Synopsis
In Thirteen Days, the power and peril of the American presidency is dramatically explored by director Roger Donaldson, who captures the urgency, suspense and paralyzing chaos of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The alarming escalation of events during those fateful days brought to the fore such public figures as Robert McNamara, Adlai Stevenson, Theodore Sorenson, Andrei Gromyko, Anatoly Dobrynin, McGeorge Bundy, Dean Acheson, Dean Rusk, and General Curtis LeMay. In addition many others -- politicians, diplomats and soldiers -- were on the front line of the showdown. In Thirteen Days, we see all of these people, -- and, above all -- President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby, through the eyes of a trusted presidential aide and confidante, Kenneth P. O'Donnell (Kevin Costner). O'Donnell, who served as Special Assistant to the President, was a key White House insider with a birdseye view of the crisis. His office was next door to the President's Oval Office, and he was a major behind the scenes figure in the Kennedy White House. In the film, O'Donnell serves as a conduit to this gripping dramatization of one of the most dangerous moments in modern history. Kenny O'Donnell (far left, looking over the shoulder of the man at the head of the table) and EXCOMM Sadly, Kenny O'Donnell passed away in 1977.He co-authored the memoir JOHNNY, WE HARDLY KNEW YE about JFK. You can read a wonderful account of his life with Bob and Jack Kennedy written by his daughter, Helen. It's called "A Common Good," and is taken from her experiences and also tapes left by Kenny himself. A COMMON GOOD Out of Print search Link to Amazon You may also enjoy the book "THE KENNEDY TAPES: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis" Starring: Kevin Costner Bruce Greenwood Dylan Baker Steven Culp Tim Kelleher Michael Fairman Bill Smitrovich Ed Lauter Frank Wood Henry Strozier Peter White Walter Adrian
In Thirteen Days, the power and peril of the American presidency is dramatically explored by director Roger Donaldson, who captures the urgency, suspense and paralyzing chaos of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The alarming escalation of events during those fateful days brought to the fore such public figures as Robert McNamara, Adlai Stevenson, Theodore Sorenson, Andrei Gromyko, Anatoly Dobrynin, McGeorge Bundy, Dean Acheson, Dean Rusk, and General Curtis LeMay. In addition many others -- politicians, diplomats and soldiers -- were on the front line of the showdown. In Thirteen Days, we see all of these people, -- and, above all -- President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby, through the eyes of a trusted presidential aide and confidante, Kenneth P. O'Donnell (Kevin Costner). O'Donnell, who served as Special Assistant to the President, was a key White House insider with a birdseye view of the crisis. His office was next door to the President's Oval Office, and he was a major behind the scenes figure in the Kennedy White House. In the film, O'Donnell serves as a conduit to this gripping dramatization of one of the most dangerous moments in modern history.
Kenny O'Donnell (far left, looking over the shoulder of the man at the head of the table) and EXCOMM
Sadly, Kenny O'Donnell passed away in 1977.He co-authored the memoir JOHNNY, WE HARDLY KNEW YE about JFK. You can read a wonderful account of his life with Bob and Jack Kennedy written by his daughter, Helen. It's called "A Common Good," and is taken from her experiences and also tapes left by Kenny himself.
A COMMON GOOD Out of Print search Link to Amazon
You may also enjoy the book "THE KENNEDY TAPES: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis"
Starring: Kevin Costner Bruce Greenwood Dylan Baker Steven Culp Tim Kelleher Michael Fairman Bill Smitrovich Ed Lauter Frank Wood Henry Strozier Peter White Walter Adrian
RESOURCES Official Site: http://www.thirteen-days.com
Yahoo! Movies Thirteen Days (2000) GREAT SITE - PHOTOS, FORUM, ETC. http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1804364760 JFK Library http://www.cs.umb.edu/jfklibrary/index.htm
topREVIEWS
Is the Military Portrayed Correctly in the Movie 13 Days? by Debra Conway
Sunday, January 30, 2000 LA Times: http://www.calendarlive.com/calendarlive/movies/lat_13days000130.htm
Yahoo! Movies Thirteen Days (2000) http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&cf=info&id=1804364760
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NEWS ARTICLES
Articles in Cigar Aficionado December New Issue · Interview with Kevin Cosner by David Giammarco: October, 1962. President John F. Kennedy has ringed the Communist island of Cuba in a naval blockade. Soviet missiles have been installed on the island, just 90 miles south of Florida. More are on the way. Now Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev are playing a game of poker. The ante is Cuba, the cards are thermonuclear weapons and at stake is the future of the entire world. Who will blink first?
In his newest film 13 Days, Kevin Costner plays Kenneth O'Donnell, a most-trusted Kennedy confidant serving the young president at his most-trying hour. It's the latest memorable role for Costner, a Hollywood veteran who has taken on a vast variety of projects, from the hugely successful baseball classic Bull Durham to the panned Waterworld to the Academy Award Winning Dances With Wolves. In the November/December Cigar Aficionado, Costner recalls the history of his latest project.https://www.cigaraficionado.com (article is not online)
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Bruce Greenwood & the ABCs of JFK Major Roles Eluded This Actor. Now That's History.
By Stephen Hunter Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, January 7, 2001; Page G01
We are two blocks from the White House -- you can see it through the hotel room window, like a backdrop in a bad movie -- and the man who would be John F. Kennedy is eating mushroom soup in bluejeans and a black T-shirt.
You were expecting something, I don't know, more dignified? He shouldn't be wearing bluejeans, should he? I mean, if you're playing John F. Kennedy, do you show up in Washington, D.C., in bluejeans, and start with the soup? Read the complete article at: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21479-2001Jan4.html (sent by Steve Bochan)
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Greenwood dug deep to uncover JFK persona 01/07/2001 By Philip Wuntch / The Dallas Morning News
When visiting Dallas recently, Bruce Greenwood took in the usual sights, riding by the triple underpass, the Sixth Floor Museum and the Kennedy Memorial.
If his chill was even more prominent than that of most sightseers, it's understandable. The Canadian-born actor plays President John F. Kennedy in Thirteen Days, which inspects the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and its potentially devastating global effect.
Click here for the complete article: http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/255348_greenwood_07ar.html (sent by Tom Blackwell)
Tuesday December 5 3:05 AM ET 'Thirteen Days' Gets Delayed Launch By Carl DiOrio
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - New Line Cinema has moved its box office chestnuts out of the holiday frying pan and into the new year's fire. The studio's wide release of the Kevin Costner historical drama ``Thirteen Days,'' previously set for a crowded Dec. 22, is now planned for Jan. 12 (Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend). ``The marketplace is really crowded during that time,'' New Line distribution president David Tuckerman said of the abandoned date. ``And they're all high-profile films.''
Beginning Christmas Day, ``Thirteen Days'' will get a limited release for Academy Award consideration in four theaters each in Los Angeles and New York.
``Every review we've gotten has been spectacular, so a limited release for awards consideration just seemed like the right thing to do,'' Tuckerman said. ``Every indication is that it's going to be on everyone's 10-best lists, so we feel we've got a shot at all the major awards.''
Newsweek Cover Story on Robert Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Bobby at The Brink By Evan Thomas
Bobby Kennedy seems frozen in myth. But the real RFK was complex, at once idealistic and devious. The inside story of the Cuban missile crisis"where he found a way out, and grew up.
http://www.bizad.bw/entertainment/newsweek.htm
Update on "13 Days" Cosner Movie Location Shoot Though much of the photography for Kevin Costner's 13 Days project has been shot, word has it that additional scenes will be done on the east coast next month. According to the Boston Herald, the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., a destroyer that was pivotal in the real Cuban Missile Crisis, will be pulled back into temporary movie service to play itself. Shooting of scenes on board the ship will take place off the coast of Newport, RI. The merchant ship Cape Bon will stand in for the Russian ship that was blocked from going to Cuba by the Kennedy, way back when. Release Date: October 20th, 2000 Courtesy Cinescape Online
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