Executive Action

( 1 )

Overview

If you think that Oliver Stone invented the "political paranoia" movie, take a glance at Executive Action sometime. Based on Mark Lane's Rush to Judgment, the conspiracy theorist's bible, Executive Action perpetuates the popular urban legend that John F. Kennedy was assassinated at the behest of a right-wing cartel with military and industrial interests. The film further hypothesizes that Lee Harvey Oswald not only didn't pull the trigger, but was also set up as a disposable dupe this notion wasn't even new in ...
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DVD (Wide Screen / Subtitled)
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More About This Product

Overview

If you think that Oliver Stone invented the "political paranoia" movie, take a glance at Executive Action sometime. Based on Mark Lane's Rush to Judgment, the conspiracy theorist's bible, Executive Action perpetuates the popular urban legend that John F. Kennedy was assassinated at the behest of a right-wing cartel with military and industrial interests. The film further hypothesizes that Lee Harvey Oswald not only didn't pull the trigger, but was also set up as a disposable dupe this notion wasn't even new in 1973. Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Will Geer play the sinister conspirators. In the film's coda, still photos of 18 witnesses to the assassination are shown, while the accompanying text informs us that all of these people had died between 1963 and 1973. We are further told that the odds against this coincidence are one in a trillion. When Oliver Stone's thematically similar JFK came out in 1991, viewers with long memories were quick to notice the eerie similarities between the Stone film and Executive Action -- right down to choice of camera angles. Hmmm....a conspiracy, perhaps?
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Special Features

Vintage featurette November 22, 1963: In Search of an Answer; Burt Lancast trailer gallery
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide
A few decades before Oliver Stone made JFK, this taut thriller was the first picture to explore a conspiracy theory premise about the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The end result holds up surprisingly well. Executive Action remains compelling today because it is a very carefully assembled piece of work. Dalton Trumbo's script features many players and a lot of assassination-based theorizing but it never becomes confusing because he focuses its many elements around a line of reasoning that drives the proposed conspiracy and takes a breathless, "just the facts" approach to his storytelling. Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Will Geer all do an excellent job of providing faces for the various facets of this line of reasoning: Lancaster brings both the smarts and the intensity one would expect to his role while Ryan adds a weary, thoughtful note to his conspiratorial role and Geer is amusing as a sly, reluctant (but ultimately convinced) conspirator. Finally, the film is held together by David Miller's tidy direction: he gives the viewer plenty of visual stimulus, deftly crosscutting his narrative with newsreel footage (both real and re-created), and maintaining a taut pace that keeps the viewer involved from start to finish. To sum up, Executive Action is smart and engaging film that is worth seeing for anyone interested in intelligent political-minded thrillers.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 10/23/2007
  • UPC: 085391177470
  • Original Release: 1973

    • Rating:

  • Source: Warner Home Video
  • Region Code: 1
  • Presentation: Wide Screen / Subtitled
  • Time: 1:31:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 24,938

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Burt Lancaster Farrington
Robert Ryan Foster
Will Geer Ferguson
Gilbert Green Paulitz
John Anderson Halliday
Deanna Darrin Stripper
James MacColl Oswald Imposter
Paul Carr Gunman Chris
John Brascia Riflemen Team B
Walter Brooke Smythe
Richard Bull Gunman-Team A
Colby Chester Tim
Sidney Clute Depository Clerk
Lee Delano Gunmen Team A
Lloyd Gough McCadden
Richard D. Hurst Used Car Salesman
Robert Karnes Man At Rifle Range
Ed Kemmer
Ed Lauter Operation Chief Team A
Hunter Von Leer Rifleman-Team B
Joaquin Martinez Art Mendoza
Richard Miller Rifleman-Team B
Tom Peters Sergeant
Paul Sorenson Officer Brown
Sandy Ward Policeman
William Watson Technician-Team B
Technical Credits
David Miller Director
Kirk Axtell Art Director
Dan Bessie Co-producer
Bruce Bisenz Sound/Sound Designer
Randy Edelman Score Composer
Edward Lewis Producer
George Grenville Editor
Gary Horwitz Co-producer
Irving Lerner Editor
Robert Steadman Cinematographer
Dalton Trumbo Screenwriter
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Menu

Disc #1 -- Executive Action
   Play Movie
   Special Features
      November 22, 1963: In Search of an Answer
      Burt Lancaster Trailer Gallery
         Play All
         Seven Days in May (1964)
         The Gypsy Moths (1969)
         Executive Action (1973)
         Local Hero (1983)
   Languages
      Spoken Languages: English
      Subtitles: English
      Subtitles: English (For the Hearing Impaired)
      Subtitles: Français
      Subtitles: Off
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Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing 1 Customer Review

  • Posted December 1, 2010

    As close as we'll ever come...

    After all that has been said and written since November 1963, this 1973 movie comes as close to what probably happened in Dallas as anything available. Intelligently written, directed and acted. Definitely worth watching. More than once.

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Sort by: Showing 1 Customer Review