Primary (1960)

Director:

Robert Drew

Writer:

Robert Drew

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Hubert Humphrey | Wisconsin | Senator | Election | Kennedy Family

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Drew	...	Himself
Hubert H. Humphrey	...	Himself
Joseph Julian	...	Narrator (voice)
Jacqueline Kennedy	...	Herself
John F. Kennedy	...	Himself
Robert F. Kennedy	...	Himself

Directed by
Robert Drew

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robert Drew

Produced by
Robert Drew	....	producer

Cinematography by
Richard Leacock
Albert Maysles

Sound Department
Robert Drew	....	sound recordist
D.A. Pennebaker	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Leacock	....	photographer
Albert Maysles	....	photographer
Terrence McCartney Filgate	....	photographer
D.A. Pennebaker	....	photographer

Editorial Department
Robert Drew	....	managing editor
Robert Farren	....	assembly editor
Allen Hotchner	....	on-line editor

Other crew
Richard Leacock	....	sequence editor
Terrence McCartney Filgate	....	sequence editor
D.A. Pennebaker	....	sequence editor

Production Companies

• Drew Associates
• Time

Distributors

• VideoFilmes (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Wisconsin, USA

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 The Camera That Changed the World (2011)

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.