Nix’s original film, now said to be badly scratched, was returned to him.12
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1963:
According to an unpublished FBI file located at NARA13, SA Barrett got the film from Nix on December 5 – it is probable that Barrett got the copy made for the FBI by Jamieson between December 1 and December 4, and sent it to headquarters on December 5, rather than he ‘got the film from Nix’ on December 5.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1963:
Nix and his son flew to New York where, having been rejected by Life, the original film was sold for $5,000 to UPI, in the person of Burt Reinhardt and Maurice Schonfeld. Nix asked Reinhardt if the family could have the film back in, perhaps, 25 years or so. Reinhardt agreed, and the two men sealed the deal with a handshake.14
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1963:
Nix received a copy of his film, a check for $5,000 and a new hat from UPI. That copy of the film was the copy held by the family throughout the years, and eventually exchanged with the Dallas FBI office in 1991 for their superior copy.15
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1963:
FBI headquarters sent a copy of the Nix film back to their Dallas office.16
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 26 – TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 1964:
Secret Service agent John Howlett asked the FBI’s Lyndal Shaneyfelt if the FBI could let the Secret Service have a copy of the Nix film. According to Howlett, he had “requested a copy of the film from Mr. Nix and found Mr. Nix’s copy is very poor”. On March 3, 1964
Orville Nix asked the Dallas FBI office if it would be possible to get a “more clear copy” of his film from them, as the copy of his film which he had originally received from the Bureau “does not appear as clear as his usual pictures and that it may be partially due to the fact that in viewing his present copy he had frequently stopped the film in the projector.” A “copy of the film originally furnished (to) the Bureau” was sent to the Dallas FBI office on March 24, to be given to Mr. Nix.18 (Was this the copy of the film which was exchanged with the Dallas FBI office in 1991?)
THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1964:
The copy of his film requested from the FBI by Nix on March 16 was sent by the Dallas office to his home address via registered mail.19
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 1964:
John F. Novatney, Jr., of the Cleveland Law firm of Baker, Hostetler and Patterson, wrote to Edward C. Kemper Jr. of the FBI regarding the protection by the FBI and Warren Commission of UPI’s copyright over the Nix film. Novatney wrote that his notes of their meeting the previous day indicated that the FBI/Commission were in possession of at least six copies of the Nix film, including the copy given to the FBI by UPI. Novatney also noted that a single print of the film had recently been given to Mr. Nix, but that “the FBI has no intention of giving Mr. Nix any further prints”.20
1964/1965:
When the Warren Commission ceased to exist, the copies of the Nix and Muchmore films which UPI had given to the Commission were turned over to the National Archives under a special agreement with UPI, which prevented anyone from obtaining copies of the films, or slides from individual frames from the Archives for any purpose, commercial or otherwise.22 Indeed, until researcher/author Harold Weisberg obtained written permission from UPI in 1966, nobody was even allowed to see the Nix or Muchmore films at the National Archives.23
Meanwhile, UPI made a composite 35mm movie film from the original 8mm original Nix and Muchmore films, and this composite film (which used a technique of repeating a frame several times to give the impression of slow-motion or stop action during key sections of the films) was shown to researchers by Maurice Schonfeld, Burt Reinhardt and Jack Fox at UPI’s projection studio in New York.24
WINTER 1965:
Jones Harris and Bernie Hoffman worked through the winter of 1965-66 with Maurice Schonfeld in an effort to determine if a gunman on the grassy knoll was visible in the Nix film. According to Schonfeld, UPI “produced the original” film, so that Hoffman “could make the best possible reproductions.” Harris and Hoffman discovered what they believed were “the head, shoulders, arms and gun of (a) rifleman” leaning on a station wagon which was parked some distance behind the retaining wall to the west of the pergola, on the north side of Elm Street.25 UPI was unwilling to pay for further research, on the grounds that it could potentially prove very costly, might turn into an “epic nonstory”, and would provide no immediate financial return.26
JAN-MAY 1967:
Arising from the Harris/Hoffman research, a study of the Nix film was carried out for UPI by ITEK Corp., Lexington, MA. Maurice Schonfeld of UPI personally carried “the original Nix 8-millimeter color motion picture” film, which was described as being “31-foot long”, taken by Orville O. Nix and owned by UPI, to Lexington from its vault location at New York’s Chase Manhattan Bank.27 The photographic source data for this study reportedly included the original film, as well as “black and white 13x enlarged negatives made from all colour frames of the original Nix film”; “black and white 13x enlarged paper prints” made from those negatives; and “color transparencies of selected frames of the original film, enlarged 13x”.28 ITEK concluded that the unidentified ‘shape’ in the vicinity of the concrete wall was “shadow and highlight details created by the sun casting shadows of tree branches on the wall”.29
FRIDAY, JUNE 2, 1967:
The Emilio De Antonia/Mark Lane film “Rush to Judgement” was released. The film included an interview of Orville Nix by Mark Lane, in which Nix – when answering Lane’s question about the film being handed over to the authorities more than a week after the assassination - said that his film was “lost” at the processing plant. With regard to the film he now had in his possession, Nix said that some frames may be missing - “some of the frames were ruined”.30 There is, however, no credible evidence to hand at this time to support either of these assertions.
EARLY 1969:
Robert Groden first approached Moses Weitzman, owner of EFX Unlimited, a NY photo lab, seeking employment.31
1971:
According to Richard E. Sprague, UPI offered “to make the (Nix) film available for a very large sum of money” while at the same time refusing to make copies available for research.32 Unfortunately, as Mr. Sprague is now sadly deceased, it has not been possible to get further clarification of what was meant by ‘making the film available for a large sum of money’ – were UPI considering the sale of the film at that point in time?
AUGUST 1973:
The producers of the film “Executive Action” approached UPI regarding the use of the Nix film in their movie.33 Robert Groden confirmed this in his deposition before the ARRB, when he explained how he subsequently got Wakeford-Orloff Productions and Moses Weitzman’s company, EFX, together.34
OCTOBER 1973:
Still unconvinced about whether or not the Nix film contained definitive evidence of a gunman in the area behind the retaining wall to the right-front of the presidential limousine (the area in question is circled in the photographs below), Maurice Schonfeld looked into the possibility of enhancing the imagery in the film. Digital enhancement was carried out between October 1973 and February 1975 on “a copy of the Nix film supplied by Mr. Maurice Schonfeld” by James Lattimer, a student of Dr. Kenneth Castleman, a scientist at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Lab.35 Dr. Castleman has recently confirmed that only one copy of the Nix film was provided for study, and that this colour copy was provided to him by to Maurice Schonfeld. Dr. Castleman also confirmed that the Caltech/JPL study was focussed only on the area behind the wall which had been first identified by Jones Harris and Bernie Hoffman in 1964-5.36 The study concluded that while “the Nix film fails to support strongly” the theory of a grassy knoll gunman, “it cannot be positively ruled out”. The report added that it was “remotely possible” that what was shown in the film might be “due to an assassin immediately behind the wall who moved to his right, as Nix moved”.37
According to Moses Weitzman, “Mr. Schonfeld contracted with Effects Unlimited to
make 35mm blow-ups with six or eight copies, three or four in colour and others in black and white.” Weitzman “believed the black and white prints were for Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory analysis. When Robert Groden showed digital black and white “JPL copies” to him, Weitzman did not recall seeing the same detail in the knoll area that he remembered. In an earlier study of the Nix film, on a Hazeltene (sic) Color Analyzer, the original film purportedly revealed more background details and a possible flash or other clue in the background.”38 Mr. Weitzman has recently told Gayle Nix Jackson that this work for UPI was carried out in 1972 (although he almost certainly meant 1973), and that Schonfeld had asked him to “enhance” the classic-gunman image on the film, which he did using a Hazeltine Analyzer.39 Therefore, in this author’s opinion, Weitzman’s reference to an “earlier study” is probably in error – the examination of the material with the Hazeltine Analyzer was clearly carried out during the early stages of the Caltech/JPL project.
In his deposition before the ARRB in 1996, Weitzman referred to what he perceived to be the very clear presence of a man in the colour photographs which he made for UPI at this time.40 He repeated this in a recent telephone conversation with Gayle Nix Jackson, when he described more clearly what he saw as “the image of a person wearing what seemed to be a red bandana, holding what appeared to be a metallic broomstick type object and the distinct pink flesh tones of hands holding the metallic object. This red bandana image is hidden in the brushy area and clearly moves along the fence after the head shot. It could be seen behind the picket fence area, on Zapruder’s right.”41 Moses Weitzman explained why the 1975 Cal Tech/JPL study did not appear to see the same imagery that he described, when he told the ARRB: “In fairness to them, they didn’t see what we saw – they saw a black-and-white image, they didn’t see colour - and colour made the difference.”42 Weitzman has also recently claimed that UPI subsequently paid him (through Maurice Schonfeld) $100,000 to make 24 copies of the Nix film, 12 in colour and 12 in black-and-white, which were then sent to Caltech under very clandestine terms. He also expressed the view that the camera-original film was destroyed around this time.43
There also appears to be a discrepancy between the locations in which the suspect images were seen by Caltech/JPL and Moses Weitzman. The Caltech/JPL study was focused on the ‘classic gunman’ image behind the wall very close to when Abraham Zapruder was also filming at the time of the assassination; Weitzman, however, claimed to have seen ‘bandana-man’ in the bushy area behind the picket fence, which would suggest a location somewhat further to the west of the Caltech/JPL location. A satisfactory resolution to this apparent difference may never be found – are the parties involved referring to two entirely different images, or is it simply a case of a faulty recollection after more than 40 years?
1973 (PRE-NOVEMBER):
Robert Groden allegedly obtained a 16mm or 35mm (his ARRB deposition indicates it could have been either44) colour second-generation copy of the film from Mo Weitzman, whose EFX lab had done work on the film for the movie “Executive Action”, which was released on November 7, 1973.45 Groden also got a fourth-generation 35mm copy (unsure whether it was negative or a print) of the film from David Lifton, who had also obtained it while working on “Executive Action”.46
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22 - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1973:
Groden’s deposition says he screened a 16mm copy of Nix film at a symposium in Georgetown University.47 As noted above Lifton only had a 35mm copy of the film. Therefore, this could not have been the Lifton copy, so where did it come from? Could it have originated from the work done by EFX for the producers of “Executive Action” earlier in 1973?
1974:
Maurice Schonfeld left UPI in 1974. Prior to his departure, he accompanied Burt Reinhardt as a witness while Reinhardt placed the original Nix film in a safe deposit box at a New York branch of Chase Manhattan bank (now demolished, the branch was formerly the Clinton Union Trust Bank) and sent the key to the box to Alexander Bock, UPI’s chief accountant, a claim subsequently denied by Mr. Bock.48 Burt Reinhardt also subsequently left the company (he joined CNN in 1979 after leaving UPITN49), and UPITN (the successor to UPI Newsfilm) eventually closed its offices in New York in the late 1970s.50
APRIL 1977:
A Canadian research group made available a Super-8 colour copy of the Nix film, which included “complete footage shot of motorcade”. A description of the film which was circulated to potential purchasers said that there were no frames missing from the film “as we now have the complete print of his footage (from the original) and there is nothing missing. Nevertheless it would seem that a hoax of a kind was created with regard to the Nix film being of little use due to poor quality, etc. This is not so. As we now have the 2nd generation copy – his film is of superb quality and is possibly as good as the Zapruder original.” It is believed that this film, along with the Muchmore film, which was also owned by UPI, was made when the original was being prepared for the use of the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA).51 [In an effort to elicit any information regarding the source of a splice in the copy of the Muchmore film, the author contacted UPI in London by letter in June 1977. In the absence of any response, I contacted UPI in London by telephone. Unfortunately, no effort whatsoever was made to assist, and it was suggested that I contact the Head of their Newsfilm department in their New York office, which I did on July 12.52 No response was ever received to either letter.]
1976-1978:
The HSCA subpoenaed (and received) the original Nix film from UPITN; however, two members of the HSCA’s photographic panel (Drs. Clyde Snow and Paul Roetling) told Nix’s granddaughter, Gayle Nix Jackson, in March 2014 that “they had never studied the film, only frames… Eight frames were shown to them and those were the eight frames studied”.53
The HSCA used the film as part of their overall “grassy knoll” photographic evidence study. Several frames of the Nix film were scanned at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and the scanned frames were then computer-enhanced at the Aerospace Corp., resulting in images which appeared to be more ‘in-focus’ than the original frame. The HSCA’s attention was focussed on the ‘classic gunman image’ behind the retaining wall, the same area which was first highlighted by Jones Harris and Bernie Hoffman nearly 15 years earlier. The Committee’s photographic panel concluded that while the object in question could be “construed as a shape similar to that of a person”, the absence of detectable flesh tones in either the original or enhanced Nix frames indicated that “the most probable explanation is that the image is a chance pattern on sunlight on the structure behind the retaining wall”, endorsing the findings of the 1967 ITEK study of the film in the process.54 According to Robert Groden, “the original (Nix) footage disappeared in 1978 after it was returned to UPI by the House Assassinations Committee.”55
1979:
Sixth Floor Museum Curator Gary Mack notes that Gayle Nix Jackson was in possession of documentation from the HSCA showing the original 8mm Nix film was returned to UPITN and a signed receipt was obtained.56 However, according to Maurice Schonfeld, it was Gary Mack who confirmed that the original Nix film was returned to UPITN in 1979, not Gayle Nix Jackson. Mack had allegedly found a receipt for the film at UPITN, signed by two UPITN employees, one of whom is deceased and the other’s signature is unreadable.57
1982:
Evidence originating from a senior level within UPITN indicates that the original Nix film might have been among the material in the UPI film library when it was sold to ITN (Independent Television News) in London in 1982, although ITN subsequently claimed not to have the film in their possession.58
Also in 1982, the Western New England College, Springfield, Mass. (WNEC) Center for the study of American Political Assassinations produced a videotape called “The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy”, which contained a number of assassination-related films, including the Nix film.59 Study of this tape seems to indicate that two versions of the Nix film
were included – one with the hair, and the second without the hair. Although not identified, the narrator on the latter half of the videotape (which includes the version containing the hair) is clearly Robert Groden. This is the first reference I can find to a copy – described in 1995 by Groden as having been “made from a duplicate negative” - in the public domain, which does not contain the hair! Prior to this, the only confirmed public domain copy I can find is from “Executive Action” (1973), which contains the hair. Is there any possible link between the appearance of this ‘hairless’ copy of the film and the alleged transfer/sale of the original film to ITN in London?
1988:
A British TV documentary, “The Day the Dream Died”, included a showing of the Nix film. This copy of the film contained the “hair” in the lower part of the frame.60 In the course of the program, it was stated that Belgian-born film producer Jean Michel Charlier had obtained a copy of the Nix film from Nix’s son, Orville Nix Jr., and that the copy was made “before the original was given to the FBI”. An Internet search has revealed that M. Charlier is now deceased.61 The Nix family has no memory or contract of ever allowing or giving Charlier a copy of the film.
CIRCA 1990:
In a letter to Rollie Zavada, published as part of the Kodak/Zavada Report for the ARRB, Mo Weitzman claimed than an exchange of correspondence between himself and Robert Richter (a NY film producer) in 1990 arose out of a claim by Groden that Richter and David Lifton were using material loaned to WGBH (Boston public TV station) for the production of a “Nova” Special program.62 According to Weitzman, “the negative was obviously copied, an interpositive made and a duplicate negative struck. I received the negative and interpositive (presumably the negative I originally supplied) which I gave with all prints that I had made to Robert Groden for safe keeping”. In a summary by Rollie Zavada of his dealings with Weitzman, Zavada wrote: “Mr. Weitzman recalls that in 1990 or 1991, Mr. Groden rented printing time from Eastern Optical Effects, and this may have represented the time period that the 35mm contact prints supplied to NARA were made by Mr. Groden”.63 [Note: Eastern Optical Effects was a company owned and managed by Mr. Weitzman from 1989 to 1997 (and possibly beyond that date); also, the reference to “NARA” should probably read “ARRB”. As Weitzman does not specify exactly when the Richter/Lifton use of the material loaned to WGBH allegedly took place, his explanation is possibly inconsistent with my discovery that Groden had a copy of the film without the hair as early as 1982.
The Missing JFK Assassination Film Page 23