JFK: "He had to die just like his brother had die" - Emile de Antonio on Assassination

More on the CIA and the JFK assassination: https://thememoryhole.substack.com/p/strange-times-at-tokyo-station

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Emile de Antonio (1919-1989) was an American filmmaker and political activist who is best known for his documentary films that explored social and political issues. He was born in New York City to Italian and German immigrant parents and grew up during the Great Depression. De Antonio served in World War II and later attended Harvard University, where he studied philosophy and art history.

In the 1960s, de Antonio became involved in the civil rights movement and anti-war activism. He used his skills as a filmmaker to document these movements and produced a series of documentaries that exposed the injustices and corruption of American politics. Some of his most notable films include "Point of Order!" (1964), which examined the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings, and "In the Year of the Pig" (1968), which criticized the Vietnam War.

De Antonio was known for his unconventional filmmaking techniques, which often included the use of found footage, interviews, and voiceovers. He also collaborated with other artists and activists, including the writer Norman Mailer and the musician John Lennon.

Throughout his career, de Antonio remained committed to using film as a tool for social change. He believed that documentaries could educate and inspire audiences, and he often used his films to challenge the status quo and promote political activism. Today, he is recognized as one of the pioneers of the American documentary film movement, and his work continues to be studied and celebrated by filmmakers and activists around the world.

Emile de Antonio was highly critical of the investigations into the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy. He believed that the official explanations of both assassinations were inadequate and that there was evidence to suggest that they were part of larger conspiracies.

De Antonio was particularly interested in the Warren Commission report on the JFK assassination, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting the President. He believed that the Commission's investigation was flawed and that it failed to consider alternative explanations for the assassination. De Antonio made a film in 1973 called "Rush to Judgment," which presented evidence challenging the Warren Commission's conclusions and argued that there was a larger conspiracy involving multiple individuals and government agencies.

Similarly, in the case of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, de Antonio believed that the official explanation that Sirhan Sirhan acted alone was insufficient. He believed that there was evidence to suggest that there were multiple shooters and that Sirhan may have been a patsy. De Antonio's interest in the RFK assassination led him to make another film in 1975 called "Millhouse: A White Comedy," which examined the Watergate scandal and its connections to the RFK assassination.

Overall, de Antonio was skeptical of the official explanations of both JFK and RFK's assassinations and believed that they were part of larger conspiracies. He used his filmmaking to raise questions about these events and to encourage further investigation into the truth behind them.

Point of Order! (1964) - This film is a documentary about the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings, which were held to investigate Senator Joseph McCarthy's claims that there were communists working in the U.S. Army. De Antonio used footage from the hearings to show how McCarthy's tactics of fear-mongering and intimidation were used to silence political dissent.

Rush to Judgment (1967) - This film is an examination of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent Warren Commission investigation. De Antonio used interviews and archival footage to suggest that the official explanation of the assassination was insufficient and that there may have been a larger conspiracy involving multiple individuals and government agencies.

In the Year of the Pig (1968) - This film is a documentary about the Vietnam War, focusing on the political and social factors that led the U.S. to become involved in the conflict. De Antonio used interviews with politicians, soldiers, and anti-war activists to provide a critical perspective on the war and its impact on American society.

America Is Hard to See (1970) - This film is a collage of newsreel footage and other clips that highlight the contradictions and complexities of American culture. De Antonio used juxtaposition and irony to show how American values and ideals often clash with the realities of American life.

Underground (1976) - This film is a documentary about the radical left-wing group the Weather Underground, who engaged in violent protests and bombings during the 1960s and 1970s. De Antonio used interviews with former members of the group to explore their motivations and actions.

Millhouse: A White Comedy (1976) - This film is a documentary about the Watergate scandal and its connections to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. De Antonio used interviews with politicians, journalists, and others to explore the complex web of political intrigue and corruption that led to President Richard Nixon's downfall.

In the King of Prussia (1983) - This film is a documentary about a group of anti-nuclear activists who were arrested for protesting at a nuclear power plant in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. De Antonio used footage of the trial and interviews with the defendants to explore the political and ethical issues surrounding nuclear power and civil disobedience.

Mr. Hoover and I (1989) - This film is a personal essay in which de Antonio reflects on his relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, whom de Antonio met during the McCarthy era. De Antonio uses anecdotes and memories to show how Hoover's surveillance and intimidation tactics affected his own life and work.

Painters Painting (1973) - This film is a documentary about the New York art scene in the 1960s, focusing on the Abstract Expressionist movement and the emergence of Pop Art. De Antonio used interviews with artists, critics, and curators to provide an inside look at the creative process and the social and cultural forces that shaped the art world.

Year of the Horse (1997) - This film is a concert film featuring footage of Neil Young and Crazy Horse on tour in 1996. De Antonio used the concert footage to explore Young's career and artistic vision, as well as the musical and cultural significance of the rock genre.

Emile Francisco de Antonio (May 14, 1919[1]: 3  – December 15, 1989) was an American director and producer of documentary films, usually detailing political, social, and counterculture events circa 1960s–1980s. He has been referred to by Randolph Lewis as, "…the most important political filmmaker in the United States during the Cold War."[2]
Early life

De Antonio was born in 1919 in the coal-mining town of Scranton, Pennsylvania. His father, Emilio de Antonio, an Italian immigrant, fostered the lifelong interests of Antonio by passing on his own love for philosophy, classical literature, history and the arts.[1]: 8  He attended Harvard University alongside future president John F. Kennedy. Despite this, De Antonio was familiar with the working class experience, making his living at various points in his life as a peddler, a book editor, and the captain of a river barge (among other duties).[1]: 340  He would later go on to make a film about Kennedy's assassination called Rush to Judgment (1966), an early rebuttal of the Warren Report.[3]
Career

After serving in the military during World War II as a bomber pilot, de Antonio returned to the United States where he frequented the art crowd, often associating with such pop artists as Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol, in whose film Drink de Antonio appears. Warhol was famously quoted praising de Antonio with the words, "Everything I learned about painting, I learned from De."[4]

In 1959, de Antonio created G-String Productions in order to distribute the Beat Generation film Pull My Daisy, and it was at this time that de Antonio discovered filmmaking. His first film, Point of Order! (1964), was a compilation film covering Joseph McCarthy and the Army-McCarthy hearings. In 1968, de Antonio signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.[5]

De Antonio chronicled this art scene in his documentary Painters Painting (1972). He did not actually begin creating films until the age of 43, after making significant contributions to the modern art world through his uncensored promotion of the work of his contemporaries.[3] In 1969, the Metropolitan Museum of Art held a water-stone exhibition titled New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940–1970, that included 408 works by 43 artists. Curator Henry Geldzahler granted de Antonio the unique opportunity of exclusive access to the works included in the show, and exclusive rights to filming it.[3] Until this point, de Antonio noted, "I disliked films on painting that I knew. They were either arty, narrated in a gush of reverence, as if painting were among angelic orders, or filmed with violent, brainless zooms on Apollo's navel, a celebration of the camera over the god. They revealed nothing at all about how or why a painting was made."[1]: 50 

The intimate opportunity of access to the show, and the similarly close relationships with many of the artists, led de Antonio to select thirteen painters to profile in his film, in addition to critics, curators, dealers, collectors, and other influential figures in the contemporary art world. Combining interviews with live footage of the artists at work in their studio, de Antonio and cinematographer Ed Emshwiller created a groundbreaking work that captured abstract expressionism and other major contemporary art movements in a way no film maker had ever before.[3]

In an interview regarding his filmography, de Antonio spoke about his relationship with the painters and his role in the creation of the film: "I was probably the only filmmaker in the world who could [have made Painters Painting] because I knew all those people, from the time that they were poor, and unsuccessful and had no money. I knew Warhol and Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns and Stella before they ever sold a painting, and so it was interesting to [do the film about them]."[6]
Controversy

De Antonio was the creator/producer of many politically-motivated films (including the 1969 Oscar-nominated In the Year of the Pig[7][8]) attracting a substantial amount of controversy, and was also known for aligning himself with Marxist thought. His films are critiques of various aspects of American culture or politics, on the whole reflecting a certain degree of political dissension. Over the course of his professional life, de Antonio was under surveillance by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI. This surveillance resulted in a 10,000-page dossier on de Antonio, and is the subject of his "autobiographical swansong," Mr. Hoover and I.[9]
Death

On December 15, 1989, de Antonio died of a heart attack in front of his Lower East Side home.[10]
In popular culture

A still photograph used in the film that displayed Marine Corporal Michael Wynn later was incorporated into the album cover for The Smiths' second album Meat Is Murder (1985). The insignia on Wynn's helmet was changed to "meat is murder".[11][12]
Filmography

Point of Order (1964)
McCarthy: Death of a Witch Hunter (1964)
Rush to Judgment (1967)
In the Year of the Pig (1968)
Charge and Countercharge (1969)
1968: America Is Hard to See (1970)
Millhouse: A White Comedy (1971)
Painters Painting (1972)
Underground (1976)
In the King of Prussia (1982)
Mr. Hoover and I (1989)

Discography

Underground (1976) with Mary Lampson, and Haskell Wexler with the Weather Underground on Folkways Records
Millhouse (Original Soundtrack of Film on Richard Nixon) (1979) on Folkways Records

References

Kellner, Douglas (2000). Emile de Antonio: A Reader. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-3364-9.
Documenting Revolution: Emile de Antonio — The Brooklyn Rail
Harvard Film Archive, “Emile de Antonio's America, Archived 2011-10-11 at the Wayback Machine" Harvard Archive (accessed September 4, 2011).
The University of Wisconsin Press, “Emile de Antonio: Radical Filmmaker in Cold War America” Archived 2011-09-19 at the Wayback Machine, review of Emile de Antonio: Radical Filmmaker in Cold War America, by Randolph Lewis, University of Wisconsin Press
"Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" January 30, 1968 New York Post
Bruce Jackson, "Conversations with Emile de Antonio," Bruce Jackson 31 (2004) (accessed October 20, 2010).
1970|Oscars.org
Fred Astaire Cuts Loose: 1970 Oscars
"Emile de Antonio's America - Harvard Film Archive". hcl.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 2017-10-12. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
Fraser, C. Gerald (1989-12-20). "Emile de Antonio Is Dead at 70; Maker of Political Documentaries". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
Supreme's next pop-culture inspiration: The Smiths - Esquire Middle East

The Smiths – The Stories Behind All 27 of Their Provocative Album And Single Sleeves - NME

Further reading

Lewis, Randolph. Emile de Antonio: Radical Filmmaker in Cold War America (Madison, WI and London: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_de_Antonio

Rush to Judgment: A Critique of the Warren Commission's Inquiry into the Murders of President John F. Kennedy, Officer J.D. Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald is a 1966 book by American lawyer Mark Lane. It is about the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy and takes issue with the investigatory methods and conclusions of the Warren Commission.[1][2] The book's introduction is by Hugh Trevor-Roper, Regius Professor of History at the University of Oxford.[3] Although it was preceded by a few self-published or small press books, Rush to Judgment was the first mass market hardcover book to confront the findings of the Warren Commission.[4][5]

The title of the book was taken from Lord Chancellor Thomas Erskine's defense of James Hadfield, who had attempted to assassinate King George III in 1800.[3] According to Alex Raskin of the Los Angeles Times, "Rush to Judgment opened the floodgate for [Kennedy assassination] conspiracy theories".[6]
Contents
Rush to Judgment

Rush to Judgment became a number one best seller and spent 29 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list.[7] Lane questions, among other things, the Warren Commission conclusion that three shots were fired from the Texas School Book Depository, and focuses on the witnesses who had recounted seeing or hearing shots coming from the grassy knoll in Dealey Plaza. Lane questions whether Oswald was guilty of the murder of policeman J.D. Tippit shortly after the Kennedy murder. Lane also states that none of the Warren Commission firearm experts were able to duplicate Oswald's shooting feat.[8]

According to former KGB officer Vasili Mitrokhin in his 1999 book The Sword and the Shield, the KGB helped finance Lane's research on Rush to Judgment without the author's knowledge.[9] The KGB allegedly used journalist Genrikh Borovik as a contact and provided Lane with $2000 for research and travel in 1964.[10][11] Mark Lane called the allegation "an outright lie" and wrote, "Neither the KGB nor any person or organization associated with it ever made any contribution to my work."[12]
Documentary
Rush to Judgment
Directed by Emile de Antonio
Narrated by Mark Lane
Distributed by Impact Films
Release date

1967

Running time
122 minutes
Country United States

In 1967, a documentary film based on Lane's book was directed by Emile de Antonio and hosted by Lane.[13][14] Some of the assassination witnesses who present their observations on-camera include Abraham Zapruder, James Tague, Charles Brehm, Mary Moorman, Jean Hill, Lee Bowers, Sam Holland, James Simmons, Richard Dodd, Jessie Price, Orville Nix, Patrick Dean, Napoleon Daniels, Nancy Hamilton, Joseph Johnson, Roy Jones, Acquilla Clemons, and Cecil McWatters.
See also

List of American films of 1967
John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories

References

"Essay: Autopsy on the Warren Commission". Time Magazine. September 16, 1966. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012.
James N. Giglio (April 1992). "Oliver Stone's JFK in Historical Perspective". American Historical Association.
Cassidy, Claudi (May 23, 1966). "On the Aisle: Preview of Mark Lane's 'Rush to Judgment,' In Inquiry into the Evidence's Other Side". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 5. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
Hoover, Bob (November 2, 2013). "The Next Page: The JFK assassination conspiracy circus". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
Prior authors included Harold Weisberg and Sylvia Meagher
Raksin, Alex (December 29, 1991). "Nonfiction". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
name=Hawes Publications | url=http://www.hawes.com/1966/1966-09-11.pdf, p.2 | url=http://www.hawes.com/1967/1967-03-26.pdf
Bugliosi, p. 1005
Persico, Joseph E. (October 31, 1999). "Secrets From the Lubyanka: A historian examines an archive of Soviet files smuggled to the West by a former K.G.B. agent". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
Bugliosi, Vincent. Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 2007, Norton, ISBN 978-0-393-04525-3 Pg. 162
Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, Basic Books, 1999. Excerpted here. According to the book, Soviet journalists, including KGB agent Genrikh Borovik, met with Mark Lane to encourage him in his research.
Holland, Mark; Lane, Mark (2 March 2006). "November 22, 1963: You Are There. Much mail has come in on the subject of Max Holland's "The JFK Lawyers' Conspiracy"". The Nation. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
"Rush to Judgment". IMDb. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20.
Robert Wilonsky, Dallas Observer blog, 21 April 2011, From the Film Vaults: Rush to Judgment (includes full film embedded from archive.org)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_to_Judgment

Point of Order! is a 1964 American documentary film by Emile de Antonio, about the Senate Army–McCarthy hearings of 1954.[2][3]
Background

The Army–McCarthy hearings came about when the Army accused Senator Joseph McCarthy of improperly pressuring the Army for special privileges for Private G. David Schine, formerly of McCarthy's investigative staff. McCarthy counter-charged that the Army was holding Schine hostage to keep him from searching for Communists in the Army. The hearings were broadcast live on television in their entirety and also recorded via kinescope. This film was created from those kinescope recordings.
Synopsis

The film uses selections from the hearings to show the overall development of the trial, beginning with introductions from several main participants, such as Joseph N. Welch and McCarthy.[4] Each participant is shown in a still image with a brief audio recording, except for McCarthy, who is introduced with longer footage of a speech he made during the hearings.[5]

In a sequence titled "Charge and Countercharge", Senator Stuart Symington summarizes the principle charge and counter-charge of the case. This sequence includes questioning of Roy Cohn for allegedly threatening to "wreck the army" if David Schine were not made a General, a statement Cohn denies. The film follows with a scene in which the Army counsel questions the origin of a photograph of that shows Schine in a meeting with Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens; the photograph is shown to be cropped to suggest a closer relationship between Schine and Stevens, but McCarthy's counsel denies any knowledge of photographic alteration.[5]

A sequence titled "The Accusation" shows McCarthy accusing a member of Welch's law firm (Fred Fisher) of membership in the National Lawyer's Guild, which McCarthy and others accused of serving the interests of the Communist Party USA. The sequence includes a frequently quoted exchange from the hearings: Welch asks McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"[5][6]

The film ends with a heated exchange between Symington and McCarthy that occurred when the hearings were about to adjourn for the day. Symington sharply questions the handling of McCarthy's secret files by his staff. McCarthy calls this a "smear" against the men on his staff; and, as Symington starts to leave, McCarthy accuses him of using "the same tactics that the Communist Party has used for too long." Symington returns to the microphone and says: "Apparently every time anybody says anything against anybody working for Senator McCarthy, he is declaring them and accusing them of being Communists!" Symington leaves and the hearings adjourn. McCarthy continues his passionate but repetitious defense of his staff and his attack on Symington, speaking to an increasingly empty chamber. The actual end to the hearings, in which McCarthy was cleared of any wrongdoing, does not appear in the film.[5]
Production

Point of Order! was first imagined by Emile de Antonio and Daniel Talbot in 1961. De Antonio and Talbot thought a film about the Army–McCarthy hearings could be successful at Henry Rosenberg's New Yorker Theater. De Antonio persuaded Richard Ellison at CBS to help him find footage of the Army-McCarthy Hearings; Ellison informed de Antonio that the network held a complete set of kinescopes for the hearings. These kinescopes totaled nearly 188 hours.[7] Talbot initially asked Orson Welles, then Irving Lerner to direct the film, but neither man agreed to do so. Talbot hired Paul Falkenberg to edit the film, and Falkenberg asked Richard Rovere to write narration for the film, to be read by Mike Wallace. However, when Falkenberg screened a rough cut of the film for the producers, they did not approve and decided to start over. De Antonio offered to direct the film for free, which Talbot accepted.[5]

De Antonio hired a young editor named Robert Duncan to help edit the film. Their plan was to remove any narration, music, or added scenes and create a documentary using only the footage from the kinescopes of the hearings. This approach to filmmaking—which de Antonio would use on later films—was similar to the use of assemblage in the works of modern artists like Robert Rauschenberg, who was a friend of de Antonio.[5] De Antonio said that his two main decisions with regard to making the film were "only footage from the actual hearings would be used" and "no preaching."[8]
Exhibition

The film premiered in New York City on January 14, 1964. It was first distributed by Continental Distributing in 103 theaters nationwide. In 1968 it was recut and shown on television, with an added introduction by Paul Newman, to provide context for audiences unfamiliar with the Army–McCarthy hearings.[5]

Several versions of Point of Order! have appeared on the home video market in the United States. The version with the Newman introduction was released by Zenger Video in 1984, with added instructional materials for classroom use. This version ran 102 minutes.[9] In 1986, MPI Home Video released an abridged 49-minute version (with the Newman Introduction) under the title McCarthy, Death of a Witch Hunter: a Film of the Era of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.[10] Point of Order! was released on DVD by New Yorker Films in 2005, in its original 97-minute cut.[11]
Reception

De Antonio wrote that Point of Order! "may have been the first political documentary in the U.S. after World War II as well as a documentary which, in opposition to prevailing trends, also changed the form of documentary."[12]

Critical reception to the film was largely positive. Among its proponents were Dwight Macdonald, Susan Sontag, Brendan Gill, and Stanley Kaufmann. Even Roy Cohn wrote about the film's historical significance, despite disagreement over the film's portrayals of him and Senator McCarthy.[5] Some film critics felt that what de Antonio made was different from what most understood as a documentary. Judith Crist wrote in the New York Herald Tribune that "the producers have excerpted a superdocumentary instead of creating one of their own."[13]
Book tie-in

In 1964, W.W. Norton & Company published the book Point of Order! A Documentary of the Army-McCarthy Hearings, in book form. The 108-page book featured still photos captured from the kinescopes of CBS. David T. Bazelon wrote the introduction and epilogue.[14]
Honors

In 1993, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[15]
See also

List of American films of 1964
Joseph McCarthy
Roy Cohn
Army–McCarthy hearings

Notes

Movie Poster of the Week: The Posters of Dan Talbot’s New Yorker Films
In Brief: "Point of Order" - NYMag
TCM.com
TV Guide
Lewis, Randolph (2000). Emile de Antonio: Radical Filmmaker in Cold War America. Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 29–41. ISBN 0-299-16910-3.
Point of Order! (1964) - Home Video Reviews - TCM.com
Movie Review: "Point of Order" : NPR
de Antonio, Emile (2000), "The Point of View in Point of Order", in Kellner, Douglas; Streible, Dan (eds.), Emile de Antonio: A Reader, Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press, pp. 149–151
Point of order (VHS tape, 1984). WorldCat. OCLC 34169270.
McCarthy, death of a witch hunter : a film of the era of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (VHS tape, 1986). WorldCat. OCLC 15389888.
Point of order (DVD video, 2005). WorldCat. OCLC 62247370.
de Antonio, Emile (2000), "Letter to Hubert Bals and Wendy Lidell", in Kellner, Douglas; Streible, Dan (eds.), Emile de Antonio: A Reader, Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press, p. 156
Crist, Judith (2000), "Re-creating the Incredible McCarthy Days", in Kellner, Douglas; Streible, Dan (eds.), Emile de Antonio: A Reader, Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press, pp. 152–153
De Antonio, Emile (1964). Point of order!: a documentary of the Army-McCarthy hearings. New York: Norton.
"National Film Registry (National Film Preservation Board, Library of Congress)". National Film Registry. Library of Congress. Retrieved 26 February 2013.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_Order_(film)

In the Year of the Pig is an American documentary film directed by Emile de Antonio about American involvement in the Vietnam War.[3] It was released in 1968 while the U.S. was in the middle of its military engagement, and was politically controversial.[4] One year later, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[5][6][7] In 1990, Jonathan Rosenbaum characterized the film as "the first and best of the major documentaries about Vietnam".[8]
Summary

The film, which is in black and white, contains much historical footage[9] and many interviews.[10] Those interviewed include Harry Ashmore, Daniel Berrigan, Philippe Devillers, David Halberstam, Roger Hilsman, Jean Lacouture, Kenneth P. Landon, Thruston B. Morton, Paul Mus, Charlton Osburn, Harrison Salisbury, Ilya Todd, John Toller, David K. Tuck, David Wurfel and John White.[7][11]

Produced during the Vietnam War, the film was greeted with hostility by many audiences, with bomb threats and vandalism directed at theaters that showed it.[12][13] When confronted with the charge that In the Year of the Pig had a leftist perspective, de Antonio conceded the point, replying: “Only God is objective, and he doesn’t make films.”[14]
Home media

In the Year of the Pig was released as a region 1 DVD in 2005. In addition to the film, the DVD has audio commentary with director Emile de Antonio composed from archival sources, an interview with de Antonio, and liner notes by de Antonio scholar Douglas Kellner.[15]
Influences

A still photograph used in the film that displayed Marine Corporal Michael Wynn later was incorporated into the album cover for The Smiths' second album Meat Is Murder (1985). The insignia on Wynn's helmet was changed to "meat is murder".[16][17]
See also

Hearts and Minds, the Oscar-winning 1974 documentary film by Peter Davis
Modernist film

Footnotes

The 42nd Academy Awards | 1970. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved on August 18, 2020
Helen Slote Levitt has been mistakenly credited as an editor of this film; Helen Levitt, who is well known as a photographer but who also had a long career in film editing and cinematography, was the editor. See Barsam, Richard Meran (1992). Nonfiction Film: A Critical History. Indiana University Press. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-253-20706-7.
Hoberman, J. (May 2, 2018). "In the Heat of Battle, 'In the Year of the Pig'". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
"In the Year of the Pig". MUBI. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
Fred Astaire Cuts Loose: 1970 Oscars. Oscars on YouTube.
"In the Year of the Pig (1969)". Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
Niemi, Robert (2006). "In the Year of the Pig (1968)". History in the Media: Film and Television. ABC-CLIO. p. 154. ISBN 9781576079522.
Rosenbaum, Jonathan (May 18, 1990). "The Life and File of an Anarchist Filmmaker". The Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017.
BAMPFA
Point of Order! (1964) - Home Video Reviews - TCM.com
Thompson, Howard (November 11, 1969). "The Screen:' In the Year of the Pig,' Documentary, Bows". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
Lewis, Randolph (2000). "In the Year of the Pig". Emile de Antonio: Radical Filmmaker in Cold War America. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780299169138.
"Cold War Chronicles: The Films of Emile de Antonio". Harvard Film Archive. September 10–29, 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27.
Schwartzman, 2004. UCLA
"In the Year of the Pig". Amazon.com. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
Corder, Josh (August 7, 2020). "Supreme's next pop-culture inspiration: The Smiths". Esquire Middle East. Retrieved August 18, 2020.

Barker, Emily (August 3, 2015). "The Smiths – The Stories Behind All 27 Of Their Provocative Album And Single Sleeves". NME. Retrieved August 18, 2020.

References

Schwartzman, Theresa. 2004. In the Year of the Pig, 1968. UCLA Film and Television Archive: 12th Festival of Preservation, July 22-August 21, 2004. Festival guest publication.

External links

In the Year of the Pig at IMDb
In the Year of the Pig review by Jim Frosch (March 7, 1969) at The Harvard Crimson website
In the Year of the Pig at TCM.com (archived by the Wayback Machine)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Year_of_the_Pig

Millhouse: A White Comedy is a 1971 documentary by Emile de Antonio following Richard Nixon's political career from his election to the House of Representatives in 1946 to his election as President of the United States in 1968. It begins with Nixon's "last press conference" in 1962 after his loss in the race for Governor of California in which he famously said, "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore." Then a collage of videos show Nixon's trajectory from his House campaign to his involvement in the Alger Hiss case, election to the Senate in 1950, election as Vice President in 1952 including the full Checkers speech, campaign for the presidency in 1960, campaign for Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, and his triumphant election as President in 1968 as the "New Nixon". The film featured interviews but no voice-over.

The title is a pun on Nixon's middle name, Milhous.

In 1979, Smithsonian Folkways released a soundtrack of the film including clips and audio from newsreels, as well as liner notes of text of the soundtrack and facsimiles of newspaper clippings and notes.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millhouse_(film)

Painters Painting: The New York Art Scene 1940-1970 is a 1972 documentary directed by Emile de Antonio. It covers American art movements from abstract expressionism to pop art through conversations with artists in their studios. Artists appearing in the film include Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Helen Frankenthaler, Frank Stella, Barnett Newman, Hans Hofmann, Jules Olitski, Philip Pavia, Larry Poons, Robert Motherwell, and Kenneth Noland.
See also

List of American films of 1972

Further reading

Emile de Antonio and Mitch Tuchman. Painters Painting: A Candid History of the Modern Art Scene, 1940-1970. Abbeville Press, 1984. (ISBN 0-89659-418-1) Compilation based on transcripts of interviews from the film.

External links

Painters Painting at IMDb

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Underground is a 1976 documentary film about the Weathermen, founded as a militant faction of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), who fought to overthrow the U.S. government during the 1960s and 1970s. The film consists of interviews with members of the group after they went underground and footage of the anti-war and civil rights protests of the time. It was directed by Emile de Antonio, Haskell Wexler, and Mary Lampson, later subpoenaed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an attempt to confiscate the film footage in order to gain information that would help them arrest the Weathermen.
Overview

Underground combines interviews with and archival footage of the Weathermen to provide a picture of this group, their opinions on American society, and their hopes for the future. The filmmakers use the material from their interactions with the Weathermen Bill Ayers, Kathy Boudin, Bernardine Dohrn, Jeff Jones and Cathy Wilkerson to structure its exploration of the formation and direction of the group. The film begins by presenting images and words that describe the Weathermen's process of being radicalized in the 1960s through the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, and communist revolutionary struggles in Cuba, Russia and China, as well as historical struggles in the United States over Native American rights and labor issues. The film moves on to discuss the Weathermen's analysis of American society, addressing those who have inspired them, and further explaining the reasons behind their militancy, while also introducing the issue of tactics. The final section of the film addresses the group's use of property destruction as a way to bring about change and destabilize the current, and in their view, corrupt system. They state that "no revolution can take place successfully without an armed confrontation with the state." While the radicals themselves are reluctant to discuss the specifics of their bombings due to their unstable position as underground fugitives, the filmmakers provide us with a list of actions which they have undertaken. Underground provides an intimate look at the inner workings of the Weather Underground, and we see their discomfort with being filmed, their strong internal collective identity, and their isolation from society at large. The filmmakers do not use the interviews and juxtaposed images to promote the group or support their actions, and it is apparent that their motives for the film differ from those of the subjects that they are presenting. In the end this film provides an unprecedented look at how a bunch of middle-class Americans became self-styled militant revolutionaries, raising questions not only about the merits of their struggle, but also about past and future radical actions.
Historical context

This film is informed by the political and social unrest of the 1960s in the United States. The civil rights movement, Vietnam War (and subsequent anti-war movement), McCarthyism, unemployment and urban decay, and liberation struggles across many nations not only played into the creation of the Weather Underground, but also were a significant factor in Emile de Antonio's decision to use them as the focus of his film. It was made in 1975, following the group's involvement in bombing the Pentagon, and an accident at their Greenwich Village townhouse in which a bomb exploded prematurely, killing three Weathermen and driving the rest underground. Emile de Antonio attributes his decision to make this film to his own Marxist beliefs, his fascination with the political climate of the '60s and '70s, and his specific interest in the Weather Underground after reading their manifesto Prairie Fire (Rosenthal, 1978). He made contact with the group, and after gaining their consent to take part in the project enlisted Mary Lampson (with whom he had worked in the past), and Haskell Wexler (an established cinematographer with leftist sympathies). The three raised the money and put the film together themselves. The Weathermen agreed to participate on the condition that the filmmakers would not contact them again after the film's completion (Paletz, 1977).
Style

The situation of the Weatherman as fugitives wanted by the FBI necessitated an unconventional style in conducting their interviews. The footage was filmed in only three days, and Wexler shot the participants from behind or through a screen in order to conceal their individual identities. The film is unique in that the viewer is able to see the filmmakers but not the subjects themselves. The interactions between the Weathermen and filmmakers raise many questions about the role of documentary film and the contrived nature of its set-ups. This is apparent at several points in the film where the Weathermen express concern over the filmmakers catching their faces on camera, or complain about the artificiality of the overall conversation taking place. In fact, de Antonio describes going out and burning a pile of possible incriminating film negatives following the filming (Rosenthal, 1978). The collective nature of the group led the filmmakers to use group interviews, and allow individuals to talk at length about their thoughts on the American social and political climate, as well as their role in this situation and bringing about change. Unlike many documentaries that actively probe interviewees, the directors of Underground instead sit back and allow the Weathermen to speak. While they do interrupt at times, and do provoke the group with probing questions, there is a recognition of the unstable position of the people they are working with, which, in the end, results in their stepping back and letting the group express itself on its own terms. This film uses the voices of the Weathermen as narration, while employing mainly archival footage to create juxtapositions that illustrate the words. As in his other films, de Antonio purchased the rights to use images from a number of other prominent radical documentaries including Gray and Alk's The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971), Chris Marker's film covering The Pentagon demonstrations, The Sixth Side of the Pentagon (1967) often discussed along with Norman Mailer's non-fiction novel about the same incident, titled The Armies of the Night (1968),[1][2] Cinda Firestone's Attica (1974),[3] Wexler-Fonda-Hayden's Introduction to the Enemy (1974), and his own Oscar-nominated In the Year of the Pig (1969).
Response

After the film was completed in 1975, the FBI learned of the project and served all three filmmakers with subpoenas in an attempt to confiscate their material and gain information about the location of the Weathermen. The filmmakers, all prominent within the Hollywood community, hired the best lawyers they could find, and with the support of other filmmakers and actors, including Warren Beatty, Elia Kazan, Shirley MacLaine, and Jack Nicholson, were able to get the subpoenas repealed.[4] The three were able to use their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech as well as the rights of journalistic integrity, which allow for confidentiality of sources, to fight the courts and retain the right to make the film.[5][6][7] While the legal matters surrounding the production of Underground gained it extensive media coverage, it received mixed reviews from critics, with most damning the Weathermen on the basis of their tactics, rather than addressing the style or merits of the film itself. Others criticized the film for being boring and relying too heavily on narrative by the Weathermen to hold it together, yet others praised it for its striking juxtapositions and its role as a history of the situation and motivations of the radical left.[8] In the words of de Antonio, this film is significant because "…a film always captures history at 24 frames per second and that is it".[9]

In an interview with The Motion Archive, Haskell Wexler believed he may have been removed from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest due to his involvement with Underground.[10]
Bibliography

Cold War Chronicles: The Films of Emile de Antonio. (2004) Harvard Film Archive
Hess, J. (1975) "U.S. political filmmaking: 2 stories" Jump Cut. 8 pp. 23–25
Jackson, B. (2004) Conversations with Emile de Antonio. Senses of Cinema
Paletz, D. (1977) "Underground (Emile de Antonio; Haskell Wexler; Mary Lampson)". Film Quarterly. 30(4) pp. 34–37.
Rosenthal, A.; de Antonio, E. (1978) "Emile de Antonio: An Interview". Film Quarterly. 32(1) pp. 4–17
Waugh, T. (1976) "Underground: Weather People at Home". Jump Cut 12/13 pp. 11–13

References

"The Sixth Side of the Pentagon, Directed by Chris Marker & François Reichenbach". Icarus Films. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
"Amazon Instant Video: The Sixth Side of the Pentagon". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
SCREENSLATE (September 13, 2011). "Tuesday, September 13 >> Featured Screening: Attica at BAMcinématek". ScreenSlate. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
Hess (1975)
Hess(1975)
Waugh (1976)
Jackson (2004)
Waugh (1976)
Rosenthal (1978)

"Interview with Haskell Wexler on 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'". YouTube.

External links

Underground at IMDb
Films of Emile de Antonio distributed by Sphinx Productions

vte

Weather Underground
Background

Anti-Vietnam War movement Counterculture of the 1960s New Left (New Communist movement· Maoism) Students for a Democratic Society (Revolutionary Youth Movement) 1968 Democratic National Convention (riots) Flint War Council Domestic terrorism in the United States Women's Brigade of Weather Underground Seattle Weather Collective FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s Bill Clinton pardon controversy Bill Ayers 2008 presidential election controversy

Members

Jane Alpert Bill Ayers Kit Bakke Alan Berkman Silas Bissell Kathy Boudin Scott Braley Judith Alice Clark Bernardine Dohrn Dianne Donghi Elizabeth Ann Duke Linda Evans Brian Flanagan Larry Grathwohl (informant) David Gilbert Ted Gold Phoebe Hirsch John Jacobs Naomi Jaffe Jeff Jones Michael Justesen Michael Kazin Nancy Kurshan Roger Lippman Howard Machtinger Eric Mann Sam Melville Mark D. Naison Diana Oughton Eleanor Raskin Jonah Raskin Terry Robbins Susan Rosenberg Robert Roth Mark Rudd Matthew Steen Susan Stern Laura Whitehorn Cathlyn Platt Wilkerson

Attacks

Days of Rage (Weather High School Jailbreaks) Greenwich Village townhouse explosion Bombing of the National Guard Bombing of the Presidio of San Francisco Bombing of the Bank of America HQ Timothy Leary escape from California Men's Colony Bombing of Marin County Courthouse Bombing at Harvard University Bombing of the United States Capitol Bombings of the Office of California Prisons Bombing of the New York Department of Corrections Bombing of the Pentagon Brink's robbery 1983 United States Senate bombing (Resistance Conspiracy case)

Derivatives

Prairie Fire Organizing Committee (May 19th Communist Organization)

Associates

Seattle Liberation Front (Michael Lerner)

Media

The Weather Underground Katherine Underground The Company You Keep American Pastoral Osawatomie Mother Right Fugitive Days The Anarchist Columbus Free Press

See also

Protests of 1968 Communist terrorism Yippies Rainbow Coalition John Brown Anti-Klan Committee Michael Klonsky and Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist) Tate–LaBianca murders (Charles Manson) Attica Prison riot Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues Black Power movement Jewish left Student activism White privilege theory (Critical race theory) COINTELPRO

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Categories:

1976 filmsAmerican documentary filmsFilms directed by Emile de AntonioFilms directed by Haskell WexlerWeather Underground1976 documentary films1970s English-language films1970s American filmsEnglish-language documentary films

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_(1976_film)

In the King of Prussia is a 1983 film directed and written by Emile de Antonio. The film reconstructs the events of the 1980s "Plowshares Eight." The group of anti-war activists were charged with the September 1980 destruction of nose cones designed for nuclear warheads at the Re-Entry Division of the General Electric Space Technology Center in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.[1][2] The members of the Plowshares Eight, including Daniel Berrigan and Philip Berrigan, played themselves while actors played the roles of jurors, lawyers and police; Martin Sheen played the role of the judge in this shot-on-video feature.[3]
Production

De Antonio had previously worked with Daniel Berrigan on his film In the Year of the Pig. The Berrigans asked de Antonio to film the trial for their actions in King of Prussia, which de Antonio initially refused because he did not share their religious beliefs. However, he changed his mind and agreed shortly before the trial. Martin Sheen had been a friend of de Antonio's since the controversy surrounding de Antonio's previous film, Underground. Sheen offered to help with de Antonio's new project and accepted the role of Judge Samuel Salus II.[4]

For this film, de Antonio shot and edited the footage on video, then converted to 35mm film.
Exhibition

In the King of Prussia premiered in New York City on February 13, 1983. The film played at the Berlin International Film Festival that year.

The film was released on VHS in 1983 by MPI Home Video.[5]
References

"'King of Prussia,' With Berrigan Brothers," New York Times, February 13, 1983
"Time Out review". Archived from the original on 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2008-10-23.
"Emile de Antonio Interviews Himself: In the King of Prussia," University of California Press, 1982
Gallagher, Sharon (2000), "On the Making of In the King of Prussia: An Interview with Emile de Antonio", in Kellner, Douglas; Streible, Dan (eds.), Emile de Antonio: A Reader, Minneapolis, MN: The University of Minnesota Press, pp. 309–311

In the King of Prussia (VHS tape, 1983). WorldCat. OCLC 14988528.

External links

In the King of Prussia in the Internet Movie Database

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1983 films1983 drama filmsFilms directed by Emile de AntonioAmerican drama filmsAnti–nuclear weapons movementFilms about activists1980s English-language films1980s American films1980s drama film stubs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_King_of_Prussia

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