Frontline: Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald? 1993 Documentary

[Francesca Akhtar]

I was just wondering if anyone had seen this documentary? Apparently it features a home movie of the Oswalds from 1962 and also people who knew Oswald in Russia and in America.

Is it worth a look?

[Blair Dobson]

I have seen this and I thought while it tried not to be biased, it became clear that the only good sources on Oswald are as usual the bad ones.

Worth watching but I say that in the same breath that I say sometimes it's a good thing to watch a bad film.

Not overt propaganda but nothing you don't already know. Well done in terms of production value.

The IMDB listing proves hilarious when you scroll down to "If you like this title, we also recommend......:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261496/

[Francesca Akhtar]

I have seen this and I thought while it tried not to be biased, it became clear that the only good sources on Oswald are as usual the bad ones.

Worth watching but I say that in the same breath that I say sometimes it's a good thing to watch a bad film.

Not overt propaganda but nothing you don't already know. Well done in terms of production value.

The IMDB listing proves hilarious when you scroll down to "If you like this title, we also recommend......:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0261496/

Hi

thanks for the reply - I guess then it's an 'oswald did it' view? I guessed it might be when I saw Posner's name on the cast list! :-)

Still it has quite a few people on there I've heard of but never seen like the people associated with NO so it might be worth having for the footage. The 'breaking the news' documentary I bought from the 6th floor museum is also worth having even though its very much of the offical view as it has great film footage that you don't normally see and the view of the journalists etc especially some great stuff with Abraham Zapruder and the newmans being interviewed only a short time after it happened.

I do have to fast forward it though when people like hugh aynesworth come on and start spouting rubbish as it annoys me too much :-)

[Jim Hackett II]

Ms. Akhtar,

I suppose it is worth a look IF one can view it for free.

It is another limited hang out IMHO.

In this location it was rebroadcast at the same time as ABC's Beyond Conspiracy trash on the evening of Nov. 22, 2003. Maybe so PBS could join the anti-conspiracy party the media was throwing on that date.

For what its Worth

Jim

[Francesca Akhtar]

Ms. Akhtar,

I suppose it is worth a look IF one can view it for free.

It is another limited hang out IMHO.

In this location it was rebroadcast at the same time as ABC's Beyond Conspiracy trash on the evening of Nov. 22, 2003. Maybe so PBS could join the anti-conspiracy party the media was throwing on that date.

For what its Worth

Jim

Call me francesca please :-) (and hey aren't you the jim hackett who used to post on the prouty forum?!)

I might be able to get my hands on a copy thats why I asked if it was worth a look. I don't think the documentary was ever shown here in the UK, or if it was I don't remember it. I was in Dallas in November 2003 but missed it again.

The Peter Jennings one was shown on the BBC but with their political correspondant who just repeated the same load of rubbish.

I was disappointed the BBC was spineless enough to just toe the official line but its what I've come to expect from them. Another documentary they showed on RFK last year again sopouted the oswald did it theory when it came to mentioning the JFK assassination an dof course as regards RFK they just said 'sirhan' did it without even bothering to mention the other side of the argument.

The only British tv channel I know of that has shown a 'pro conspiracy' show was Channel 4 when they showed 'The Day the Dream Died. But they are not the government mouthpiece I believe the BBC are.....

[Guest John Gillespie]

Call me francesca please :-) (and hey aren't you the jim hackett who used to post on the prouty forum?!)

I might be able to get my hands on a copy thats why I asked if it was worth a look. I don't think the documentary was ever shown here in the UK, or if it was I don't remember it. I was in Dallas in November 2003 but missed it again.

The Peter Jennings one was shown on the BBC but with their political correspondant who just repeated the same load of rubbish.

I was disappointed the BBC was spineless enough to just toe the official line but its what I've come to expect from them. Another documentary they showed on RFK last year again sopouted the oswald did it theory when it came to mentioning the JFK assassination an dof course as regards RFK they just said 'sirhan' did it without even bothering to mention the other side of the argument.

The only British tv channel I know of that has shown a 'pro conspiracy' show was Channel 4 when they showed 'The Day the Dream Died. But they are not the government mouthpiece I believe the BBC are.....

___________________________________

Francesca,

While the PBS/Oswald work is not quite the propaganda of that outrageous ABC piece, it is still not worth the celluloid it's printed on. It is indeed the usual Oswald-did-it-despite-some-unanswered-questions claptrap. But the use of video is always most effective in dispensing disinformation and that old standby, misinformation (read: lies).

I highly recommend the well written and scrupulously researched "Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence" by Philip Melanson. There is no substitute for fundamentals.

Regards,

JG

[Francesca Akhtar]

___________________________________

Francesca,

While the PBS/Oswald work is not quite the propaganda of that outrageous ABC piece, it is still not worth the celluloid it's printed on. It is indeed the usual Oswald-did-it-despite-some-unanswered-questions claptrap. But the use of video is always most effective in dispensing disinformation and that old standby, misinformation (read: lies).

I highly recommend the well written and scrupulously researched "Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence" by Philip Melanson. There is no substitute for fundamentals.

Regards,

JG

Thanks for the recommendation, I didn't know Philip Melanson had written any on JFK, I have read his books on the RFK assassination and they are excellent. His books are always well researched, Unlike some people...... :-)

Is it an old book? I looked it up on a few book shops here but no trace of it. I suspect it might be out of print?

[Jim Hackett II]

Yes Ma'am, er Francesca, ('Scuse)

I am indeed the one from Prouty's forum hosted by Len Osanic.

I too think highly of Phil Melanson's books both RFK related and the Oswald Spy Saga book.

I think Spy Saga is indeed out of print. I didn't check the online book outlets though.

I had found copies of Spy Saga and his RFK book in a used books shop at less cost than some places I have seen.

Best Regards

Jim

[Bill Cheslock]

___________________________________

Francesca,

While the PBS/Oswald work is not quite the propaganda of that outrageous ABC piece, it is still not worth the celluloid it's printed on. It is indeed the usual Oswald-did-it-despite-some-unanswered-questions claptrap. But the use of video is always most effective in dispensing disinformation and that old standby, misinformation (read: lies).

I highly recommend the well written and scrupulously researched "Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence" by Philip Melanson. There is no substitute for fundamentals.

Regards,

JG

Thanks for the recommendation, I didn't know Philip Melanson had written any on JFK, I have read his books on the RFK assassination and they are excellent. His books are always well researched, Unlike some people...... :-)

Is it an old book? I looked it up on a few book shops here but no trace of it. I suspect it might be out of print?

Francesca:

"Spy Saga" was written in 1990, and published by

Praega Publishers, One Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Dr. Melanson teaches Political Science at Southeastern Massachusetts

University in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

There are 11 chapters in the book in the following order;

Agent Oswald: Setting the Framework

The Pinko Marine

Oswald in New Orleans; Marxist or Mole?

The Mohair Marauder

Smearing the Left Kremlin-Red

Dallas: The Long Arm of Langley

Mexican Mystery Tour

Legend I: Incidents

Legend II: Artifacts and Evidence

Cover-ups

Beyond Disinformation

In addition

Appendix A: Selected Chronology of Lee Harvey Oswald

Appendix B: Excerpts from the Testimony of Former CIA

Director Richard Helms before the House Select

Committee on Assassinations.

From Helms' testimony from his executive session before the HSCA, as

reported by George Lardner of the Washington Post:

"Helms told reporters during a break that no one would ever know who or what

Lee Harvey Oswald, named by the Warren Commission as kennedy's assassin,

represented. Asked whether the CIA knew of any ties Oswald had with either

the KGB or the CIA, Helms paused and with a laugh said, 'I don't remember.'

Pressed on the point, he told a reporter, 'Your questions are almost as dumb as

the Committee's.' " ( Melanson, prefix to the contents).

Bill C

[Pat Speer]

Francesca, the Lee Harvey Oswald Frontline episode is well worth watching. It's much more open-minded about

Oswald's motivation than your standard fare. It doesn't insult you by insisting he was whack job who just went berserk one day. This was the program that uncovered the photograph of Oswald with Ferrie. Before this program it was a standard LN line that Ferrie never met Oswald. This program proved they had in fact been at some of the same CAP functions.

[Roger Fong]

Francesca, the Lee Harvey Oswald Frontline episode is well worth watching. It's much more open-minded about

Oswald's motivation than your standard fare. It doesn't insult you by insisting he was whack job who just went berserk one day. This was the program that uncovered the photograph of Oswald with Ferrie. Before this program it was a standard LN line that Ferrie never met Oswald. This program proved they had in fact been at some of the same CAP functions.

It's pretty difficult watching and listening to Posner, but Frontline's discovery of the CAP barbeque photo is a sweet moment. And it's not all Posner. You get a healthy dose of Anthony Summers. Other researchers who speak on camera include Edward Epstein, Priscilla McMillan, John Newman, Gary Savage, Dale Myers and Michael Kurtz. And Mary Farrell gets top billing in the credits under Researchers.

The list of interviews filmed for this project is impressive: Robert Oswald, the Odio sisters, Richard Helms, Robert Blakey, Carlos Bringuier, Ed Butler, Ruth and Michael Paine, Father Walter Machaan, Sylvia Duran, Valery Kostikov, James Hosty.

The following excerpt is from the script:

Mr. POSNER: I think what many conspiracy critics do, they try to take the chain, the connections, too far back. They say, "Oswald knew Ferrie and Ferrie did some work for Marcello and Banister did some investigative work for Marcello. Marcello hated Kennedy and therefore it must have been Marcello deciding to kill Kennedy, down to Ferrie and Banister, who then gave the order to Oswald, who went off and did it." It's wonderful speculation. There's just no evidence to back it up.

NARRATOR: Gerald Posner disputes all the sightings of Oswald and Ferrie - in the Civil Air Patrol and in 1963. He points out there has never been any hard documentary evidence linking the two men.

Mr. POSNER: I discovered documents that were from the Civil Air Patrol which show that David Ferrie was suspended from the CAP in 1954 and not reinstated in 1955, when Oswald was a member.

NARRATOR: FRONTLINE has uncovered the first hard evidence that places Oswald and Ferrie together: this photograph, taken in 1955 at a CAP barbeque. John Ciravolo and Tony Atzenhoffer were in the CAP with Lee Oswald.

JOHN CIRAVOLO: This is several cadets, including Oswald on the end in the white T-shirt, myself standing in front of him. And over here in the white T-shirt and the helmet is Dave Ferrie.

TONY ATZENHOFFER: Because of all of the publicity, you can recognize Ferrie, you can recognize Oswald. They were both in the CAP at the same time. They were both wearing CAP uniforms.

This version of the photo is from James Richards:

Edited May 3, 2006 by Roger Fong

[Guest Stephen Turner]

Slightly off topic...Anyone know who the Guy standing on Ferrie's left is?

[Francesca Akhtar]

Francesca:

"Spy Saga" was written in 1990, and published by

Praega Publishers, One Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

Dr. Melanson teaches Political Science at Southeastern Massachusetts

University in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

There are 11 chapters in the book in the following order;

Agent Oswald: Setting the Framework

The Pinko Marine

Oswald in New Orleans; Marxist or Mole?

The Mohair Marauder

Smearing the Left Kremlin-Red

Dallas: The Long Arm of Langley

Mexican Mystery Tour

Legend I: Incidents

Legend II: Artifacts and Evidence

Cover-ups

Beyond Disinformation

In addition

Appendix A: Selected Chronology of Lee Harvey Oswald

Appendix B: Excerpts from the Testimony of Former CIA

Director Richard Helms before the House Select

Committee on Assassinations.

From Helms' testimony from his executive session before the HSCA, as

reported by George Lardner of the Washington Post:

"Helms told reporters during a break that no one would ever know who or what

Lee Harvey Oswald, named by the Warren Commission as kennedy's assassin,

represented. Asked whether the CIA knew of any ties Oswald had with either

the KGB or the CIA, Helms paused and with a laugh said, 'I don't remember.'

Pressed on the point, he told a reporter, 'Your questions are almost as dumb as

the Committee's.' " ( Melanson, prefix to the contents).

Bill C

Thanks for the info - looks a very interesting read. I'll have to see if I can hunt it down in one of the big second bookshops in London.

As regards Helms and the JFK assassination, well I think he was 'in it up to his neck' as the old saying goes......

Francesca, the Lee Harvey Oswald Frontline episode is well worth watching. It's much more open-minded about

Oswald's motivation than your standard fare. It doesn't insult you by insisting he was whack job who just went berserk one day. This was the program that uncovered the photograph of Oswald with Ferrie. Before this program it was a standard LN line that Ferrie never met Oswald. This program proved they had in fact been at some of the same CAP functions.

oh I see - I didn't know the Oswald Ferrie connection was proved in this programme. I can't wait to see the documentary - I managed to get a copy off ebay. It was going cheap so thought it was worth it!

The seller has multiple copies to sell and there are about 8 left I think, but on the British ebay.

Francesca, the Lee Harvey Oswald Frontline episode is well worth watching. It's much more open-minded about

Oswald's motivation than your standard fare. It doesn't insult you by insisting he was whack job who just went berserk one day. This was the program that uncovered the photograph of Oswald with Ferrie. Before this program it was a standard LN line that Ferrie never met Oswald. This program proved they had in fact been at some of the same CAP functions.

It's pretty difficult watching and listening to Posner, but Frontline's discovery of the CAP barbeque photo is a sweet moment

I bet! What was Posner's reaction to that? I'm guessing he either claims it's not LHO or Ferrie in the picture just two people who happen to look similiar, or that the photo is a fake.

Slightly off topic...Anyone know who the Guy standing on Ferrie's left is?

This is just a wild guess as I'm not an expert , but when I came across the pics of Eddie Bayo in James Richard's archive I thought it looks a bit like him.

I don't know if this is a possibility or not.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/1AAbayo.htm

[Steve Thomas]

Francesca,

I was just wondering if anyone had seen this documentary? Apparently it features a home movie of the Oswalds from 1962 and also people who knew Oswald in Russia and in America.

Is it worth a look?

You can watch the program online here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oswald/

Steve Thomas