George Clooney to Narrate JFK: One PM Central Time Standard Time

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THIRTEEN, PBS
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States serving from January 20, 1961 until his assassination on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. Five decades later, as we mark the 50th anniversary of his death, JFK: One PM Central Standard Time, a Secrets of the Dead special presentation, tells the story of two men, one the President of the United States John F. Kennedy - shot in Dallas and rushed to Parkland hospital, his fate unknown - and the other respected CBS Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite, knowing he had to get the story right amid myriad uncertainties that tragic day.

Narrated by George Clooney, JFK: One PM Central Standard Time, premiering Wednesday, November 13 at 10 p,m. ET on PBS (check local listings), recounts the riveting story of the reporting from Dallas and the CBS Newsroom in New York from the moment President Kennedy was shot until Cronkite's emotional pronouncement of his death at 1 p.m. CST. The program features interviews with President Bill Clinton and Brian Williams, anchor & managing editor, NBC Nightly News and Rock Center with Brian Williams, rarely seen archival footage of Kennedy, Cronkite and moving memories from the producers, writers and reporters who were there on the day, including, Susan Bennett, former UPI Bureau Chief; Ron Bonn, CBS News, 1963; Bill Hampton, UPI Bureau Dallas, 1963; Marvin Kalb, CBS News, 1963; Robert MacNeil, NBC News, 1963; Marianne Means, Hearst Newspapers; Dan Rather, CBS News, 1963; Bob Schieffer, CBS News; and Sandy Socolow, CBS News, 1963 among others. The film is airing as part of a week of special programming on PBS, November 11-13, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy.

In 1962, Cronkite accepted the offer to anchor the CBS Evening News, but with one condition: to be the Managing Editor as well. Though the term Managing Editor was not used in television, Cronkite knew he'd be able to determine which stories would be aired and how they would be handled. Having the final decision rest with him would be key on that fatal day one year later in Dallas as he employed all of his journalistic skills to report the story of a lifetime.

In September 1963, Cronkite launched the extended CBS Evening News with an interview with Kennedy. He was 46, the same age as the President. Both men were Second World War veterans; Cronkite had been a war correspondent in Europe and Kennedy had commanded a Torpedo patrol-boat in the Pacific; and both men knew how to effectively use the new medium of television.

Eight weeks later, on November 22, Cronkite and Kennedy would be forever linked in history.

Through re-enactments of the CBS newsroom in New York and anecdotal accounts from those in Dallas, the chaos of that day unfolds. Bennett and Hampton vividly recall the actions of UPI correspondent Merriman Smith, who after hearing gunshots, grabbed the one phone in the press pool car and started dictating to his desk in Dallas, "Three shots were fired at the motorcade!"

Cronkite had been a distinguished wire-service reporter. He relied on the wires and knew Smith's reporting would be accurate. Though he wanted to be the first to break the news, at that point Smith didn't know if Kennedy had been hit or even if he was wounded. Faced with the story of a lifetime, how does Cronkite choose to handle the story?

From the first reporting of the shooting to his announcement of Kennedy's death, "Walter turned in his best day and one of the best days the business of news has ever had...and he happened to do it on what was the worst day in modern times," says Brian Williams.



JFK: One PM Central Standard Time is a production of Colonial Pictures in association with THIRTEEN Productions LLC and WNET. Producer and director for Colonial Pictures is Alastair Layzell. Executive in charge for THIRTEEN is Stephen Segaller. Executive producer for THIRTEEN is Steve Burns. Coordinating producer for THIRTEEN is Stephanie Carter.

This program is among the full-length episodes that will be available for viewing after broadcast on Secrets of the Dead Online (pbs.org/secrets). Along with the extensive online video catalog, the series website provides resources for educators with lesson plans for middle school and high school teachers.

As one of PBS' ongoing limited Primetime series, Secrets of the Dead is a perennial favorite among viewers, routinely ranking among the 10 most-watched series on public television. Currently in its 13th season, Secrets of the Dead continues its unique brand of archaeological sleuthing employing advances in investigative techniques, forensic science and historical scholarship to offer new evidence about forgotten mysteries Secrets of the Dead has received 10 CINE Golden Eagle Awards and six Emmy nominations, among numerous other awards.

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PBS
The Bottom Line
Doc revisits the Kennedy assassination without adding much insight.
Narrator
George Clooney
Director-producer
Alastair Layzell

Narrated by George Clooney, the documentary from director Alastair Layzell revists the John F. Kennedy assassination.
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The 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination has led to new books and films in addition to the massive amount of material already produced about this seminal, traumatic event. The latest installment in the ongoing saga is a new documentary, One PM Central Standard Time, which will have a brief theatrical run before inevitably finding a home on television. The film tries to distinguish itself from the pack of Kennedy assassination films by focusing on the role of Walter Cronkite, who memorably broke the news of the President’s death to many in the nation and whose participation in the story helped to cement his own rise to the position of America’s most revered television anchor. Even with this angle and with the marquee name of George Clooney as narrator, the film adds little to a very familiar tale.

Clooney’s interest in this part of the story is not surprising. He won acclaim for directing Good Night and Good Luck, his film about another pioneering TV journalist, Edward R. Murrow. The director of One PM, Alastair Layzell, tries to emphasize that the assassination was not just a seminal moment in American history but a day that marked a change in the nature of journalism. With Americans glued to the tube for almost four straight days, television permanently seized power from newspapers and magazines, and Cronkite soon became the dean of TV anchors. One intriguing tidbit recounted here is that just two months before the assassination, CBS expanded its nightly news program from 15 to 30 minutes. So the power of television journalism was on the rise, and Cronkite’s role during those four days in November helped to clinch this transformation.

The film depends on excellent interviews with other prominent television journalists — Brian Williams, Dan Rather, Bob Schieffer, Robert MacNeil — as well as former President Clinton and several newspaper reporters. Some of these people actually covered the assassination in Dallas, including UPI reporter Wilborn Hampton, who helped to transmit the news that Cronkite utilized before making his famous on-air announcement that the President had died. Vivid newsreel footage of the fateful day in Dallas, along with other material showing JFK at home and abroad, enlivens the film.

Less successful is the decision to rely on re-enactments of scenes in the UPI newsroom as well as at CBS headquarters. Re-enactments have of course become a common technique in many documentaries, but this film revives questions about this dubious strategy.  While the sets and costumes are carefully reconstructed, the actors reciting the dialogue are uniformly poor.  Another of the film’s failings is its worshipful attitude toward both Cronkite and Kennedy. Even admirers of both men might not have been averse to a few criticisms. The Bay of Pigs and Kennedy’s flawed Vietnam policy, for example, are never mentioned. The overbearing music is another drawback. Especially cringe-worthy is Michael Feinstein’s original composition, “And That’s the Way It Is,” played over the end titles. All in all, this competent recap of a potent story fails to discover enough fresh and vital material.