Weekend movie feature: Dalton Trumbo's last stand

Ten years after John F. Kennedy's murder, Dalton Trumbo, Edward Lewis, David Miller, Mark Lane and Garry Horrowitz created a film which could be dubbed “Trumbo’s last stand”.

Scripted by one of the infamous "Hollywood Ten," blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo ("Johnny Got His Gun").

This film was called Executive Action (1973) and starred Kirk Douglas’ long-time collaborator Burt Lancaster as a leading coordinator of the plot to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.

Edward Lewis, who had also produced Spartacus with Douglas earlier, spearheaded this film which tells the story of a cabal of oligarchs who arrange the murder of John Kennedy using three teams of professional mercenaries (former CIA men fired after the Bay of Pigs fiasco).

This incredibly well-researched story-line infused fiction with powerful facts and was based upon the work of Mark Lane - a close friend of the Kennedy family, NY State Attorney, and civil rights activist (the only legislator to be arrested as a Freedom rider fighting segregation).

Although the film was pulled from most American theaters, it still stands as one of the most direct and chilling refutations of the lone-gunman narrative and introduces other important reasons for the killing of JFK.

~ By Matthew Ehret