JFK Page #4

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.

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