Original subtitles

...to a P.O. box, when he can go into any store in Texas...

...give a phony name and walk out with an untraceable rifle.

To frame him, obviously!

A lot of smoke, but some fire.

We're talking about our government!

We're talking about a crime.

You must think on a different level, like the CIA does.

We're through the looking glass.

White is black.

And black is white.

Maybe Oswald is just what he said he was.

A patsy.

Unbelievable. You were here?

Yes, this is where I was sitting.

Shots came from near the wooden fence over there...

...near the overpass.

I saw a man run from the fence toward those railroad cars.

I made it clear to the Warren people.

One of the shots came from behind that picket fence.

I heard the report and saw smoke, six or eight feet above the ground.

Out from under those trees.

All four of us railroad men...

...seen the same thing.

The smoke came from behind the hedge.

I was standing next to Mary Moorman, who took the photo when he was killed.

I stepped down to the curb and yelled:

"Mr. President, look over here! "

Then shots rang out.

Mary dropped to the ground, yelling, "They're shooting! Get down! "

I just stood there watching.

The driver had stopped.

I don't know what was wrong with him.

Out of the corner of my eye...

...I saw a flash of light in the bushes.

And that last shot...

...just ripped his head off.

I looked up and saw smoke coming from over there, on the knoll.

We came around to look for tracks.

It rained that morning and we found a bunch.

Cigarette butts.

Someone had stood about... here.

That's a good spot.

For the head shot.

Everything was just frozen.

Like people weren't breathing. Like you were looking at a picture.

Except for one man.

I saw this one man running from the corner of the Book Depository...

...to the parking lot.

It was about 11:00 a. m.

I was driving on Elm Street toward the underpass in a rented car.

A light-blue Valiant.

I'll never forget that day. There was a lot of traffic...

...and I stopped alongside a green pickup truck.

It was very noticeable because it had one wheel up on the curb.

When I saw the gun, I thought...

..."The Secret Service is not very secret. "

The next morning, I went to the FBI office.

They showed me some pictures.

And I picked out three pictures that looked like the truck's driver.

That's the man.

You mean you identified Jack Ruby on Saturday?

That's right.

The day before he shot Oswald?

That's right. When I saw him on TV, I was shocked.

I said to my family, "That's the man I saw in the truck. "

You weren't so sure in your statement to the Commission.

What about these others? You said one might be him?

They look a bit like him, but I'm sure this is the man.

It was him I chased up the grassy knoll.

I thought maybe our guys had shot back and got one of them.

I got to the parking lot.

All I saw were the railroad workers and Dallas' finest.

- Secret Service. Come with us. - No! Find the shooter!

I want your pictures.

Son of a bitch!

He put a hurt on me, but good.

They must've seen everything because they knew what we had done all day.

I wasn't hard to find, wearing that red raincoat.

- How many shots did you hear? - Four to six.

Impossible!

You heard echoes!

We have three bullets and three shots that came from the Book Depository.

- That's all we'll say. - No, sir.

I saw a man shooting from behind that fence. What are you going to do?

- You go out there and get him! - That's taken care of!

You only heard three shots, and don't discuss this with anyone.

No one. Understand?

Which is strange 'cause it's less than 20 minutes after the assassination.

Get her out of here.

I knew something was crooked as a dog's hind leg.

When I read my testimony in the Warren Report...

...it was a total fabrication.

That's what bothers me, Mr. Garrison. They've altered my statements.

This one says:

"Mercer couldn't identify any photograph as being the man she observed...

"... slouched over the wheel of the green truck. " Not true.

I recognized him and I told them so.

Take your time.

I'm sure.

And the sheriff's report...

This is really strange.

See that notarized signature?

That's not mine.

There wasn't any notary present during my questioning.

Mrs. Mercer, as a former FBI man...

...it's difficult to accept this.

Beverly, tell Mr. Garrison about the Carousel Club.

I used to go there to see Jack and my friend, Jatta, who danced there.

It was a real swinging spot in town.

Everybody came.

Businessmen, politicians from Austin, LBJ's friends-

Dallas was a slowpokin' town then.

You chewed toothpicks, played dominoes, spit, dated policemen.

But Jack was exciting. There were always cops there.

Jack liked them around, even though he threw out the drunks himself.

He had a violent temper.

Everyone in those days knew Jack was in the mob.

Cops back then, they were bad.

They'd shake you down for the money in your pocket.

What about Lee?

One time I came in.

Jack introduced me to two guys. He says, "This is my friend, Lee... "

I don't remember the other guy's name.

He was a weird-looking guy. He had these eyebrows.

And he looked like a buzzard.

Lee didn't make much of an impression.

He wasn't very handsome.

He didn't look like he had any money, and he was in a bad mood.

So, I didn't pay him much mind.

I may not remember a name, but I always remember a face.

Later, when I saw him on television...

...I screamed, "My God, that's him!

"That's Jack's friend! "

Will you testify, Beverly?

- I don't think so. - I thought we had an agreement.

- I don't want to be another statistic. - We could call you in.

If they can kill the President of the United States...

...you think they'll think twice about a two-bit showgirl like me?

I understand the pressure you're under.

Don't think that I don't.

We both do.

Mr. Chief Justice, do you understand that I can't tell the truth in Dallas?

There are people here who do not want me to tell the truth.

Who don't want me to have a retrial.

Why don't you just tell us now?

My life is in danger!

If you request that I go to Washington...

That is, if you want to hear further testimony from me.

Can you take me with you?

No. It can't be done.

There would be no safe place for you.

We're not law-enforcement officers.

There's a great deal at stake in this matter.

If I'm eliminated...

...there won't be any way of knowing any bit of truth pertaining to my situation.

Consequently, a whole new form of government will take over.

And I won't live to see you some other time.

I want to tell the truth.

And then...

...leave this world.

The Zapruder film establishes three shots in 5.6 seconds.

I'm Oswald.

Time me.

Go.

Time?

Between six and seven seconds.

Without really aiming.

The second and third shots came almost right on top of each other.

It takes a minimum of...

...2.3 seconds to recycle this thing.

The other problem is, there was a tree...

...blocking the first two shots when fired in the Zapruder film.

Didn't Hoover say something about leaves falling in November?

It was Texas live oak, Chief.

It sheds its leaves in early March.

Take this Carcano, world's worst shoulder weapon...

...and try to hit a moving target at 88 yards through heavy foliage.

No way.

FBI tried two sets of tests.

Not one sharpshooter could match Oswald's performance.

Not one.

Oswald was at best a medium shot.

The scope was defective on it too.

This is the whole essence of the case to me.

The guy couldn't do the shooting.

Nobody could.

They sold this lemon to the American public.

The Zapruder film was the proof they didn't count on.

We must get hold of it.

It means we'll have to subpoena Time-Life.

Let me ask you something.

Why not just shoot Kennedy on Houston?

Plenty of time.

- He's out in the open. - I keep asking myself the same thing.

- Frontal shot. - Even if you miss him once...

...if he accelerates, you get a second shot.

The only reason to get him on Elm...

...is you got him in a triangulated crossfire.

You put a team there down at the fence.

Frontal shot. Flat, low trajectory.

Put a third team down in this building...

...on a low floor.

When Kennedy gets in the kill zone, it's a turkey shoot.

How many men?

One shooter. One spotter on a radio. Maybe three teams.

These are professional riflemen. Serious people.

Hunters.

Patient.

It takes skill to kill with a rifle.

That's why no chief executive's been executed with one in 200 years.

Three...

...two...

...one.

Main Street's over there.

Original parade route on the way to the Trade Mart...

...is too far, right?

Too far.

Impossible shot, so they change the parade route.

Bring him down here. Moving at a normal 25 mph.

They knew the motorcade would have to slow down to about 10 mph...

...to make that turn there. And that's where they got him.

Who do you think changed the parade route?

Beats me. Secret Service, city officials, Dallas Police.

You know who was the mayor at the time?

Roy Cabell.

- Guess who his brother is? - Who?

General Charles Cabell.

Deputy director of the CIA.

Kennedy fired him in '61 because of the Bay of Pigs fiasco.

Moved back to the Pentagon and called Kennedy a traitor.

When he came to New Orleans...

...to address the Foreign Policy Association, know who introduced him?

Our friend, Clay Shaw.

Didn't the Warren Commission call him?

His boss was the one on the Warren Commission...

...who handled the leads in the intelligence community.

- Allen Dulles? - Head of the CIA since '53.

Kennedy fired them both.

Cabell was his Deputy for nine years.

Talk about the fox investigating the chicken coop.

Now, we'll have to subpoena them both.

Clay Bertrand? Sure, I know him.

Comes to the Quarter.

Who is he? I've been to all the bars. Nobody wants to talk.

Why should they talk to you?

I told your uncle, I never met a lawman who wasn't a punk.

A big-shot businessman. I seen him on the TV news...

...with all the other big shots.

The guy's a fag, you know?

Goes by another name.

What name?

Shaw.

Clay Shaw.

Clay Bertrand is Clay Shaw?

Guy who ran the International Trade Mart?

What's the mystery? Everybody down here knows him.

Then why does he call himself Bertrand?

Who gives a shit what he calls himself?

Will you give us a little help on that grand jury thing?

I hope so. We could use it.

Your hunch was right, Boss.

But it's even spookier than we thought.

Starting in September '63 on, two months before the assassination...

...there are sightings of Oswald all over Dallas.

Buying ammunition, getting a telescopic sight fixed.

Going to rifle ranges.

Early November, at a downtown Dallas Lincoln dealership...

- ... he tells the salesman: - Let's take it over for a test drive.

Despite the fact he has no license, and doesn't know how to drive...

...he hits the curves like A.J. Foyt at the Indy 500.

Beauregard later told his boss that he drove like a madman.

$300 down now, Mr. Oswald, you can drive out of here.

What? For this heap?

No honest working man can afford to buy a car in this goddamn country anymore.

Maybe I'll go to Russia and buy one.

Really dumb dialogue like he's trying to draw attention to himself.

Salesman remembers him as about 5'7", but his draft card says he's actually 5'11".

Other witnesses see him on several separate days at different firing ranges.

One time, November 9...

...he decides to practice on the next guy's target.

I didn't pay for a target just to have you shoot at it!

I'm sorry, buddy.

I thought I was shooting at that son of a bitch Kennedy.

As subtle as a cockroach crawling across a white rug.

Then he shows up at Sylvia Odio's...

...a Cuban lady in Dallas in the anti-Castro underground.

The two Cubans introduce him as Leon Oswald.

Something about the man bothers her.

48 hours later, one of the Cubans calls her.

What did you think of me and Oswald last night?

I don't care about Oswald.

You know what he said to us? "Cubans don't have guts, 'cause Kennedy...

"... should have been killed after the Bay of Pigs by a Cuban. "

It's like he's giving her information she doesn't even ask for.

She's scared and doesn't see him again...

...till she sees Oswald's picture in the paper.

But the Warren Commission says that Sylvia...

...has bad eyesight because they have Oswald in Mexico...

...trying to get back into Cuba.

The CIA has a camera outside the Cuban Embassy.

And they say that this...

...is Oswald in Mexico.

If this is Oswald, it must be our third Oswald.

The Warren Commission made great efforts to make him a Communist.

I think the point of the Mexican episode was to lay the blame on Fidel Castro.

If Oswald, or someone purporting to be Oswald...

...had gotten into Cuba, come back, and then killed the President...

...the American public would've supported a Cuban invasion.

I even have doubts about this photo, Boss.

This convicted Oswald in the public's mind.

But Oswald told Capt. Fritz that the photo was a fake.

This is not me!

- That came from Janet Williams' garage. - I never saw this picture.

It's my face but it's superimposed. The rest is not me.

I know photographic work. That picture was made by someone else!

I took this picture to two experts.

Look at how the shadows on the nose...

...fall in a straight line, like it's high noon.

But the shadow on the ground is more like late afternoon or early morning.

It's not the same time.

And see the crop marks across the chin?

This head is pasted onto another body.

Implicating him with the rifle and the gun.

Who the hell are you? Alex Hidell or Lee Oswald?

You're the policeman, you work it out.

Now it gets positively spooky.

In January 1961, in New Orleans, at the Bolton Ford dealership...

...when the Oswald we know is in Russia...

...there is a man using the name of Oswald to buy trucks...

...for the Friends of Democratic Cuba.

Salesman never sees him again.

But who's on the Articles Of Incorporation of the Friends of Democratic Cuba?

Guy Banister.

Banister has someone using the name Oswald to buy the trucks.

Hoover at the FBI has a memo dated June of 1960...

...that someone may be using Oswald's passport and identity.

They created Oswald from day one.

Like a dummy corporation in the Bahamas. Just move him around a board.

Anybody want to quit?

Dumb question. Put your hands down.

I found Clay Bertrand.

Grab your socks and hose and pull.

Clay Bertrand is Clay Shaw.

- Director of the Trade Mart? - Former director.

Incredible.

Can you get some sworn statements?

That'll be tough. Nobody's talking.

Let's have him in for a chat.

I hate to get him dragged into this.

He's done so much for the city, restoring the Quarter.

Remember, we saw him at a fund-raiser. Seems like such a nice man.

It'll be off the record. I'll bring him in on a Sunday.

A quiet little chat between gentlemen.

In heavy fighting in Vietnam today...

...seven more American soldiers died and 23 wounded.

The body count for this week now stands at 67 Americans...

...and 626 enemy soldiers killed in action.

President Johnson said he regretted there's no end in sight to the war...

...where 500,000 US troops are now fighting.

We face more cost...

...more loss...

...and more agony.

Come hunt for Easter eggs.

That's the kids' job. You know I don't like these tribal rituals, anyway.

I'm talking to Clay Shaw this morning.

We're going to Antoine's with the kids!

I told you I was talking to Shaw.

In the middle of Easter Sunday?

When I scheduled it, I didn't know it was a holiday.

Look at the calendar!

You said a Sunday, not Easter Sunday.

Clay Shaw is important.

- And we're not. - I didn't say that.

I didn't say that.

You're missing most of your life and you don't know it.

The kids are missing out, too.

- You're not the only one making sacrifices. - I'll be there by 2:00, I promise.

Just start without me.

Mr. Garrison, what can I do for you on Easter Sunday?

I'm sorry to interrupt this holiday.

But this conversation is best kept out of the everyday bustle of this office.

I don't understand.

In an investigation we're conducting, your name keeps coming up.

Can't imagine where.

We've talked to a number of men who claim to know you.

Do you know a David Logan?

No. Never heard of him.

Perry Russo?

No.

Willie O'Keefe?

I don't know anyone by that name.

Mr. O'Keefe told us he met you at the Masquerade Bar in the Quarter.

Then you had him over for dinner at your apartment on Dauphine Street.

- Do you recall that? - I don't know this man.

Be still my heart.

Obviously, I wouldn't have him over.

Hope you like squab.

Champagne?

Perhaps a few more details about the evening will refresh your memory.

Mr. O'Keefe told us dinner was served by a uniformed waiter, a colored man.

You sat at one end and he at the other, which he found unusual...

...because the table was so long.

How was your mousse?

Bring back memories of Willie O'Keefe?

Not at all.

But I do have...

...a lovely Chippendale dining table.

I often have a friend sit at one end while I sit at the other.

It's precisely the point of a long dining table.

The splendor of the meal adds to its enjoyment.

I imagine a uniformed waiter helps.

It adds elegance, for which I confess...

...a weakness now and then.

I call him Smedley.

His real name's Frankie Jenkins, but it would be so uncouth during dinner...

...to turn toward the kitchen and holler...

..."Frankie! "

Where is all this leading to?

After dinner, you paid him to have sex.

That is absolute nonsense.

The Quarter is filled with vivid imaginations, dear Mr. Garrison.

Grimy young hoodlums who will say and do anything!

Mr. O'Keefe told us...

...David Ferrie came to the house with another young man.

- Who? - David Ferrie.

I don't know that name.

Never having met Mr. O'Keefe, I couldn't have met Mr. Ferrie.

You're mine, Mary.

The four of you partied early into the morning hours.

Look at this picture.

I've never met anyone of such bizarre appearance.

Only way you get this, you do exactly what I say. I'm the man.

You know the name Clay Bertrand?

Clay Bertrand.

A man with a similar name worked at the Chamber of Commerce.

- That the man you had in mind? - No, it was not.

Can you identify this man?

Naturally. You claim Mr. Oswald also had dinner with me?

Have you ever met Lee Harvey Oswald?

You have me consorting with a sordid cast of characters.

- Please answer the question. - 'Course not.

The assassination was such a pity.

In fact I admired Kennedy. Man of true panache.

Wife of impeccable taste.

Let's order without your daddy. He won't mind.

I want a Shirley Temple!

Kids, put your water guns away.

When's Daddy coming?

He's coming soon.

He's sorry he's late, but he promised he'd be here.

Daddy never keeps his promises.

This Italian newspaper article says...

...you were a board member of Centro Mondo Commerciale in Italy.

This company was created by the CIA for the transfer of funds in Italy...

...for illegal political-espionage activities.

Says that this company was expelled from Italy for those activities.

I'm well aware of that asinine article. I'm thinking of suing that rag.

It also says this company is linked to the Schlumberger Tool Company...

...in Louisiana, which provided arms to David Ferrie and his Cubans.

You're reaching.

Am I?

I'm an international businessman. The Trade Mart I founded...

...is America's commercial pipeline to Latin America. I trade everywhere.

Like all businessmen, I am accused of all things.

I go about my business, make money, help society the best I can...

...and try to promote free trade in this world.

Have you ever been a contract agent for the CIA?

And if I were...

...do you believe I would be here today...

...talking to somebody like you?

- People like you don't have to. - May I go?

People like you walk between the raindrops.

May I go?

Yes.

Regardless of what you may think of me, I am a patriot first and foremost.

I've spent half my life in the military...

...defending my country.

You're the first person I've met who considers it patriotic to kill the President.

You are way out of line.

It's getting late. That's all the questions we have.

Thank you for your honesty and for coming in.

I enjoyed meeting with you.

And you, Miss Cox. It's been most pleasant.

I extend to you and your families my best wishes for a happy Easter.

"One may smile, and smile and be a villain. "

Goddamn it! We've got one of them.

See that?

- Hi, honey. - Hi.

Tough day.

Where you been?

My sympathies.

I'm sorry, the meeting took much longer than expected.

Just a second.

We waited for hours, Jim!

You could've telephoned.

I can only say I'm sorry. I just don't have rabbits on my mind.

You know what I think?

You care more about John Kennedy than your own family.

All day the kids asked, "Where's Daddy?" What should I tell them?

I don't know!