Primary (1960)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Robert Drew

Writer:

Robert Drew (writer)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Cinema verite feature that follows presidential hopefuls John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey during the 1960 Wisconsin primary

Plot Keywords:

Wisconsin | Hubert Humphrey | Election | Senator | Political Primary

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Drew	...	Himself
Hubert H. Humphrey	...	Himself
Jacqueline Kennedy	...	Herself
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Drew Associates

Trivia:

This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1990.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of his campaign speech to the audience of farmers in Sparta, Senator Hubert Humphrey announces he will make a special broadcast over the La Crosse television station that night. The only television station in La Crosse at the time was WKBT, the CBS affiliate on Channel 8. However, in the shots of the broadcast being produced, the cameras are clearly marked "WEAU-TV," which indicates the program was over the NBC affiliate on Channel 13 in Eau Claire, about 70 miles north of La Crosse.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment (1999)

A whole other world

I would jump at the chance to see this one of kind look at American

Politics at the crossroads. Before the media age had turned political

campaigns into impersonal commercials, even the stars (in this case,

Kennedy and Humphrey) had to go out and press the flesh, hard.

While Kennedy is slicker and seems to have the more organized

machine behind him, he is still a saint of apprachability compared to

today's most folksie candidate. That's just how it was done before T.V.

had compleatly eaten us alive.

Some of the stuff with the affable, tireless Humphrey is

particuairly memorable. Speaking to a bunch of stone faced Wisconson

Farmers, his giddy style takes on a real comic poniency, he's like a

comic trying to loosen up Ed Gein.

Yet, you get from both candidates, yes, corny as it may sound,

they actually give a curse about the people they are talking to. If you

think that has all but vanished, as I do, you may find this film as

striking as I do. Some of the camera crew went on to "Don't Look Back"

and "Gimmie Shelter". 8 out of 10.