |
| Byron Morrow | ... | Sen. William Fullbright | |
| Stewart Moss | ... | Kenneth O'Donnell, Special Assistant to the President | |
| Stuart Nisbet | ... | Reporter | |
| Buddy Ochoa | ... | Television Assistant | |
| James Olson | ... | McGeorge Bundy, Special Assistant for National Security Affairs | |
| Dennis Patrick | ... | Llewellyn Thompson, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union | |
| Albert Paulsen | ... | Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin | |
| Nehemiah Persoff | ... | Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko | |
| William Prince | ... | Secretary of the Treasury, C. Douglas Dillon | |
| John Randolph | ... | Undersecretary of State George Ball | |
| Toby Russ | ... | Waiter | |
| Kenneth Tobey | ... | Adm. George W. Anderson Jr., Chief of Naval Operations | |
| Serge Tschernisch | ... | Soviet Stenographer | |
| Jay Vallera | ... | Cuban Delegate | |
| George Wyner | ... | Civillian Aide | |
| Harris Yulin | ... | KGB Agent Alexander Fomin | |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
150 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoFun Stuff
Trivia:
This was originally shot on videotape, and first shown in this format, but when it was sold to local stations, it was transferred to film. moreGoofs:
Factual errors: President Kennedy's address to the nation is shown as being made from the Oval Office, with the windows behind the President's desk visible in the TV picture. While the actual address did originate from that location, a neutral gray backdrop was placed behind the President's chair, so none of the real background is visible in the tape of the actual telecast. moreQuotes:
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev: [thinking about President Kennedy on the other side of the world, before being interrupted again] Just now, I work and he sleeps. Then, he works and I sleep.[pauses]
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev: Perhaps soon we both sleep...
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Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Missiles of October (1974) (TV)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
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| This is a landmark presentation-Where is everybody? | mustangp51b |
| Great film | mebobbob |
| the missiles of october | pixie_jean |
Recommendations
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Some have berated the "The Missiles of October" for being over-long. Nonsense! (One genius who complained did, however, like the performance of "Marin Short". Sounds like a 12 year-old. Hey, maybe he is!) It would have been over-long if it were a boring story with boring performances. But "The Missiles of October" is neither. The story is, of course, riveting, whether you were around during the early sixties or not. And the performances - the guy who cast the three main characters, JFK (William Devane), RFK (Martin Sheen) and Khrushchev (Howard Da Silva), should have got an Emmy. Martin Sheen may have over-done Bobby Kennedy a bit, but it should be noted, that RFK's "Kennedy accent" was much thicker than JFK's, almost to the point of self-caricature.
Nor is the film "dated," as another reviewer would have it. The TV claustrophobic atmosphere is in perfect keeping with the tight, closed, suffocating tension which actually existed in the real situation. The crisis did not occur out of doors, or in halls - it occurred in a few rooms.
"The Missiles of October" possesses the hallmark of classic drama: though you may know how it ends, you want to watch it again and again.