Executive Action
Nearly two decades prior to Oliver Stone’s JFK, Executive Action, a fiction film, used actual news footage from the tumultuous events of 1963, never deviating from the historical record regarding the facts surrounding the assassination.
Produced in 1973 as a major motion picture starring Burt Lancaster and Robert Ryan, Executive Action was described as “the most controversial movie of the decade.” As directed by David Miller, it thrillingly depicts a daring plot to change the course of US policy by eliminating the man responsible.
“Everything we show is supported by evidence” stated Miller, adding that co-stars Lancaster and Ryan were initially skeptical about the conspiracy idea, but were persuaded by the weight of factual material. As Executive Action tensely builds toward its climax, it poses the real possibility that a complex conspiracy was the cause of those fateful events in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
The original screenplay, written by Mark Lane, was based upon his work in investigating the assassination.