Search - O'Kennedy's Ireland on DVD

PRODUCTION MAKES THIS LESS THAN IT COULD BE

C. Scanlon | among us humans | 08/08/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For me the most valuable part of this disk is buried in the extras section, in the entire speech which then candidate JFK gave to clergy assembled in Houston in September 1960 regarding his religion and his public office. THis wide ranging and prophetic speech touches us today, particularly in the 2000 and 2004 elections, as Kennedy mentions Protestant ministers who tell their congregations (he says parishioners) for whom to vote. That is only one small example of the many important issues he raises in this landmark speech, in which he also mentions irresponsible press which seek to use irrelevant evidence to spread untruths. He could be speaking of our talk radio. At that time, long before state lotteries legitimized gambling, he mentions gambling as a moral issue as well.

Unfortunately on my copy of this disk, the speech at Rice is replaced by the speech at the Berlin Wall, which thus appears twice. It would be remarkable to think of any President since JFK appearing and speaking in such a hot spot with minimal if any security.

Speaking of security, he should have had in Dallas the excellent motorcasde escorts he had in Dublin instead of the guys who stayed out all night at Jack Rubies bar.

The reason I give this low stars is the horrible main feature. The vast bulk of it seems to be stock footage from some old mediaeval b-movies. I kept expecting them to break out singing and dancing like Men In Tights. Throughout the film seemed overexposed and washed out. And it just kept going on and on with Robert Vaughn (former Man From UNCLE) droning superficialities without much depth about Irish history. Every now and then a brief snippet of JFK could be heard, interrupted by something absolutely absurd or light hearted, or racist.

THis could have been much better simply presetning the entire speech to the Dial and every bit of footage or recording of Kennedy in Ireland. Instead we get heavily editted and separated film out of context. I wish they had kept the speeches and talks all in one piece, and run them straight through. Instead we get disconnected excerpts without context, mainly at the end.

Please watch JFK's health. At that time we had no idea how ill he really had been most of his adult life, with Addison's etc. It was a major effort for him to stand and to walk. And yet he brilliantly and without notes gives profound speeches impromptu. YOu see here how he did his excellent inaugural.

SPeaking of which, I felt it was a shame in the Home Movies section of the extras, that we see him horsing around with the family, etc., while the Inaugural ADdress runs in the background. We don't need to see him wiping his nose and chewing gum while saying those words. It would be better to run the tape of the INaugural address separately. FOr that we can thank Sounding the Trumpet: The Making of John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address."