Reclaiming History and HBO Films/Playtone

[Tim Gratz]

Mr. Hogan wrote:

Ken Burns told Keith Olbermann tonight that he made his latest documentary on WWII because veterans were passing away at the rate of 1000 per day and that an alarmingly high percentage of high school seniors thought American and Germany fought on the same side.

Sad, but probably true. I read the other day that more than a few satudents think that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was in retaliation for Hiroshima.

[Tim Gratz]

Tom wrote:

Well! Since there were in effect two separate and distinctive bullet holes through the rear of the coat of JFK, then I would think that even my "first year law" student/son could easily throw that one back at Mr. "B".

Tom

P.S. For those not aware, the "coat collar" bullet hole was as a result of the third shot impact down in front of James Altgens.

But here is more Humes' testimony: (See the portion I have italicized.)

Mr. SPECTER - Taking 393 at the start, Doctor Humes, will you describe for the record what hole, if any, is observable in the back of that garment which would be at or about the spot you have described as being the point of entry on the President's back or lower neck.

Commander HUMES - Yes, sir. This exhibit is a grey suit coat stated to have been worn by the President on the day of his death. Situated to the right of the midline high in the back portion of the coat is a defect, one margin of which is semicircular. Situated above it just below the collar is an additional defect. It is our opinion that the lower of these defects corresponds essentially with the point of entrance of the missile at Point C on Exhibit 385.

Mr. SPECTER - Would it be accurate to state that the hole which you have identified as being the point of entry is approximately 6 inches below the top of the collar, and 2 inches to the right of the middle seam of the coat?

Commander HUMES - That is approximately correct, sir. This defect, I might say, continues on through the material. Attached to this garment is the memorandum which states that one half of the area around the hole which was presented had been removed by experts, I believe, at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and also that a control area was taken from under the collar, so it is my interpretation that this defect at the top of this garment is the control area taken by the Bureau, and that the reason the lower defect is not more circle or oval in outline is because a portion of that defect has been removed apparently for physical examinations.

Mr. SPECTER - Now, does the one which you have described as the entry of the bullet go all the way through?

Commander HUMES - Yes, sir; it goes through both layers.

Mr. SPECTER - How about the upper one of the collar you have described, does that go all the way through?

Commander HUMES - Yes, sir; it goes all the way through. It is not--wait a

minute, excuse me it is not so clearly a puncture wound as the one below.

Mr. SPECTER - Does the upper one go all the way through in the same course?

Commander HUMES - No.

Mr. SPECTER - Through the inner side as it went through the outer side?

Commander HUMES - No, in an irregular fashion.

[William Kelly]

Now that Bugliosi's book Reclaiming History has been optioned by HBO et al., they are turning up the heat.

Where's David Talbot now that we need him back at the Media Wars front?

Also, did I mention that this deal was made in part by literary agent Peter Miller, whose father fronted the house band at Skinny D'Amato's 500 Club in Atlantic City?

Book TV includes phone in questions from the audience, so you can be sure that a few good ones will get through.

BK

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=8792&SectionName=In%20Dep

In Depth: Vincent Bugliosi

Upcoming Schedule

Sunday, November 4, at 12:00 PM

Monday, November 5, at 12:00 AM

Saturday, November 17, at 9:00 AM

About the Program

Vincent Bugliosi will be our guest for In Depth on Sunday, November 4 (LIVE from Noon to 3 pm ET). Mr. Bugliosi was the lead prosector in the case against the Manson Family and succesfully prosecuted 105 out of 106 felony cases during his tenure as a prosecutor for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. He is the author of several books, including "Helter Skelter," "And the Sea Will Tell," "Till Death Do Us Part," "The Betrayal of America," and his most recent "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy."

About the Author

Vincent Bugliosi is the author of "Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders," (with Curt Gentry) "And the Sea Will Tell: A Shocking True Story of Murder on a South Seas Island," (with Bruce Henderson) "Till Death Do Us Part," (with Ken Hurwitz) "The Phoenix Solution: Getting Serious about Winning America's Drug War," "Outrage: The Five Reasons Why O.J. Simpson Got Away with Murder," "No Island of Sanity: Paula Jones v. Bill Clinton - The Supreme Court on Trial," "The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President," and "Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy."

th&PlayMedia=No://http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?...mp;PlayMedia=No://http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?...mp;PlayMedia=No

[Thomas H. Purvis]

Tom wrote:

Well! Since there were in effect two separate and distinctive bullet holes through the rear of the coat of JFK, then I would think that even my "first year law" student/son could easily throw that one back at Mr. "B".

Tom

P.S. For those not aware, the "coat collar" bullet hole was as a result of the third shot impact down in front of James Altgens.

But here is more Humes' testimony: (See the portion I have italicized.)

Mr. SPECTER - Taking 393 at the start, Doctor Humes, will you describe for the record what hole, if any, is observable in the back of that garment which would be at or about the spot you have described as being the point of entry on the President's back or lower neck.

Commander HUMES - Yes, sir. This exhibit is a grey suit coat stated to have been worn by the President on the day of his death. Situated to the right of the midline high in the back portion of the coat is a defect, one margin of which is semicircular. Situated above it just below the collar is an additional defect. It is our opinion that the lower of these defects corresponds essentially with the point of entrance of the missile at Point C on Exhibit 385.

Mr. SPECTER - Would it be accurate to state that the hole which you have identified as being the point of entry is approximately 6 inches below the top of the collar, and 2 inches to the right of the middle seam of the coat?

Commander HUMES - That is approximately correct, sir. This defect, I might say, continues on through the material. Attached to this garment is the memorandum which states that one half of the area around the hole which was presented had been removed by experts, I believe, at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and also that a control area was taken from under the collar, so it is my interpretation that this defect at the top of this garment is the control area taken by the Bureau, and that the reason the lower defect is not more circle or oval in outline is because a portion of that defect has been removed apparently for physical examinations.

Mr. SPECTER - Now, does the one which you have described as the entry of the bullet go all the way through?

Commander HUMES - Yes, sir; it goes through both layers.

Mr. SPECTER - How about the upper one of the collar you have described, does that go all the way through?

Commander HUMES - Yes, sir; it goes all the way through. It is not--wait a

minute, excuse me it is not so clearly a puncture wound as the one below.

Mr. SPECTER - Does the upper one go all the way through in the same course?

Commander HUMES - No.

Mr. SPECTER - Through the inner side as it went through the outer side?

Commander HUMES - No, in an irregular fashion.

Actually!

Tom's questions would be along the lines:

1. Mr. "B", would you allow such "Hearsay" evidence to admitted, completelyl unchallanged?

2. Mr. "B", would you not to at least see the original evidence evaluation sheets as completed by those FBI Agents within the FBI Laboratory, who actually conducted examination of the evidence?

3. Mr. "B", would you not want to at least question those FBI Agents who actually conducted the physical examination of the clothing evidence?

4. Mr. "B", could you explain exactly why the WC deemed it necessary to alter their own Survey Data prior to admission into evidence?

http://www.maryferrell.org/mffweb/archive/...mp;relPageId=28

5. Mr."B", would you allow critical survey information to be allowed admission into evidence in a "sealed" container, while some "cardboard replica" is presented as what is supposedly in this sealed container?

6. Mr. "B", would you not at least want to question the disappearance of evidence from the FBI Ballistics Laboratory?

Such as that cone-shaped/flat-based, 0.9 grain lead fragment which William Sullivan took from the laboratory?

7. Mr. "B", would you not at least want to question somone in regards to the removal of the copper jacket at the base of CE399, and exactly who had access to this evidence within the National Archives during the period in which this evidence was tampered with?

Not to mention a whole bunch of questions as regards whether Mr. "B" considers it relevant that the US SS as well as the FBI, both determined that the third/last/final shot impact point was down directly in front of James Altgens position, that survey plats were made which demonstrated this information, and yet, until Tom Purvis made them public knowledge, such information was never known to exist.

[David G. Healy]

It's Bugliosi's last shot at face saving and a tarnished gold ring (C-SPAN, huh?).....

Literary property 'optioned' (by HBO or anyone else for that matter) is little more than meaningless at this stage. How much did the producers pay for the "option"? Will the project get beyond scripting and pre-production? Or sit on a shelf for 10-20 years (which would be the smart Lone Nut thing to do, so don't count on it).......

[William Kelly]

It's Bugliosi's last shot at face saving and a tarnished gold ring (C-SPAN, huh?).....

Literary property 'optioned' (by HBO or anyone else for that matter) is little more than meaningless at this stage. How much did the producers pay for the "option"? Will the project get beyond scripting and pre-production? Or sit on a shelf for 10-20 years (which would be the smart Lone Nut thing to do, so don't count on it).......

Good question Dave.

Others were wrong to proclaim the project was dead.

I would suspect that they would time the final program in the series and the accompaning documentary to be cablecast on some significant anniversary.

There is one coming up.

BK

[Tim Gratz]

Bill, no way they could write, cast, shoot and post-produce a series in that short time!

Maybe by Nov 2008.

[Wim Dankbaar]

Revealing clips on Bugliosi:

http://vidsearch.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus...ideoid=28805426

http://vidsearch.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus...ideoid=28805995

[Frank Caramelli]

It's Bugliosi's last shot at face saving and a tarnished gold ring (C-SPAN, huh?).....

Literary property 'optioned' (by HBO or anyone else for that matter) is little more than meaningless at this stage. How much did the producers pay for the "option"? Will the project get beyond scripting and pre-production? Or sit on a shelf for 10-20 years (which would be the smart Lone Nut thing to do, so don't count on it).......

It's not meaningless if Hanks is involved. He's a draw; an excellent film maker; top of Hollywood. The announcement alone says it's gone beyond the greenlight. Keep in mind Bugliosi is no slouch when it comes to Hollywood either. His "And the Sea Will Tell" is considered one of the best made for TV movies ever. When these guys get green lighted, it means something. Also, public domain footage can be had free; Hollywood wants cheap projects now, after the writers strike. I'd guess this thing is in pre production right now. How much did they pay? Couple million probably, even if Hanks wants to do this out of the love in his heart; as he did with the Apollo missions doc (which was excellent) he'll get paid big. His managers and agents don't sell the guy cheap. I haven't read all of this thread - did they set a release date/window?

[Christopher Hall]

Revealing clips on Bugliosi:

http://vidsearch.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus...ideoid=28805426

http://vidsearch.myspace.com/index.cfm?fus...ideoid=28805995

Thanks, Wim.

These are interesting clips.

Why does VB think anyone still cares what he thinks?

He won an easy, high profile case 35 years ago.

He's a has been who obviously still needs $.

[William Kelly]

BilL Paxton says they are shooting for November 2013 - the 50th Anniversary.

By then the case will be solved and Bug's book obsolete.

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archiv...316_paxton.html

Tavis: Speaking of Hanks, and you can tell me if this is true or not because I read all kind of stuff. So I'm reading that you and Hanks are working together on a JFK project?

Paxton: Yes.

Tavis: Tell me about this. You mentioned the Southwest earlier. You were born and raised in Dallas.

Paxton: Fort Worth, Texas, Fort Worth.

Tavis: Fort Worth, Texas, basically. But true story - you were at the parade when JFK came to Dallas (unintelligible) assassinated?

Paxton: I was - actually, he spent his last night on Earth at the Hotel Texas in downtown Fort Worth. They had come from Houston; they got to Carswell Air Force Base around 11:00. My dad said to my brother, "Hey, get your brother." We were in our pajamas. We had to put a robe on, and we got in the back of my dad's car.

We drove down to Roaring Springs Road and at night we saw the motorcade pass. It went down to the Hotel Texas in downtown Fort Worth. The next morning my brother woke my dad up about 7:15 and said, "You promised you'd take me and Bill to see the president."

And my dad looks out the window, it's drizzling, and he's thinking of the idea - there's going to be obviously thousands of people down in this crowd, and the idea of having these two boys. But you know, that "You promised." So he said, "Get your brother dressed."

We drove down to the Hotel Texas, we became part of a crowd of I think about 5,000 people there all waiting for the president to come out. And I learned about this later on, but there was a platform, it was actually just a flatbed truck - a semi truck with bunting on it - and there was the podium with the presidential seal. Kennedy comes walking out without a hat or a raincoat on.

Johnson takes his hat off, Connolly's next to him. Yarborough - Senator Yarborough and Congressman Jim Wright, they take the podium, and Kennedy's introduced by Johnson. My dad puts me up on his shoulders. I go from having, like, I can't see anything to suddenly, like, having the best seat in the house.

We're probably about 10 deep; I was probably 20 feet away from Kennedy, right in front of him. And I was kind of amazed at what I remember at eight and a half years old. He was tan. It was like seeing a movie star. And he was very jocular, he was very up, and what was amazing is up behind him, up on the eighth floor, Jackie would have been able to hear the speech as she was getting ready for the breakfast banquet that the chamber of commerce was hosting.

He gave his speech and he walked right into the crowd, shaking hands. And that day I went back to school and I remember coming off the recess playground, and I was going to a Catholic school, St. Alice in Fort Worth, and the nuns were crying. And they told us to lay our heads down on the table - those old cinderblock, one-story schoolhouses with a central hallway - and we were all dismissed and sent home.

And I couldn't really kind of grapple - I couldn't really comprehend what had happened. I was eight and a half, I just saw him, I thought, that can't be. Well, two years ago I went down to - I was in Dallas at the Dallas AFI Film Festival, I was a guest of Michael Caine, and I went down there and I realized I was near Dealey Plaza.

Now, I had never gone through the museum that they've had there for 20 years, run by the county historical society. So I went to there and I saw a photograph of the speech in Fort Worth and I was amazed at all the detail I could see in the crowd. So the next day I called the curator and I told him who I was.

He said, (unintelligible) Fort Worth. I said, "Do you have any other archival footage?" They found me in an old 16mm newsreel.

Tavis: They found you?

Paxton: Yeah. You see Johnson, cuts to the crowd - it's like a shot out of "Zelig" or "Forrest Gump," and then it cuts back to Kennedy. So I started thinking, wait a minute - 2011 will mark the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's inaugural speech, "Ask not what your country can do for you."

Tavis: "But what you can do for your country."

Paxton: And then in 2000 (unintelligible) the 50th anniversary of the assassination. And I thought, has anyone ever just told this story without bias, without an agenda, without a conspiracy? Just tell it as a human interest story. And as I researched it I found out Vincent Bugliosi was just about to release a book which is unbelievable, it's a cellular analysis called "Reclaiming History."

I took this to Tom. Tom Hanks' company, Playtone, do these long-form series about American history - "John Adams," "Band of Brothers," "Earth to Moon." And so Tom said, "This is our next project." So we're working on it for 2013. Sorry (unintelligible) go off on that.

Tavis: No, no, no, that's a great story. I'm sold, (laughter) and I'm ready to see it.

Paxton: Good, good, good.

Tavis: I'm ready to see it. Did you recognize yourself on the film the minute you saw yourself as an 8-year-old?

Paxton: Well, I'll tell you just real quickly - the guy said to me, he said, "I'll look." He sounded kind of skeptical. He said, "By the way, would you be willing to come down? We've been collecting these videographies of people who just what you remember as a kid being there."

And they'd done Peter Jennings and all these, and I was, like, "Well, I'm not trying to glom onto this event, I just - but I'd be honored to come down and talk to you." He said, "I'll see what I can find."

I get down there in the afternoon, the other guy's gone home, and the guy who's going to do the interview, he's got a manila envelope. He said, "We pulled a couple of images off a 60mm newsreel. It's a kid in the crowd, we don't know if it's you, but would you mind not opening the envelope till we're rolling the video?"

I said, "Well, that's fine." So I pulled it open - I couldn't wait to open this thing. I just had - I had this feeling they were going to find me even before I called. It just was a weird thing, like my character in "Big Love," he has these kind of affirmations or epiphanies or revelations.

I had a revelation that I was going to find some weird artifact, which is a very strange thing to find 45 years later. And I pulled out the first image and I said, "That's my brother, Bob." And then I looked at the second image and I realized, no, that's not - that's me, because my brother wore glasses. And I realized, "God, that's me."

And I was this tow-headed kid, and it's so funny because you see the crowd and you just see this kid on top of the crowd, so your eye goes -

Tavis: To the kid.

Paxton: They took me downstairs and showed me the newsreel footage, and you see them all come across the street, take the podium, and strangers - a black umbrella kind of behind Kennedy in that footage. Now you can read all kinds of things into that, but here is a man at the peak of his life and his career as the president of the United States.

Little does he know that in three hours, he will be murdered in cold blood in front of a lot of witnesses.

Tavis: 2011?

Paxton: 2013.

Tavis: '13 - 2013.

Paxton: Yeah. Isn't that crazy, to talk - but these are the - when you take on these projects like "Titanic," I've known Jim Cameron for years, you have to really kind of think of it in terms of okay, where are we going to be in two years? Where are we going to be in three years?

Okay, when we finish this thing in six years - it's kind of hard to think in those terms. But as filmmakers you have to with big projects.

Tavis: Well, between now and 2013, we'll just have to watch "Big Love."

Paxton: Yeah.

(Laughter)http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200903/20090316_paxton.html