PRIMARY

Details

• Release Year: 1960
• Genre: Documentary
• Plot: A bygone era of political campaigning is the subject of Primary, a fascinating cinema verité portrait of a crucial step on John F. Kennedy's path to the White House. ; ; Using the most portable sound and film equipment available in 1960, pioneering documentarian Robert Drew and a crew of innovative, important filmmakers in their own right (including verité legends D.A. Pennebaker, Richard Leacock, and Albert Maysles) were given a week of round-the-clock access to Kennedy as he toured the cities and towns of Wisconsin, campaigning against rival front-runner Hubert Humphrey in the state's pivotal primary election. ; ; With minimal narration and ground-breaking, no-frills technique heretofore unseen in TV news reporting (this film originally aired as an ABC news special), Drew gives equal time to Humphrey, but it's obvious that JFK's charisma, and the quiet campaign-trail grace of his wife Jacqueline, would carry them to eventual victory. ; ; The intimacy of these images is astonishing, captured just before television would come to dominate the political process. With a 'cliffhanger' ending, Primary was inducted into the Library of Congress' prestigious National Film Registry in 1990, and it's an essential companion to Drew's 1963 film Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment.
• Cast: Robert Drew, Hubert H. Humphrey, Jacqueline Kennedy, John F. Kennedy
• Director: Robert Drew
• Runtime: 0:53
• Media Format: movie