Twenty-Six Seconds

by Alexandra Zapruder

  I also read the transcript of a panel discussion with Oliver Stone, Norman Mailer, Edward J. Epstein, and Nora Ephron titled Hollywood and History: The Debate over JFK, sponsored by the Nation Institute and the Center for American Culture Studies at Columbia University, March 3, 1992. The transcript and audio can be accessed online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oswald/conspiracy/jfkpanel1.html.

  “The Boyfriend,” Seinfeld, February 12, 1992.

  Jerry Seinfeld’s comment about his speech and additional information about the episode came from the extras section for the episode in the Seinfeld Season 3 DVD.

  Background information from relevant section of Vågnes, Zaprudered.

  General information about the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act came from David Marwell interview conducted by the author on May 6, 2011; Judge John Tunheim interview conducted by the author on March 31, 2016; and the extensive records about the JFK Act online. Additional information came from ARRB, Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board (Washington, DC: September 1998), and from Trask, National Nightmare.

  Information about the consequences of the JFK Act for the taking of the Zapruder film came from previously cited interviews conducted by the author with Jamie Silverberg and Anita Dove, and from an interview with Roger Pies conducted by the author in 2011.

  My understanding of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution comes from “The Takings Clause,” entry in the online version of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution at Heritage.org, and from previously cited interviews with Jamie Silverberg, Roger Pies, David Marwell, and Judge John Tunheim.

  Information and quotations come from extensive correspondence between Jamie Silverberg on behalf of LMH and the Justice Department and NARA in LMH legal files. Copies of these letters are on file in the JFK Assassination Records Collection at NARA.

  Chapter 12: To Take or Not to Take the Film

  Information about the ARRB comes from previously cited ARRB Report; from correspondence between LMH and the ARRB, Justice Department, and NARA, on file in the JFK Assassination Records Collection at NARA; from internal memos and other documents in LMH legal files; and from previously cited interviews with Jamie Silverberg, David Marwell, and Judge John Tunheim.

  Details about appraisals of the Zapruder film come from LMH legal files.

  Understanding of the McCrone reproduction of the film came from LMH correspondence with McCrone Associates in LMH legal files, and from a phone interview with Joseph Barabe conducted by the author on June 21, 2011.

  The April 2, 1997, transcript of the “Hearing on the Status and Disposition of the ‘Zapruder Film’” is readily available online and on file in the JFK Assassination Records Collection at NARA. In the ARRB records, there is also a lengthy e-mail from David Lifton on the subject.

  Additional information and insights came from Art Simon interview conducted by the author on September 19, 2015.

  Phone conversation with David Marwell conducted by the author on March 30, 2016, and previously cited interview with Judge John Tunheim and subsequent e-mail correspondence. Copies of records from Tunheim’s file on the Zapruder film can be found in the JFK Assassination Records Collection at NARA.

  ARRB, “Statement of Policy and Intent with Regard to the Zapruder film,” April 24, 1997.

  George Lardner Jr., “Zapruder Film of JFK Assassination Is Public Record, Review Board Decides,” Washington Post, April 25, 1997.

  Chapter 13: A Final Firestorm

  For obvious reasons, there are not indisputably reliable records when it comes to arguing for or against the alterationist theory of the Zapruder film. I did not attempt to engage in a full debate on this question as it was far outside the scope of my work or my personal interest. My main intent was to introduce readers to the broad outlines of the alterationist theory and to point out where the theory calls into question Abraham Zapruder’s credibility. I considered a great many sources in order to untangle this; they include, most importantly, previously cited Zavada, Analysis of Selected, which can be found online (http://www.jfk-info.com/zreport.htm) and which provides an exceptionally thorough and clear review of all documentation relating to the film’s authenticity, interviews to establish the chain of possession, and a careful physical examination of the original and first-day copies.

  My main source for information on Douglas Horne’s presentation of the alterationist theory is his article “The Two NPIC Zapruder Film Events: Signposts Pointing to the Film’s Alteration,” which can easily be found online; and a lengthy video titled The Zapruder Film Mystery: Doug Horne interviews legendary NPIC photo interpreter Dino Brugioni, which can be found on YouTube. Dino Brugioni quotes come from the above video on YouTube. Horne’s quote questioning the authenticity of Abraham Zapruder’s affidavits came from an interview conducted by Dick Russell in On the Trail of the JFK Assassins: A Groundbreaking Look at America’s Most Infamous Conspiracy (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2008) and online at http://www.whokilledjfk.net/doug_horne.htm.

  Homer McMahon’s quote about having “wet brain” came from his interview with the ARRB on July 14, 1997. The interview is not available online at NARA, but a transcript of it was produced by Horne and is available online. However, Horne includes his opinions and interpretations as facts throughout in “Transcriber’s Notes,” which compromises its usefulness as an objective source. I’ve used the quote from a transcript produced and posted by William Kelly, which differs slightly from Horne’s (http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=15387).

  In addition, I consulted the literature supporting the film’s authenticity, most of which can be accessed online. This includes a presentation Josiah Thompson gave in Dallas on November 20, 1998, titled “Why the Zapruder Film is Authentic” (http://www.jfklancer.com/thompZ.html); Josiah Thompson, “Proof that the Zapruder Film Is Authentic” (http://home.earthlink.net/~joejd/jfk/zaphoax/thompson-proof.html); Josiah Thompson, “Bedrock Evidence in the Kennedy Assassination” (https://www.maryferrell.org/pages/Essay_-_Bedrock_Evidence_in_the_Kennedy_Assassination.html); and Thompson’s letter “Goodbye to Fetzer and All That” (http://www.kenrahn.com/Marsh/Jfk-conspiracy/Thompson.txt). I also read Clint Bradford, “Fetzer’s New Book… His Third Miserable Attempt at Scholarly Work” (http://www.jfk-info.com/fetzerfails3.htm), and Martin Shackelford, “A Brief Overview of the Zapruder Film Alteration Argument,” December 1998 (http://www.jfk-info.com/martin2.htm).

  Horne’s quote about Abraham Zapruder having been paid off in exchange for his silence comes from previously cited Russell, On the Trail of the JFK Assassins.

  Passages cited from Don DeLillo, Underworld (New York: Scribner, 1997), pp. 487–489 and 494–496.

  Additional information came from Conversations with Don DeLillo, edited by Thomas DePietro (Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2005), and relevant sections of Vågnes, Zaprudered.

  Adam Begley, “Don DeLillo, The Art of Fiction No. 135,” Paris Review, fall 1993.

  Quotations come from Don DeLillo interview conducted by the author on September 18, 2015.

  Valuations for the Zapruder film by Philip Moore at J. & W. Seligman and C. Cameron Macauley and Ernest D. Rose came from LMH legal files.

  Information about proposals and negotiations with the Justice Department, the structure of the arbitration hearing and the final agreement, and the approach to resolving the issues came from extensive Zapruder film legal records kept by the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, & Flom (hereafter Skadden Arps), and from additional documents provided by Jamie Silverberg.

  Further facts and details came from Dana Freyer interview conducted by the author on June 26, 2011; Bob Bennett interview conducted by the author on February 11, 2016; and Rich Brusca interview conducted by the author on February 17, 2016. Additional information came from the relevant section of Robert S. Bennett, In the Ring: Trials of a Washington Lawyer (New York: Crown, 2008).

  George Lardner Jr., “Haggling
over History; Zapruders, U.S. Far Apart on Price of Kennedy Film,” Washington Post, June 13, 1998.

  Other articles not cited include “Opinion: The Zapruder Film,” New York Times, June 23, 1998, and Frank Rich, “Journal; From Here to Zapruder,” New York Times, July 4, 1998.

  Information about Mark Zaid’s lawsuit regarding the copyright to the Zapruder film can be found at www.jfk-info.com/zaid-1.htm.

  Henry Zapruder’s letter to the Zapruder family came from Zapruder family papers.

  Information about the statute of limitations on seeking just compensation for the Zapruder film taking came from phone conversations and e-mail correspondence with Jamie Silverberg.

  Information about considerations for the structure of the arbitration hearing came from previously cited Roger Pies interview conducted by the author.

  Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film, directed by H. D. Motyl (Orlando Park, IL: MPI Video, 1998).

  Background information about MPI and the making of Image of an Assassination came from LMH legal records and from previously cited interview with Jamie Silverberg, in addition to follow-up e-mails and phone conversations.

  The hundreds of newspaper articles and reviews of the film were gathered and preserved in the Zapruder film legal files at Skadden Arps.

  Kathryne Kirkpatrick, “Viewing JKF [sic] Killing Would Be Revolting,” Letter to the Editor, Tennessean, July 16, 1998; and Robert T. Grammer, “Video Is Interesting for History Buffs,” Letter to the Editor, Tennessean, July 17, 1998.

  “Film of Kennedy Not Entertaining,” Jena Times, July 22, 1998.

  Information and quotes from transcript of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, July 14, 1998.

  Chapter 14: Arbitration and Resolution

  Information and quotes from the Zapruder film arbitration hearing come from pre-hearing briefs provided by LMH and the Justice Department; response briefs; affidavits from LMH witnesses Beth Gates Warren, Jerry Patterson, Steve Johnson, Sylvia Leonard Wolf, Joseph Barabe, and Professor William Landes, and from Justice Department witnesses John Staszyn and C. Cameron Macauley; rebuttal affidavits; the transcript of the arbitration hearing; and the post-hearing briefs provided by LMH and by the government. All of these documents were made available to me through the Zapruder film legal records at Skadden Arps.

  Further information comes from previously cited interviews with Dana Freyer, Rich Brusca, Bob Bennett, and Judge John Tunheim, and from Bennett, In the Ring. Additional help understanding the experts’ approach to valuing the Zapruder film came from e-mail correspondence with Beth Gates Warren.

  “Zapruder Film: Attempt to Profit from Tragedy Is Sad and Disturbing,” Dallas Morning News, July 14, 1999.

  Henry Zapruder, “Letter to the Editor,” Dallas Morning News, July 20, 1999.

  Kenneth Feinberg, Arlin Adams, and Walter Dellinger, In the Matter of the Zapruder Film (Washington, DC: Department of Justice, 1999).

  Information and quotes come from Ken Feinberg interview conducted by the author on February 16, 2016, and Walter Dellinger interview conducted by the author on May 11, 2016.

  Information about media response comes from numerous articles about the arbitration decision, including the following: James Vicini, “US to Pay $16 Million for Kennedy Shooting Film,” Reuters, August 3, 1999; Rita Delfiner, “Zapruder Heirs to Reel In $16M for JFK-Slay Film,” New York Post, August 4, 1999; Deb Riechmann, “$16 Million for Film of JFK’s Death: Arbitrators Set Price for Zapruder Footage,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 4, 1999; David Jackson, “Zapruders to Be Paid $16 Million for Film,” Dallas Morning News, August 4, 1999; David Johnston, “Zapruder Heirs Get $16 Million For Dallas Film,” New York Times, August 4, 1999; Will Woodward and George Lardner Jr., “Zapruder Film Nets $16 Million,” Washington Post, August 4, 1999; Eric Lichtblau, “Film of JFK Assassination Brings Family $16 Million,” Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1999; Ellen Joan Pollock, “Film of JFK’s Assassination Gets Price Tag of $16 Million,” Wall Street Journal, August 4, 1999; James Rosen, “$16 Million for Zapruder Film,” Sacramento Bee, August 4, 1999; “Zapruder Film Ruling,” Sacramento Bee, August 4, 1999; Tom Squitieri, “Zapruders Get $16M for JFK film,” USA Today, August 4, 1999; and Mary Panzer, “What Price History?” Art in America, October 1999, pp. 67–71.

  “Opinion: Pricing the Past,” New York Times, August 5, 1999.

  Epilogue: Public and Private Legacy

  Mark Wrolstad, “Zapruders Donate JFK Film, Rights,” Dallas Morning News, January 26, 2000.

  Max Holland and Johann Rush, “J.F.K.’s Death, Re-Framed,” New York Times, November 22, 2007; and Max Holland, “The Truth Behind JFK’s Assassination,” Newsweek, November 20, 2014.

  Tom Mullin, “Livin’ and Dyin’ in Zapruderville: A Code of Representation, Reality and Its Exhaustion,” Cineaction, no. 38, 1995, pp. 12–15.

  John Beck, “Zapruder, Warhol, and the Accident of Images,” in American Visual Cultures, edited by David Holloway and John Beck (London: Continuum, 2005), pp. 183–189.

  Tom Sutcliff, “Climbing the Zapruder Curve,” Dox: Documentary Film Quarterly, no. 1, spring 1994.

  Richard B. Woodward, “ART; The 40th Anniversary of a 26-Second Reel,” New York Times, November 16, 2003.

  Another article worth mentioning but not cited in Epilogue is J. G. Ballard, “The Film of Kennedy’s Assassination Is the Sistine Chapel of Our Era,” interview by William Feaver on March 24, 1999, Art Newspaper, July–August 1999, pp. 24–25, online at www.jgballard.ca/media/1999_art_newspaper.html.

  Karen F. Gracy, “Film as Art, Film as Evidence: Mediating the Value of the Zapruder Film,” unpublished manuscript provided by author; Sam Kula, Appraising Moving Images: Assessing the Archival and Monetary Value of Film and Video Records (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2002).

  Errol Morris’s film The Umbrella Man (November 22, 2011) is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuoZWb9gqv0. In addition, I conducted a phone interview with Errol Morris on April 13, 2011, in which he shared insightful and thoughtful observations about the Zapruder film.

  Audio of the session about the Zapruder film at the 2013 Telluride Film Festival with Mark Danner, Don DeLillo, and Errol Morris can be found on Mark Danner’s website at http://www.markdanner.com/orations/telluride-film-festival-2013-danner-delillo-and-morris-on-the-kennedy-assassination.

  Articles about the Zapruder film on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the JFK assassination include: Ron Rosenbaum, “What Does the Zapruder Film Really Tell Us? Documentary Filmmaker Errol Morris Deconstructs the Most Famous 26 Seconds in Film History,” Smithsonian, October 2013; George Packer, “Leaving Dealey Plaza,” New Yorker, October 14, 2013; Steve Rose, “Abraham Zapruder: The Man behind History’s Most Infamous Home Movie,” Guardian, November 14, 2013; A. O. Scott, “Footage of Death Plays On in Memory: Abraham Zapruder and the Evolution of Film,” New York Times, November 15, 2013; Owen Gleiberman, “JFK: What the Zapruder Film Really Means,” Entertainment Weekly, EW.com, November 22, 2013; and Alex Pasternack, “The Other Shooter: The Saddest and Most Expensive 26 Seconds of Amateur Film Ever Made,” Motherboard, November 23, 2012.

  Don DeLillo, Underworld, p. 496.

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  Copyright

  Copyright © 2016 by Alexandra Zapruder

  Reading Group Guide Copyright © 2016 by Alexandra Zapruder and Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  Cover design by Jarrod Taylor. Cover photographs © Zapruder film © 1967 (Renewed 1995) The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.