Crisis

Cinema vérité pioneer Robert Drew's 1963 documentary Crisis, originally a television special, is the best episode of The West Wing never made. Drew's unobtrusive cameras chronicle 30 pivotal hours in John F. Kennedy's presidency, responding to Alabama Governor George Wallace's vow to prevent African-American students Vivian Malone and James Hood from enrolling at the segregated University of Alabama ("It's a moral issue," Wallace claims). Under pressure to speak out for racial equality in a nationwide television address, Kennedy also understood that to do so could cost him Southern support for crucial civil rights legislation. Drew and his crew, which included Richard Leacock (Monterey Pop) and D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room), gained unprecedented access to the Kennedy and Wallace camps, although more quality time is spent with the president and his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who races against time to strategize the possible deployment of the National Guard and weigh the best options on how to neutralize Wallace. While the vérité approach has the feel of objectivity, the filmmakers tip their hands by underscoring Wallace's scenes with "Dixie," and Robert Kennedy's scenes with "Battle Hymn of the Republic." DVD extras include audio commentary by Drew and Leacock, and the moving documentary Faces of November, filmed in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination. An essential film that captures a landmark moment in civil rights history, while also providing a rare glimpse of the Kennedys in action, this is highly recommended. [Note: also newly available at the same price is Drew's 1960 cinema vérité classic Primary.] Aud: H, C, P. (K. Lee Benson)