VOLUME 244 • NUMBER 138 56 pages 35 cents rn ente os nsragands beyond x0 mile from Bonne T8orton otot MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1993 30 years later, TV re-embraces JFK Medium that made Camelot cashes in

By Joseph P. Kahn ea's ongoing JFK love fest becomes GLOBE STAFF a full-fledged JFK film fest, as much of that old Camelot magic — and or 30 years, the question heartache — is recaptured for a con- F has gnawed at the coun- temporary audience in documentary, try's conscience. Who docudrama and miniseries form. All . shot John F. Kennedy? told, more than a dozen Kennedy-re- For the next seven lated specials will air during this days, television viewers will get a time period, including at least seven video-land, cable-ready answer: major new prime-time offerings. Everyone with a production bud- What will he found all over the get, a bankable script and access to TV dial are images that simulta- the Abraham Zapruder parade- neously deify and debunk the mem- route assassination footage has now ory of our 35th president, in ways shot a JFK retrospective. that may surprise even the most Beginning today and continuing jaundiced viewer. Rarely glimpsed through next Monday, the 30th anni- footage of Kennedy the charismatic Lee Haney Oswald after his capture. versary of Kennedy's death, Ameri- JFK, Page 8 John F. Kennedy on campaign trail. classified CIA files, "Frontline" probes deeper into the Oswald saga than any film before it. political rivals is so dramatic. A Among its discoveries are impor- brooding Nixon played piano at his • JFK tant new information on Oswald's own birthday parties. A bubbly Continued from Page 1 dealings with the CLA and KGB, his Marilyn Monroe crooned to JFK at politician and consummate family relationship with David Ferrie (a fa- his birthday party. Nixon swapped man will blend ceaselessly, if not al- vorite Stone villain in the film jokes with Hollywood's Rat Pack. ways seamlessly, with big-bucks "JFK") and fresh evidence connect- JFK swapped girlfriends. Enough Hollywood recreations and soap-op- ing Oswald to the rifle that killed said. era scenes. The impact of the Kenne- Kennedy. Conspicuous among the dy family on American tastes and field guides to Oswald's twisted life When it comes to remining the is Gerald Posner, author of "Case sensibilities, never mind JFK's influ- Kennedy legacy, there is always Closed," a new book that lends im- ence on the political landscape, will more to say. Yet does this glut of pressive support to the Warren be recalled with every zap of the re- sweeps-month programming mean- Commission's lone-gunman theory. mote control. ingfully advance our understanding of the Kennedy era and its tragic Television, the medium that CBS' sixth foray ending? Or does it merely feed the Posner also surfaces prominently loved Jack Kennedy, helped make same appetite for nostalgia that his political fortunes possible and fi- on CBS' "Who Killed JFK: The Fi- brings us Brady Bunch reunion nal Chapter?," the network's sixth nally laid him to rest before a grief- shows and baby-boomer memoirs of stricken nation, is going deep on major investigation into the assassi- lost innocence? Where does history nation. By now Dan Rather's pres- JFK one more (and probably not cross the line into hagiography? His- last) time. Like those fabled touch- ence in the anchor position on these torical drama into self-parody? Like football games in Hyannis Port, it's shows is less a guarantee of hard- the single-bullet theory, satisfactory hitting journalism than a puckish re- everybody-out-for-a-pass time. Grab answers may never be found, nor the yourself a piece of glory, a quick minder that he too was in Dallas that weird trajectory of popular culture fateful day, making his network score or birth. Once Camelot wove its fully plotted. mystical spell of yore. Now it just reputation. That quibble aside, Rath- er and Posner's analysis of eyewit- sells. And sells. And sells some Latest conspiracy theory more. ness testimony and the Zapruder se- quence is valuable - more valuable America cannot get enough of its Best supporting roles this week than the recycled history lesson that adopted royal family, it seems, even are assured for Jackie 0., the glam- precedes it, certainly. the nearly half of us horn since No- orous widow, and Lee Harvey Os- There is far more to quibble vember 22, 1963. Two new books wald, the enigmatic assassin. View- about, moreover, when it comes to about JFK - one focusing on his ers will seldom be more than (an Oli- rivals ABC's and NBC's entries into presidency, the other on his assassi- the JFK prime-time sweepstakes. At nation -..are among the big events of ver) stone's throw away from the lat- least the ABC miniseries "Reckless the publishing season. President est in conspiracy theory and autopsy Youth" has the virtue of being based Clinton's appearance last month at analysis, while talk-show hosts sum- on a book (by Nigel Hamilton) that the JFK Museum dedication seemed mon celebrities out of the greenroom takes a scholarly approach to the calculated to polish his profile as a to ask "Where were you...?" with seamier side of JFK's pre-congres- Kennedyesque torchbearer for the damp-eyed reverie. sional career. The production values 1990s. From Marina Oswald ("Fatal De- are impressive and the acting above- ception," NBC) to Inga Arvad average for this sort of fare, but the John Jr. has gone from saluting ("JFK: Reckless Youth," ABC), the script swings such a heavy cudgel soldiers to dating starlets in the bedroom partners of LHO and JFK against patriach Joe and matriarch wink of an eye, or so the prying me- will be given MPTE: Maximum Rose that it often plays like an ex- dia make us believe. When "60 Min- Prime-Time Exposure. In the best tended episode of "All My (Dysfunc- utes" correspondents were polled on and most ambitious of the upcoming tional) Children." whom they most regret not inter- offerings, at least some conscientious As for the Marina Oswald story viewing, the answer was unanimous: effort is made to enlighten as well as on NBC tonight, well, any movie Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. No- entertain. The worst stray into that purports to equate her with body is shooting miniseries on the mawkishness and titillation. Just Jackie - both sudden widows, both life and times of Gerald Ford, Jimmy when you think you've seen enough with two young kids, both searching Carter ur George Bush. Previously of the Zapruder film to last a lifetime for answers, get it? - is in trouble unseen footage of the Johnson or come endless slow-mo shots of the before the first commercial. Reagans relaxing at home on the president's skull exploding in Dealey All in all it adds up to a memora- ranch is likely to remain just that, Plaza, all freshly sickening if ble week of JFK-inspired memories. unseen. strangely compelling. That, and the nagging suspicion that in the not too distant future, with 50(1 Among modern presidents only A standout in regard to its seri- ousness of purpose is a three-hour channels available, broadcasting may Richard Nixon, the antiKennedy, introduce its first all-Kennedy net- continues to fascinate a new genera- "Frontline" investigation titled "Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?" Capital- work. tion of Americans to anything like Don't laugh. When Americans the same degree, perhaps because izing on the breakup of the Soviet Union and the release of previously cannot seem to get enough of some- the contrast between these two old thing, history suggests, they usually wind up getting more than they bar- gained for. TV offers a full week on JFK The followingis a sample of ispannins as definitively as CBS hoped nor as am- prime-tire Kennedy prognamming, Cheri biguously as the title suggests. Grassy times and local listings. Some cable offer. knoll gets a good re-mowing, though. ins repeat, Many other show's airing this "The End of Camelot" (Discovery Chan- Two more hours on the trag week hare been pretrionsl y broadcast net. Nov. 21): "Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey edy in Dallas. Not available fur preview Oswald" (NBC, Nov. 15): Helena Bonham but many of the usual suspects listed as in terviewees. Carter stars as the befuddled wife of US ti history's most notorious assassin - or pat- "JFK: Reckless Youth" (ABC, Nov. 21 sy. Ask not what your husband did to you 22): Nigel Hamilton's tell-all bio of randy ask how you can cash in on your husband. young JFK and his power-obsessed fathet Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?" (PBS, gets lavish Hollywood treatment - ant Nov. 16): A "Frontline'' investigation into higher marks for its production values am the life of JFK's killer that boldly goes. acting than for its tawdry pop psychology. where no documentary film has gone be- `November 22, 1963: Where Were You' (TNT, Nov. 21): Larry King asks Margaret fore. . "Jack" (CBS. Nov. 17): Producer Peter Thatcher, the Clintons, Harry Belafonte Davis aims for the heart of the Kennedy Barbra Streisand, Chubby Checker ant to recall where they were mystique - wit, wealth, smarts, sexiness - many others and scores a direct hit. Sometimes sappy. when they heard The News that day. Oh always satisfying. boy. "The Kennedy Years In Words and Mu• "With the President" (Disney Channel. sic- (PBS, Nov. 17): Photographer Jacques Nov. 22): Ex-White House photographer Lowe captures the glory of a political err Cecil Stoughton shares sentimental memo that was also put to music as no presidency ties and portraits from those fabled Thou- has been since. sand Days. Two hankies, minimum. "Jackie Onassis - An Intimate Portrait' -Dear Jackie" (Arts & Entertainment, (Lifetime, Nov. 17): Brought to you by Nov. 22): Excerpts from some of the 2 mil- Clairol, who ought to know. lion letters that poured into the White "Who Killed JFK: The Final Chapter? House after JFK's death, read by the (CBS, Nov. 19): Use of computer technol- mourners who wrote them. JOSEPH P. KAHN ogy makes the single-shooter cuss• neither