"Kennedy" (1983) TV mini-series

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Jim Goddard

Writer:

Reg Gadney (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 1983 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Biography of the 1961-1963 presidency of John F. Kennedy.

Plot Keywords:

John F Kennedy | Assassination | U.S. Senator | Lyndon Johnson | Patriarch

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Martin Sheen	...	John F. Kennedy
John Shea	...	Robert F. Kennedy
E.G. Marshall	...	Joseph P. Kennedy
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Rose Kennedy
Vincent Gardenia	...	J. Edgar Hoover
Blair Brown	...	Jacqueline Kennedy
Kevin Conroy	...	Ted Kennedy
Charles Brown	...	Martin Luther King Jr.
Nesbitt Blaisdell	...	Lyndon B. Johnson
Peter Boyden	...	Pierre Salinger
Kent Broadhurst	...	Richard Paul Pavlick
James Burge	...	Peter Lawford
William Cain	...	Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer
Joanne Camp	...	Eunice Shriver
Veronica Castang	...	Evelyn Lincoln

Runtime:

282 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Alan Landsburg Productions

Trivia:

First aired on NBC on Sunday, November 20, 1983 at the same time that ABC was airing ‘The Day After’ (1983).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene between Jackie and her assistant Bess in the car following their pre inauguration visit, there are several indications that this movie was filmed in the early 80s. First, if you look over Blair Brown's right shoulder as the car moves down the street, you'll notice a current version of a "Do Not Enter" street sign. It's the kind with the big red circle with a white line going through it. Those type of street signs didn't appear across America until the 1970s. As the car continues to move down the street, immediately behind it are a few other automobiles from that time period. However, again over Blair Brown's shoulder, you'll notice the car passes several 80s era vehicles which are parked.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Goonies (1985)

the best Kennedy movie ever!

Movies about the Kennedy family (miniseries as well) lets face it they are a dime a dozen. People have a never-ending fascination with them and filmakers have always done their best to exploit this said fascination. I remember watching this miniseries in 1983 (it was released on the 20th anniversary of Kennedy's death). I saw it again recently when I was home on leave from Germany. It is the best Kennedy show ever. Martin Sheen is an amazing actor and Blair Brown is equally good as Jackie. The thing I liked best is that Sheen did an amazing job copying Kennedy's accent. Some of the actors who play him don't even bother putting on a Boston accent but Sheen's is flawless. If you had just closed your eyes you would have really thought that was Kennedy talking! He is that good. I particularly liked it when he re-created Kennedy's inagural address (he said many other eloquent things besides ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country). What was chilling was Vincent Gardenia's portrayal of J. Edgar Hoover. He portrays him as evil as an almost Shakespeare llke villan. They always show him in dark lighting and he speaks in a sinister voice. I remember because he was in a Walt Disney movie I liked called The Last Flight Of Noah's Ark. The other thing that I wanted to mention is the reenactment of the assassination. It is also chilling and makes you realize how horrible it really was. It was like darkness at noon.