Real Time 1960s

Mar. 14, 1964 - After Jack Ruby was sentenced to die in the electric chair for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, defense attorney Melvin Belli cried: “I hope the people of Dallas are proud of the jury they shoved down our throat!” Vowing to quit practicing law if he didn’t reverse the verdict, he went on: “This is the greatest railroading kangaroo court of law in history! Do you believe this is a part of the United States? If this venomous infection spreads throughout the country, God save us all!” He then called Dallas “a little bit of Russia” and said the jurors “had their minds made up — and they have made this city a shame forevermore. Even in darkest Africa you wouldn’t argue for a man’s life after midnight.” Belli had asked the court to recess last night and let the lawyers argue this morning, but the request was denied. Belli, a San Franciscan, said that “never, never, never will travelers come to Dallas again and remember it as anything but a city of shame!” Belli had pleaded with the jurors to acquit Ruby of murder as a sick man with brain damage who shot Oswald on Nov. 24 in the City Hall basement while in a blackout caused by psychomotor epilepsy. He had argued that Dallas, on the defensive over President Kennedy’s assassination, would condemn Ruby to death to prove it is not a lawless city. Ruby will remain in his maximum-security cell on a top floor of the Criminal Courts and Jail Building, where he was tried, while his case is appealed. If the appeal fails, he will be moved to death row at the State Penitentiary in Huntsville. A spokesman for the Dallas District Attorney’s office said it would be at least two years before Ruby was executed, assuming that appeals were filed and dismissed promptly. Suppport this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 14, 1964 - Jack Ruby was sentenced today to die in the electric chair for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, accused assassin of President Kennedy. The jury in Dallas, Tex., deliberated 2 hours and 19 minutes. The speed with which the verdict was returned and read at 12:20 p.m. to those assembled in the courtroom and to a television audience by Judge Joe Brown brought an impassioned protest from chief defense counsel Melvin Belli. Before the jurors or the dazed-looking defendant were led away, he cried out to the jurors: “May I thank this jury for a verdict that is a victory for bigotry? I assure everyone on this jury I will appeal this to a court where there is justice and due process of law!” Guards leaped to the front of the trial room between the press and the counsel tables, while others surrounded Ruby and ran him out to the prison elevator. As the 52-year-old defendant was pushed past him, Belli shouted: “Don’t worry, Jack! We’ll appeal this and take it out of Dallas!” In a rear bench beneath the cameras which were allowed to film the judging of the man who committed the world’s first televised murder were Ruby’s sister, Mrs. Eileen Kaminsky of Chicago, and his brother Earl, who owns a dry-cleaning store in Detroit. “Oh God!” Mrs. Kaminsky wept. Earl put his arm around her and waved away a reporter, but she looked up at the newsman and said: “What can we tell you? He didn’t get a fair trial, that’s what we can tell you!” Above the pandemonium, Belli cried: “I hope the people of Dallas are proud of the jury they shoved down our throat!” Vowing to quit practicing law if he didn’t reverse the verdict, he went on: “This is the greatest railroading kangaroo court of law in history! Do you believe this is a part of the United States? If this venomous infection spreads throughout the country, God save us all!” He then called Dallas “a little bit of Russia” and said the jurors “had their minds made up — and they have made this city a shame forevermore. Even in darkest Africa you wouldn’t argue for a man’s life after midnight.” Belli had asked the court to recess last night and let the lawyers argue this morning, but the request was denied. Belli, a San Franciscan, said that “never, never, never will travelers come to Dallas again and remember it as anything but a city of shame!” Belli had pleaded with the jurors to acquit Ruby of murder as a sick man with brain damage who shot Oswald on Nov. 24 in the City Hall basement while in a blackout caused by psychomotor epilepsy. He had argued that Dallas, on the defensive over President Kennedy’s assassination, would condemn Ruby to death to prove it is not a lawless city. Ruby will remain in his maximum-security cell on a top floor of the Criminal Courts and Jail Building, where he was tried, while his case is appealed. If the appeal fails, he will be moved to death row at the State Penitentiary in Huntsville. A spokesman for the Dallas District Attorney’s office said it would be at least two years before Ruby was executed, assuming that appeals were filed and dismissed promptly. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 14, 1964 - On tonight’s episode of “The Lieutenant,” a newspaper reporter writing an expose of Marine training methods holds Rice (Gary Lockwood) responsible for the accidental death of a Marine. With Robert Duvall. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 13, 1964 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was the guest tonight on “The Jack Paar Program.” It was the Attorney General’s first televised appearance since the assassination of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, on Nov. 22, 1963. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 8, 1964 - Enjoy tonight’s episode of “What’s My Line,” with Stan Musial, Steve Allen, Arlene Francis, Steve Lawrence, Dorothy Kilgallen, and Martin Gabel. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 12, 1964 - Malcolm X predicted today that there would be more racial violence than ever in the U.S. in 1964. He declared that “Negroes on the mass level” were ready to act in self-defense. Mr. X broke last Sunday with the separatist Nation of Islam movement, which is headed by Elijah Muhammad. He announced then that he would organize a broadly based, politically oriented, black nationalist movement composed of Muslims, Christians, and non-believers who were intellectually and emotionally ready to follow the black nationalist banner. Today, at a news conference in New York’s Park Sheraton Hotel, Mr. X formally opened this drive. “White people will be shocked,” he told reporters, “when they discover that the passive little Negro they had known turns out to be a roaring lion. The whites had better understand this while there is still time.” He urged Negroes to abandon the doctrine of non-violence in the civil rights struggle. He asserted: “It is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or a rifle. We believe in obeying the law. In areas where our people are the constant victims of brutality and the Government seems unable or unwilling to protect them, we should form rifle clubs that can be used to defend our lives and property in times of emergency, such as happened last year in Birmingham, Plaquemine, La., Cambridge, Md., and Danville, Va. When our people are being bitten by dogs, they are within their rights to kill those dogs. If the Government thinks I am wrong for saying this, then let the Government start doing its job.” Despite his statement Sunday that he would not seek to take members away from Elijah Muhammad’s movement, Mr. X arrived at the conference accompanied by several Black Muslims who have presumably followed him out of the Chicago-based organization. He announced that he established temporary headquarters at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem and would soon open his own mosque for those of his followers who are Muslim. But he said the mosque would be a meeting place for Negroes of all religious persuasions who wanted to enter into discussions of the black nationalist movement. Mr. X said his new movement was being financed by voluntary contributions. He said he would accept contributions from whites, but that white people could not join because, he said, when whites join an organization they usually take control of it. Questioned about the school integration dispute in New York, Mr. X said he did not oppose any rational solution but that he believed the only real solution would be to improve the quality of those schools with largely Negro student bodies. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 10, 1964 - Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge won a smashing victory tonight in the nation’s first Presidential primary of the 1964 campaign. In cities and hamlets alike throughout New Hampshire, voters slogged through sleet and snow to write in the name of the Ambassador to South Vietnam as their preference for the Republican nomination for President. Lodge, an undeclared candidate in the primary who is in Saigon, led almost from the start as the returns were counted. He slowly pulled away from the two principal declared candidates in the contest, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York and Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Former Vice President Richard M. Nixon, also an undeclared candidate and the beneficiary of a write-in campaign, was running fourth. At 1 a.m., NBC gave these vote totals on the basis of 85% of the vote: Lodge, 28,526; Goldwater, 18,989; Rockefeller, 17,192; Nixon, 14,226. The Lodge totals were especially impressive because they required voters to write in his name, while supporters of Governor Rockefeller and Senator Goldwater had merely to mark crosses beside their names. Returns indicated that Mr. Lodge was winning all 14 of the delegates who will cast votes at the Republican National Convention July 13 in San Francisco. In the Democratic primary, President Johnson and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy were having their names bracketed together by the voters as write-in choices for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominations. There were no names printed on the Democratic ballots. At 11:37 p.m., ABC gave these vote totals: Johnson, 27,492; Kennedy, 15,167. Shortly after 11 p.m., George Cabot Lodge, the elder son of the Ambassador, read a prepared statement from his father in Saigon, asserting that “the voters of New Hampshire have paid me the highest of compliments.” He said he would “consider their action and all its meanings.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 10, 1964 - On tonight’s episode of “The Steve Allen Show,” Johnny Carson placed a prank call to Jack Paar. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 9, 1964 - Miriam Makeba, a South African-born singer who believes racism is bringing disaster and tragedy to her country, offered today a “freedom song” to members of a United Nations committee. She spoke, rather than sang, the words in a low and sometimes broken voice. The song was about freedom for Africans, and the main theme was an appeal to the world for an economic boycott against the Government of Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd: “You say you want to make me free — then don’t trade with the men who are killing me.” Miss Makeba was invited back by the 11-nation Committee on Apartheid in South Africa — she first appeared at the U.N. in July — to give her testimony as a petitioner who had lived and worked in South Africa. In July, she talked about her personal experiences, but this time she spoke of the African leaders jailed by the South African Government — and she recited the song’s words, written by Vanessa Redgrave, an English actress. Miss Makeba came upon them a few days ago and decided they best expressed her message. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Here is a campaign film in support of the Presidential candidacy of Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.). Included are excerpts of speeches, interviews with the candidate, and interviews with New Hampshire residents as Goldwater seeks votes in the New Hampshire Primary scheduled for March 10th, 1964. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 8, 1964 - On tonight’s episode of “The Ed Sullivan Show,” Florence Henderson sang “I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy,” a tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific.” Miss Henderson started her career on the stage performing in musicals, such as the touring production of “Oklahoma!” and “South Pacific” at Lincoln Center. She debuted on Broadway in the musical “Wish You Were Here” in 1952 and later starred on Broadway in the long-running 1954 musical “Fanny,” in which she originated the title role. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 31, 1964 - Outplayed for 57 minutes but trailing by only one goal, the never-say-die Montreal Canadiens capitalized on two big Toronto miscues tonight and scored a dramatic 3-2 victory over the Maple Leafs before 14,436, the largest crowd of the season at Maple Leaf Gardens, for a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup semifinals. Henri Richard, the diminutive center who hadn’t scored a goal for so long that he couldn’t remember when, saved the game from overtime with the winning tally when there were only 35 seconds left to play. It came just 2:10 after defenseman Jean-Claude Tremblay had tied the score with his first playoff goal in four NHL seasons. Both of the goals were gifts from the Leafs. Tremblay got the equalizer when he intercepted Red Kelly’s pass just inside the Toronto zone and shot through a maze of players past goalie Johnny Bower. Allan Stanley made the miscue that set up Richard for a free skate to the goal mouth, when the Hab center intercepted Stanley’s pass at the Leaf blue line. “I could hardly believe it when Stanley put the puck onto my stick,” Richard said afterward. Montreal coach Toe Blake admitted after the game that the Canadiens had stolen this victory, adding: “But we are not giving it back to them. We will take it and the Stanley Cup too, if we have to win all the games this way.” It was a heartbreaker for the Leafs, who deserved victory on the night’s overall play. They were in full command of the game through most of the first two periods and should have been ahead by a much higher margin than 2-1 when the roof fell in. “There’s no joy in Mudville tonight,” sighed Toronto coach Punch Imlach. “They didn’t win the game, we gave it to them. But what can you say? My two best players in the first two periods, Kelly and Stanley, each made goofs in the final minutes, and it cost us the game.” For Bob Pulford, the defeat was especially hard to swallow. He scored two goals, and it was also his 28th birthday. “I thought it was going to be a birthday to remember. It was, but not because I got two goals — because we lost like that.” Imlach summed up the situation. “We won a game in Montreal earlier in the series. Now, we have to do it again.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 7, 1964 - President Johnson said today that U.S. troops would be moved to and from South Vietnam depending on the need for them in the war against the Communist Viet Cong guerrillas. The President’s statement at a news conference was the first official suggestion that more men would be sent as advisers to the South Vietnamese Army if they were needed. However, Mr. Johnson did not predict an additional commitment of forces. He made the point, he said, only to indicate that the occasional withdrawal of men who missions were completed should not be taken as a sign of flagging American interest in the defense of South Vietnam. A careful evaluation of future policy, the President said, must await the return from Vietnam next week of a study group headed by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. A “good deal” of the decision on future American troop movements, he said, will depend on their report. Mr. Johnson was careful to speak of the U.S. forces as “advisers” and “trainers” of the South Vietnamese, a phrasing that is intended to make clear that the U.S has not formally committed its own troops to battle there. Speculation about an American withdrawal from Vietnam has persisted side by side with speculation about a greater U.S. involvement and possible extension of the war into North Vietnam. Both types of speculation derive from past Administration statements. Mr. Johnson said he did not think Vietnam ought to be the subject of partisan debate since it had been a problem under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He denied that anyone was “hiding” information or policy decisions and said he expects men of both parties to work with the Administration as a team. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 6, 1964 - Seven prisoners today broke out of the Dallas County Jail that holds Jack Ruby and made a dash for freedom. They overpowered guards and used a razor blade and a fake pistol on hostages. Television cameramen covering the Ruby murder trial recorded the drama, giving Dallas the additional distinction of having the first filmed jailbreak in history. Ruby was in court just a few yards away as the prisoners swarmed out of a jail elevator into a second-floor corridor packed with witnesses, court officials, and newsmen. Two escapees were recaptured almost immediately and two more an hour later, but three were still at large when the court session ended for the day and Ruby returned to his top-security cell. One of the defense’s key witnesses, stripper Karen Lynn Bennett, known as “Little Lynn,” who was about to be called to the stand, collapsed, screaming: “Oh my God, they’re going to get me,” when she saw the jailbreakers in the corridor. Lynn, 19, who is about to have a baby, soon recovered and was able to take the stand. Red-faced officials, still smarting over worldwide criticism of their failure to protect Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of President Kennedy, admitted that a breakdown in security had permitted the escape. A guard in the jail, which is on the fifth floor of the county courthouse, failed to lock up the prisoners while “soaping out” a corridor (handing out soap to the prisoners). They jumped him and held a razor blade to his throat until he gave up his keys. The prisoners, all sentenced to heavy terms for robbery, overpowered another guard and raced to the jail elevator. They forced the elevator operator to take them down to the second floor. One prisoner, Clarence Gregory, grabbed Edna Biggs, a clerk in the probations department, and held a bogus pistol in her ribs. A sheriff later said the pistol had been realistically carved in soap, painted with black shoe polish, and held together with syrup. Its barrel was a black pencil. When Mrs. Biggs wriggled free, she ran into the offices of Judge John Mead with Gregory in hot pursuit. Judge Mead’s clerk was seated at her desk. “This man came rushing in and said, ‘Show me a way out of here.’ I told him, ‘There’s no way out but the window.’ He said, ‘No, I’m walking out of here, and you’re walking with me.’” Pressing the soap pistol into her back, Gregory forced the clerk to walk through the corridor, past photographers and T.V. cameramen who were outside the Ruby courtroom. It was this portion of the jailbreak that was shown later on television. At the parking lot, Gregory and the clerk were surrounded by sheriff’s deputies. The convict was disarmed of his soap pistol by Deputy Charles Player. The police are still searching for Billy Ray Brock, Randolph Hudnall, and Lennard F. Driggers. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 7, 1964 - At today’s press conference, President Johnson was asked to assess Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s qualifications as a possible candidate for Vice President. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 4, 1964 - Cassius Clay told African and Asian delegates to the United Nations today that he “couldn’t wait” to visit their countries. “I’m champion of the whole world,” he said during a two-hour tour of the U.N., “and I want to meet the people I am champion of.” Clay, who had disclosed his membership in the Nation of Islam after taking the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston last month, said he had been deluged by invitations from Moslem countries. He said one of the places he wanted to visit was Mecca. Clay, who had visited the U.N. in 1960 after winning the Olympic light-heavyweight title, made today’s tour at the invitation of two members of the U.N. press corps — Mal Goode of ABC and Charles Howard of the Howard News Syndicate. Clay will remain at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem for another week before returning to Louisville. In the meantime, he plans to look for a home in the New York metropolitan area. “I’m so popular I need a big town so all the people who want to watch me can do it,” he said. “New York’s the only place big enough for me.” Among those accompanying the champion were his brother, Rudolph; Archie Robinson, his personal secretary; and Malcolm X, the Black Muslim leader. Clay said he objected to the term “Black Muslims” as applied to American Negro devotees of Islam. He said the word “black” had been bestowed by whites as the most offensive word they could find. “Angel food cake is white. Devil food cake is black,” Cassius declared. Asked if he had influenced the champion’s decision to move to New York, Malcolm X said, “He’s got a mind of his own.” Asked if he thought Cassius would do any formal preaching, Mr. X said, “You don’t preach your philosophy, you live it.” Throughout the tour, Malcolm X did most of the talking on racial issues. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Mar. 3, 1964 - Cassius Clay, the world heavyweight champion, spent two hours in a Columbia Records studio at 799 Seventh Avenue today cutting a disk of his latest tune, “Hey, Hey, The Gang’s All Here.” Clay was accompanied by a mixed chorus of 10 professional singers and a six-piece band under the direction of Horace Ott. The entire production, which was frequently interrupted by the irrepressible Cassius, was arranged by the William Morris Agency. The new lyrics to the song were written for Cassius by Sam Cooke, a rhythm-and-blues recording artist. Cassius’s latest singing effort is his third record. He made a comedy LP recording, “I Am the Greatest,” last August. On that record, Clay predicted the outcome of his title fight with Sonny Liston. Clay’s other recording, a Columbia record entitled “Stand by Me,” was made in Chicago last September. The record was released last Wednesday, the day after Clay won the title from Liston on a seventh-round technical knockout. Since its release, the record has sold more than 100,000 copies. In between takes of “Hey, Hey” today, Cassius sat at the drums and beat a solid rhythm. He also played a few bars of rock ’n’ roll on the piano. And as usual, he recited some poetry. Following his title fight, Cassius said, he asked Willie Reddish, Liston’s trainer, why Liston failed to come out for the seventh round. Clay’s answer for Liston was: “Man, I’m no fool — I’m gonna stay on this stool.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jim Jacobs interviews heavyweight champion Sonny Liston and former champion Joe Louis, who has been helping Sonny prepare for his fight with Cassius Clay in Miami Beach on Feb. 25. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

President Johnson meets with Chancellor Erhard; Harry Truman speaks out; Nikita Khrushchev predicts U.S. defeat in Vietnam; Martin Luther King is Time’s Man of the Year; Roy Campanella brings Christmas cheer to a paralyzed jockey; the Chicago Bears are champions of the NFL. Newscaster: Joe Rubenstein. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Dec. 24, 1963 - New York International Airport was rededicated as John F. Kennedy International Airport today. The ceremony, attended by the late President’s youngest brother, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), and his sister, Mrs. Stephen Smith, was held in the arched lobby of the International Arrivals Building. New York City Mayor Robert Wagner and Gov. Richard Hughes of New Jersey spoke, and a message from Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was read. About 800 persons attended. Wagner and Hughes unveiled three 3-foot-high letters, “JFK,” which will form part of a 242-foot-wide electric sign atop the Arrivals Building. Sen. Kennedy said the President would have been proud of the tribute, “as we, his brothers and sisters, are deeply proud to share this occasion.” Wagner said that “our purpose in gathering here today is to honor our International Airport and our city and not the man whose name we take for this place and occasion. The name is already assured of remembrance in the chronicles of these times and of all times.” The Mayor said that the airport was a “symbol of intercommunication, understanding and peace” and that it was appropriate to name it after President Kennedy, “a brilliant practitioner of intercommunications, a young sage of understanding, and a tireless searcher for peace.” Immediately after the ceremony, workmen changed the first of 700 signs. It was a relettered sign, 35 feet wide, across the Van Wyck Expressway entrance to the field. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

In this episode, we move on to our fifth-ranked film of 1963, Alfred Hitchcock's “The Birds.” At the end, we reveal our ranked list of the Top 10 films of Hitchcock’s entire career. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

This newsreel covers promotional activities for and the Florida premiere of "Man’s Favorite Sport," a Howard Hawks comedy film starring Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Dec. 24, 1963 - Embittered survivors of the burnt-out Greek cruise liner Lakonia who landed in Madeira today said the crew panicked and left them to save themselves as the ship burned and exploded. Weary and bedraggled, several hundred Britons and Americans piled ashore from the Argentine freighter Salta after being snatched from the sea 180 miles north of Madeira in the eastern Atlantic. Arriving passengers claimed they had to fight crewmen for places in the lifeboats. An 80-year-old Briton said the officers and stewards “did their duty perfectly, but I cannot say much for some other members of the crew.” UPI quoted a woman passenger as saying that some crewmen took advantage of the chaos to loot her cabin. Mrs. J. Wilkinson of Wimbledon, England, said, “The crew broke into our cabin with hatchets and stole anything they could lay their hands on.” Several American and British passengers declared there were disgraceful lapses in discipline and that normal safety precautions for lifeboats had been violated on the Christmas cruise that ended in tragedy Sunday night. Passengers demanded a full investigation. “I am going to take it up with my lawyer,” said Ivan Buchanan of Atlanta, Ga., a consultant with the U.S. Air Force who is a native of North Adams, Mass. “It was a terrible shock. The crew was horrible.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 11, 1964 - The long-awaited Federal report on the effects of smoking found today that the use of cigarettes contributed so substantially to the American death rate that “appropriate remedial action” was called for. The committee that made the report gave no specific recommendations for action. But health officials said that possible steps might include educational campaigns, the requirement that cigarette packages carry warnings, and control of advertising. The report dealt a severe blow to the rear-guard action fought in recent years by the tobacco industry. It dismissed, one by one, the arguments raised to question the validity of earlier studies. Combining the results of many surveys, the study panel found no doubt about the role of cigarette smoking in causing cancer of the lungs. In men who smoke cigarettes, the death rate from that disease is almost 1,000 percent higher than in nonsmokers, it said. Lung cancer has become the most frequent form of cancer in men. Such smoking was also found to be “the most important” cause of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. As to coronary artery disease, a frequent cause of heart failure and the leading cause of death in the U.S., mortality is 70% higher for cigarette smokers than for nonsmokers, the report said. The committee also found that, as long suspected, pipe smoking is a cause of lip cancer. It said smoking during pregnancy seemed to produce smaller babies, but it asserted that it was not yet known whether real damage was done to the child. The report was prepared on the initiative of President Kennedy to help the Government decide what to do about the smoking question. Its work began in the summer of 1962. Today, the three major broadcasting networks said they would review their policies on tobacco advertising in light of the report. The Tobacco Institute rejected the report, stating it was not the last word on smoking and health. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Jan. 27, 1964 - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King gave a press conference today in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A primary topic of the conference was the Johnson Administration's pending civil rights bill. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s